Anna Maria Island

We just got back from our annual beach trip to Anna Maria Island. We all had so much fun, despite the rain and rough waters.

Day 1:

We got to the island around 4:00, so after settling into our room, we headed down to Bridge Street Bistro for dinner. Jeremy ordered the Surf n' Turf burger. It looked so good!

Ben doesn't go anywhere without a train, or two, or three.........

We checked out the beach after dinner. It looked so pretty even after raining most of the day.

And no dinner is complete on the island without a trip to Joe's Eats & Sweets. Ben has a very sophisticated palate and always orders the mango sorbet.

Ben taught Papa how to play his new favorite game.....Trouble. They were so cute playing together!

A little evening stroll on the beach........

Day 2:

We got to have a little fun in the sun before the rain came in today. Ben loves swimming in the pools and our hotel has two different pools for us to swim in! We went out to the beach after dinner for fireworks. They were wonderful again!

Day 3:

Happy birthday, America! We celebrated the 4th by watching the parade on the island this morning and then more pool time. Ben practiced swimming without his floaties and did such a good job! Aunt Lisa came over from St. Pete just in time for lunch. We took her out for some amazing fish & chips, then Ben just had to take her to Joe's! We did more swimming and exploring on the beach. Aunt Lisa taught Ben all about the coquina and sand fleas. Ben loved this little science lesson, so we spent the next hour walking up and down the beach looking for coquina. Another storm came in so we headed back to the room and started making dinner. Cindy grilled hamburgers and made cole slaw and baked beans. I made potato salad while Ben and Aunt Lisa decorated cupcakes for the holiday. We all had so much fun in the kitchen together. Dinner was fantastic and the rain stopped in time for us to check out the intercoastal before Ben got too sleepy. We saw a starfish in the shallow water and watched lots of fish jumping. We're so glad Aunt Lisa got to spend the holiday with us.

Day 4:

Today was our last full day on the island. We got out on the beach pretty early and the water looked a little calmer than it had been. Jeremy and I have been wanting to paddle board, so we decided to give it a try. It was so hard to stay up on the boards with all of the waves! We definitely got a leg workout! Ben enjoyed playing in the sand and looking for more coquina. It rained after lunch so Ben and I decided to take a much needed nap. It was our first nap of the week! After resting, we headed over to St. Armand's Circle. We had fun looking around and tried the macarons at the French pastry shop called Le Macaron. I tried the coconut while Neal and Cindy tried the strawberry kiwi. They were so good! We left the circle and headed back over to Bradenton for dinner. We had a pizza buffet at Fire & Stone Pizza. I'm not sure that I've ever eaten so much in my life! We were stuffed! Ben wanted ice cream from Joe's one last time so we stopped there before going back to the hotel. We had such a fun trip and cannot wait for next July!

Ben was being especially sweet to his mama and Jeremy caught it on camera!

Kacie's Birthday

Tonight we celebrated my cousin Kacie's 29th birthday. We had a really good dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse and went to see a movie after dinner.

Rays Game

We just got back from such a fun mini-getaway to Tampa! We had four free tickets to a Rays game from the Miles for Moffitt race, so we decided to make a little trip out of it. We stayed at the Tampa Marriott Waterside in downtown Tampa. The game was at 7:00 pm on Tuesday. We let Ben take a little nap at home before driving over to Tampa and checking into our hotel. Ben loved exploring the hotel and the marina behind it. We left Tampa around 6:00 and headed to the Trop! Traffic was terrible and we got there just as the game was starting. We had ball park hot dogs, cokes and roasted peanuts. Everything was so good! Ben wasn't very interested in the game, so he and I explored the stadium and visited the sting ray tank. We finally called it a night around 10:00, even though the game was still going. Baseball games are so long!!!! Ha! The next day we lounged around at the pool and hung out with Aunt Lisa. She left work early so she could hang out with us at the hotel since she lives close by in St. Pete. Ben was over the pool by 3:00, so we decided to get showers and explore downtown Tampa. We rode around in the streetcar and had dinner at Eddie & Sam's New York Pizzeria. They have the best pizza I've ever had! After dinner we visited an antique bookstore and found a few books on trains. Ben was ecstatic! We rode the streetcar back to the hotel and called it a night. We had such a fun trip and can't wait to visit Tampa again!

The view from our hotel room

on our way to Tropicana Stadium!

Sting Rays!

Katie & Ryne's Engagement Party

Tonight we celebrated the engagement of my cousin Katie and her fiance, Ryne. They are just the cutest little couple! Katie is a 4th grade teacher in Tampa and Ryne is a police officer. We are so excited for them and cannot wait for the wedding in March!

Kacie, Katie and me...love my cousins

Katie and her Tampa crew

Uncle Kurt's toast was so sweet!

the beautiful couple

Class of 2013 Graduation

Tonight we celebrated the Class of 2013! There are so many special students to me in this graduating class. I am so proud of them. I love that we get to wear robes and sit with them during the ceremony! It's such a special night. 

Kaylee Norris and Ashton Robillard

Miss Ashton is so special to our family! We love her so much and wish her the very best of luck at Warner University. 

I love my co-workers, Natalie & Elya!

Ben & Miss Ashton at her graduation party

Date Night!

You never appreciate having time alone with your spouse until you have children! Jeremy and I went out to dinner and a movie this evening. We had dinner at Burger 21 (our new favorite place), then saw the movie 42 about Jackie Robinson. It was really good! 

This black cherry float from Burger 21 was amazing!