Proof we really went on vacation

As most of you are aware, we took our first "Spring Break" with kids this year. I know many of you have been patiently waiting for this evidence (thanks for your continued patience as i weed through the pix). It's quite a daunting task to weed through all the snapshots that were taken over 10 days. I guess that's what I get for liking to take pictures :) We had an EXCELLENT time, however (as previously mentioned), forgot the SPF rule of REAPPLICATION. I had peeling legs on a 10 month old (not something to brag about!). We had WONDERFUL, SUNNY, HOT weather to enjoy. We had to find some "out of the sun" activities to do by our third day down there due to the sunburn. We looked through the lists of reciprocal botanical gardens/museums (through our Frederik Meijer Gardens membership) and found a fun children's museum to occupy our time. We also visited a great outdoor (mostly shaded, thank goodness!) botanical garden (that was also free b/c of our membership in Grand Rapids - what great perks to have!) in which the boys enjoyed chasing chameleons all over the ground, plants, trees, etc. We made the trip to Sea World (thanks to my aunt that sent us free tickets!). We definitely got our exercise in that day (along with a HUGE test of patience as we waited early to get seats to the Shamu show). Lucas rode on his first roller coaster ride with me. The rest of the week we spent either lounging by our courtyard pool (only a matter of steps out our condo) or at the beach (across the street). We also visited Siesta Key (one hour south) for an afternoon. It was definitely worth the drive and wait for a parking spot (to me at least :) Tim just asked why we needed to drive an hour to the beach when we had one across the street (remember the beautiful turquoise waters and powdery sand, Tim?). I took the little ones for a walk along the shore in the double umbrella stroller - PULLING the stroller works WAY better than pushing the stroller through sand/water (remember that next time!). It put the little boys to sleep (on Siesta Key, go figure :) We topped off the vacation with an outdoor meal a few miles south of our condo while enjoying a beautiful sunset. It was good to get back and into the swing of things, but SERIOUSLY, when is the warm weather coming back??? And I sure am glad gas was NOT $3.76 while we were filling up every 300+ miles. Stay tuned, I might add more PIX to this posting (if i get a chance)......................