Florida Vacation 2016

Last week, Victor, Max, and I headed to Florida with Victor's parents for a week-long vacation near St. Pete's Beach. Victor had never been to the gulf side of Florida before, so he wanted to check it out. I have cousins and an uncle who live in the Tampa area, and luckily I got to see two of my cousins while we were there...I haven't seen them since our grandma's funeral in September 2013 (we were supposed to see all 4 of my cousins and my uncle for my uncle's birthday dinner, but we had to skip town early to be home in time for #blizzard2016, so we missed seeing some special people). While it wasn't the warmest weather I've seen in Florida (windy with temps in the 50s and 60s most of the week), we still had a fantastic time in the Sunshine State.

Since we didn't have great beach weather, we took time to explore the St. Pete's Beach, Tampa, and Clearwater areas. There's so much to see and do in the Tampa area, so if you've never been, I highly recommend a visit...although maybe go when it's a bit warmer so you can enjoy the beautiful beaches!

And now, as is required after a family vacation, here comes the photo dump.

"Big plane!" He was fascinated.

Praise the good Lord, he napped on the flight! And needed to touch his little nose.

We got Max his own rolling suitcase for Christmas. We travel a lot, and we figured he might enjoy being responsible for his own luggage at the airport. Let me tell you, this thing was a hit! He's had buckets of fun over the past month pulling it all around the house, but it was even more fun at the airport. He is at the age now where he's not a big fan of the stroller (which he *loudly* made known while we strapped him in to get through check in and security), but once we got through security, we let him pull his suitcase through the airport. He thought he was hot stuff!

We saw beautiful sunsets every night from our condo.

This was the only beachy day we had, and it was our first full day there. That night, we got some wicked thunderstorms that woke Victor and I up at 3 AM. Crazy wind and rain. There were even some tornadoes nearby. Yikes!

Seagulls love Cheerios. Just ask this guy.

Max loved chasing the seagulls.

We stumbled upon a Maryland-themed restaurant on St. Pete's Beach, called Brass Monkey.

Max's diet consisted mostly of French fries that week. If he sees a fry, all bets are off. That's all he wants.

Another beautiful sunset

1 day shy of 22 weeks

Max would chase the birds into the water, then yell, "No! Cold!"

Our little beach bum. He loves the sand!

Last sunset

We had a wonderful time, and even though it wasn't the warmest while we were there, it sure beat the single digit temperatures they were having back home in our absence! Our week of fun in the sun helped prepare us for the blizzard that we returned home to, as well!