Anna Maria Island: Day 3 "Happy 4th of July!"

We loved celebrating America's birthday on the island this year. The island had a parade this morning that Ben just loved. We all got tons of beads and candy. We did more swimming and playing at the beach after the parade. We had a low key night at the hotel. Jeremy made bacon cheeseburgers and salad for dinner. We went back out to the beach that night for more fireworks.

waiting for the parade to start

Ben loved waving his flag

He had so much fun with these beads. While Jeremy cooked dinner, Ben pretended to be a parade man and tossed beads to everyone.

This was just too funny not to post.

The fire truck was too loud for Ben.

Ben watched some more parades on Youtube while Jeremy cooked dinner.

I got this cute picture of Ben when we went back to Joe's for more ice cream.

Anna Maria Island: Day 2

We spent our second day on the island hanging out with some more family. My mom, sister, niece and nephew came over this morning and spent several hours with us. We hung out on the beach first and let the kids play on the beach. They had fun building sandcastles and swimming in the Gulf. We took them over to the hotel's pool after that and had a poolside picnic. Ben really needed a nap, so he and I laid down while everyone else enjoyed the beach some more. Papa Stone and Mrs. Pauline came to visit that afternoon, too. We all got showers and headed out to the Rod and Reel Pier restaurant. Everyone enjoyed some wonderful seafood and time together. After dinner, Jeremy, Ben, cousin Cindy, and I went venturing out for some ice cream. We found some at Joe's Eats & Sweets. I had funfetti cake batter ice cream with fudge in a waffle bowl. It was heavenly! After our dessert, we went out to the beach to wait for some fireworks. We had such a fun day!

Lauren, Ben and Nathan playing in the pool

waiting for a table at the Rod & Reel Pier

Ben loved flying his kite on the beach while we waited for the fireworks.

Anna Maria Island: Day 1

We had a great first day at Anna Maria Island. We got to the island around 1:30 in the afternoon. We had some pizza from Oma's and got settled in to our room at the Tortuga Inn. We put our swimsuits on and spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach and swimming in the pool. Jeremy and I headed to Publix to get some groceries for the week while Ben stayed at the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa Byrd and cousin Cindy. Grandma made us some delicious pulled pork sliders and fries for dinner and we went to bed pretty early. Ben survived the day without a nap, so we were pretty exhausted.