It's official! We are going back! We are taking a family vacation this year. We didn't take one last year because we had a lot going on and were watching our finances. This year, we decided that we had to take a vacation. So, we have decided that we will be revisiting our favorite place. The Florida Keys! Yay! This is similar to the vacation we took two years ago but this time we are spending some additional time in the Keys and less time in South Florida and Steven's parents are going down at the same time so that they can watch the kids while Steven and I take the snorkeling tour at Pennekamp. We have always wanted to do this so we are very excited to be able to do it.
We are working now on solidifying exactly what days we want on what Key and making an itinerary so we can make sure we get everything in. This family thrives on planning. Okay, maybe it's just me but the kids like routine so they sort of have that same thing going. I have learned with kids though that plans sometimes need to change and I'm getting much better. We definitely like to have an itinerary though because it gives us an outline and a list of things we definitely want to try to do. We luck out that Kenzie is old enough to do whatever and go all day and Will is easy going enough to make it through a day with minimal structure and be okay with whatever we decide to drag him to do. We have learned that the kids do fine in hotels as long as we can get them their own bed or a sofa bed to share so we can stay in more than one place during the trip and move around some. We don't have to worry about traveling with quite as much random junk this year either which makes our lives significantly easier. It was like adult tetris trying to fit everything in two years ago and I hope to not have to play as difficult a level this year when we pack it all up. We don't need a stroller (other than perhaps throwing our umbrella one in) or a pack n play which helps immensely. The kids are older and are going to be able to get so much more out of a vacation. They love the beach as much as we do so this trip is right up everyone's alley.
Our plan is to go down to Key Largo first and make a stop at Pennekamp. We love Pennekamp and that is where the snorkel tour leaves from. Then we will head farther down to Marathon and stay in the area for a few days. That gives us time to go down to Key West and (hopefully) hit the Sunset Festival. We also have some plans at Bahia Honda and some other surrounding places. We will definitely be going to feed tarpon at Robbie's and maybe take a walk on the old 7 Mile Bridge. We plan to take a day in South Florida on the way back so that we can go to Bill Baggs and maybe climb the lighthouse. This summer is going to be so much fun! (We will also have the Summer Bucket List making a return this year.)
In addition to planning this, we are already talking about some future trips in coming summers. Kenzie starts elementary school this August so we are even more limited on our timing for trips now (not like we typically went anywhere additional other times of the year). We have some beach and cruise plans we are figuring out right now for coming summers and there has been some discussion about going somewhere farther away sometime in the next few years that might even involve taking our 2 crazy kids on a plane. We are learning that Kenzie seems like she would love a trip that actually teaches her new things. Will doesn't get as much out of that type of thing yet though so we are waiting a while longer. They both get something out of beaches and the sun and sand though so this is perfect We are not only excited about finishing planning our Keys vacation, but are looking forward to doing some planning for those future trips.
We learn a few new things about our kids on each trip we take (and those things change sometimes because of the age of the kids anyway). This will be our first extended trip away from home in more than 2 years so we are wondering how they will handle that. In the past, they both get sort of tired of eating out if we are gone for a long period of time so, like last time, we have a lot of picnics planned. I can't blame them, that is totally a trait they got from me. I enjoy eating out... my body does not. It craves being home apparently. Plus, picnics allow us to travel more affordably which is always a plus in a single income family with two kids. It's a lot of driving to get down there but they tend to be okay in the car and we will have our DVD player for pieces of the trip as necessary though we prefer to limit the use of that some. We are trying to make sure that we have finished their swimming lessons for the summer prior to going down to make sure they are as prepared as can be for pools and the beach. We will still be watching like hawks but we feel better having refreshers prior to going so they remember how to get themselves out of a pool if they fall in, heaven forbid. This year we will be traveling with an (almost) 5-year-old (as in she turns 5 a week or so after we return) and a 2 1/2-year-old. Kenzie was a little over Will's current age the last time we went to the Keys and she LOVED it so we are excited to see what he gets out of it this year and super excited to see Kenzie take it all in as an older child.
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