A Full Florida Fun Day

We had a full day today! Koen and Tavin woke up in great spirits. They are doing so well sharing a room. This morning Tavin again woke up first and therefore woke up Koen with his talking to himself. After Koen woke up, he just joined in. For every, "da, da, da" that Tav said Koen repeated it. That just egged Tavin on. Then Koen started telling his brother what to say, "ma, ma, ma" or he would just start laughing and Tavin would start laughing. It was hilarious listening to them go back and forth. We must have listened to these brothers making each other laugh and chat for 20 minutes or more.

Koen is getting much more comfortable here and chatted with Uncle Phil as he ate breakfast. Then he and Tavin sat with Uncle Phil as they all finished up that meal (Koen has started hiding his face for every picture, you'll notice that throughout the post...ugh).

We set off for a quick bike ride so that we could fit in a mini adventure before Tavin's morning nap. This was Tavin's first bike ride! And as usual, he took the new experience in stride. When we were suiting him up in the helmet and sitting him in the seat he was patient and just dealt with it.

But once we took off, he was so, so happy. Anytime I rode up near Doug so that he could check on him, he was smiling ear to ear. So cute! Here's us on our bike.

And here's a closeup of that adorable happy-to-be-bike-riding smile.

Tavin and I headed back to the house in time for some quick crawl-around playtime before nap and Koen and Doug continued on their adventure.

They rode the bike to the marina to watch the boats go in the water, then they rode to the beach where they stopped for some smoothies.

Next they headed out into the sand. It was a perfect day here. Low 70's, a slight breeze and the clouds burnt off by 11am. They made no waste of it.

They built an elaborate sandcastle (the picture doesn't do it justice, but Doug told me that he said it had a house for us, a house for the boys (they were connected by a tunnel), a library, a pool and a playground. Gotta love that imagination!).

Then they played at a playground at the Crab Trap, the restaurant we visited for lunch. Tavin and I met up with them there. Tav and Daddy sat in the sand and played with shovels while Koen and I did some treasure hunting while we waited for Phil & Leah to meet us for lunch.

The restaurant was great. Mostly because of the view, fresh air and fast service (I so appreciate fast service when you are dining with little ones!). Tavin ate his first french fry at lunch. I've been holding it off as long as I could (I think Koen didn't have one until 2 years), but today he just took it off my plate and crammed it in his mouth. He ate it so fast the picture is actually of his second french fry. =) He actually ended up not really loving it and gave the second one back to me half-chewed (thanks, Tav!). What he did like off my plate was the grilled grouper. He ate 1/2 of my filet! Also, he was cranky at the end of lunch and so I let him finish my coleslaw which was actually really good at this place, very fresh, not gross and runny (ok, sorry, I'm being a foodie here with my descriptions). Tavin loved it! He ate the last bites of mine and all of Uncle Phil's!

Koen had fun sitting next to Uncle Phil. It is so fun to see my brother bonding with my little boy. In this picture Uncle Phil is explaining the different kind of fish that are shown on the wall behind our table.

After lunch we headed back to get Koen to nap. He had a great morning and midday, but man the sun really takes it out of him and when it's naptime it becomes quite clear! He's been really enjoying a bath before nap every day to get all the sand and sunscreen off so Doug did a great job getting him into bed in a happy mood. He again hit the pillow hard and slept pretty well. It's been such a blessing that these boys have been sleeping so well here.

During naptime Doug told me to go and enjoy the beach. I totally needed it. I've been really enjoying my time in the sun and on the sand with the boys, but it's limiting hanging out at the beach with a baby on your hip or a toddler at your side. I just needed some time to enjoy the blessing of being at the ocean. So, thanks Doug, it was a great few hours soaking up the sun, walking in the waves and relaxing. Phil & Leah met me there and so that was nice to spend some of that time with them as well.

Tonight after dinnertime, Doug and I took the boys on a quick little walk through the neighborhood to the swings. Doug took a quick opportunity to get a picture of me and the boys. Koen in the first picture is again hiding his face...
In this next picture he's hugging Tavin, which after this picture turned a little too aggressive. Poor Tavin!
We then took the boys home and got them to bed. Again, it was quiet right away. This sun and fresh air is really taking it out of them. They are doing such a great job. And I'm having such a wonderful time enjoying all of this vacation with my boys.