Monday, August 3, 2015

Our first family vacation {Anna Maria Island}

We are home from a sweet and very memorable first family vacation. We spent a week on Anna Maria Island in Florida with my husband's family and had the best time. All 9 of us stayed together in a house just minutes from the beach with access to our own private pool. It was a little slice of paradise.

I took over 400 pictures and will obviously not be sharing them all in this post, but this is fair warning: this post does contains lots and lots of pictures mostly of a cute little chubby baby on the beach.
Let's start with Aiden's first experience with the ocean. Little man was intrigued by the ocean. He was very content just sitting and digging in the sand and surprisingly didn't eat any of it! He didn't mind the waves (except for when he got a wave to the face...he can thank his Dad for that one. Haha)
Aiden's Grams, Aunts and Uncles spoiled him with lots of attention and playtime every day. We are so blessed to have people who love our little guy so much and who will be ridiculous just to make him laugh. And I apologize to them all for having Daniel Tiger songs in their head all week long.
We spent a few days exploring different places like Myakkah State Park where we saw Alligators and walked along a trail with a canopy walk. We also visited the historic fishing village of Cortez, Anna Maria pier and several new restaurants and shops.
Myakkah State Park where my husband went head to head with an Alligator
Anna Maria Pier
Dinner at the Waterfront Restaurant
Ice cream at Dips
Seafood Shack in the historic fishing village of Cortez
While we had fun exploring the island, most of our time was spent on the beach or in our amazing pool. We took turns cooking dinners so most of our evenings were spent around the house, which was awesome for Drew and I since Aiden usually goes to bed between 8 and 9. Let me just say we had a house full of top notch chefs and every dinner we had was full of fresh seafood and delicious drinks! The meal Drew and I made can be found here. Trust me, it's a keeper!
I really did not want to see this vacation come to an end. It was full of family time, good food, lots of firsts for baby and some memories that I will cherish forever. I have a few more vacation related posts coming your way including our trip to Universal, family beach pictures and a sail boat ride in honor of my father in law.

Have you ever been to Anna Maria Island?

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Great pictures, Allison! Looks like so much fun! I love Anna Maria Island! It's one of my favorite places! I went every other year as a child through my teens on vacation with my family. My mom had a nurse friend who had a condo across from the beach, and we would rent it from them. I loved going back every year--there are so many amazing memories I have from there. Aiden is adorable! <3

Anne said...

SO great. We've done a big house in Florida with the whole family a couple of times in recent years and it is the best. So fun to spend time a big chunk of time with family like that, and even more special when you've got their beloved grandbaby along :) We've heard great things about Anna Maria Island but haven't done that location yet - will definitely look into it further after your photos!

Kaity B. said...

That looks so fun! I want to take a vacation! :)

Amy @ A Desert Girl said...

What a great vacation! Aiden is so adorable - I bet the time you were all able to spend together will always be treasured. I love it when families go on big vacations together and stay in the same house and cook and just have an awesome time. Looks like a gorgeous setting too.

Susannah said...

Looks like it was an absolute blast!!! <3

Brittany said...

You had me at 'cute little chubby baby on the beach' and you delivered. Seriously, Aiden's little face kills me. This sounds like an incredible vacation and the pictures are beautiful. I'm so glad you were able to make these memories! I can't wait to see some Harry Potter lovin' soon!!!

Becky said...

Ah what a wonderful vacation!!! I love that you all had a great time together and Aiden enjoyed his first beach trip :) Since my niece is the only baby in the family right now I can understand all the attention Aiden gets! When they are that cute you just can't help yourself!!

Ashley Robyn said...

These pictures just made my evening. You look so happy friend. I can't believe how big Aiden is getting already. Where is the time going? So glad y'all had such a great trip.

Leigh said...

Sounds like such a fun vacation and a beautiful spot to go!

The Lady Okie said...

You guys are too cute! Glad you had fun. I love spending time with my family like that.

Rach said...

How are you so skinny already?! Didn't you just have a baby like yesterday?! Girl, you look awesome. I shouldn't be surprised, though, since you guys lead such an active lifestyle. Anyway, hopefully that's not weird to comment on, ha!

Looks like you guys had a fabulous time together! :)

Unknown said...

Ahhh Anna Maria is basically my former backyard!!! We seriously need to coordinate these trips so we can meet in-real-life one of these days! I hope it was a wonderful trip!!

Shelley said...

we went to AMI a couple years ago for vacation. did it seem like you guys were some of the only "tourists" there who spoke english? haha. looks like you guys had such a great time!