Our First Family Vacation!!!

I've been so eager to post these pictures of our first family vacation. We had a blast in Pine Island, cruising the water, fishing, visiting Cabbage Key, and watching Grace Louise experience lots of "firsts". Who says all the fun is gone when you have kids?? She made everything more special. Thankfully, though, my mom went with us as a Nanny, which allowed Jimmy and I some alone time to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary!!!

boating.

First ride on the boat! She LOVED it. She is her father's child, for sure!

The boat ride relaxed Grace Louise like I have never seen her before. She was like a zombie, as you can kind of tell from this picture.

Driving the boat! Poor baby- those life jackets are horribly uncomfortable, but she didn't seem to mind as long as we were moving.

This is her second time out on the boat. Now she's a pro. This was the day my mom went home, so we brought her out fishing with us from 10:30am-5pm. She was such a trooper! She napped in the Bob twice and cruised all over the boat. We cornered off part of the boat in the shade, and she was just as happy as could be playing with the fishing poles!

GL and mom on the sandbar (just before I threw my back out swinging her around!...the only downside of the trip)

1.2.3.4.5.6 teeth

This pic was taken going full speed in the boat, headed in after a long day. The wind in her face and sun on her skin put her into a fast slumber. (This is a child who generally wakes up when you sneeze).

fishing.

Jimmy and I went fishing together the morning my mom arrived to watch the baby. Neither of these fish, by the way, were keepers, but its always fun to reel one in! I figured I'd take a picture just in case we didn't catch any more :-) We ended up with some keeper grouper and snapper. Jimmy's friend, Jeremy, came on our last night of vacation and fought a HUGE tarpon in the pass. Didn't quite get it to the boat, though. So much fun!

eating.

Pine Island has one thing going for it... good food! One of the most special places we ate (twice) is actually a separate island- Cabbage Key. The nostalgia is worth the trip, though the food is excellent too! We went one evening for our anniversary and stopped in again one day for lunch to enjoy a cheeseburger in paradise!

View from the restaurant- looking towards Charlotte Harbor.

One of the long-standing traditions of the restaurant is for all the guests to tape a $1 bill to the wall. Our waiter said that they estimate there is around $70-80,000 currently on the wall. The $10,000 that falls down each year is donated to charity. We were excited to leave our stamp on the place and commemorate our anniversary celebration!

"This is a hard life!"

swimming.

exploring.

Mom and I took Grace Louise to explore the island one morning. There is so much rich history in Pine Island, much of which is preserved by the Nature Conservancy. Because it is not a barrier island and is home to many people (including the Florida writer, Randy White), who fight to protect its beauty, Pine Island is real Florida. I love it there!