Every year Alex’s parents spend two or three months in Marco Island, Florida. We have never been able to visit before because my teaching schedule never allowed for a vacation during the time they were down there. But this year we have both been home all year so we decided to escape the freezing cold weather in Iowa and head to the beach!

Alex’s parents picked us up from the airport and drove us back to the condo they had rented for the winter. Augie was ready for a nap when we arrived so we put him to bed and unpacked our things. When he woke up we went for a walk down the the beach. It was Augie’s first time seeing the ocean so I was excited to see how he liked it. He was enthralled with the sand! He loved to touch it and may have tried a bite or two (only the first day -after that he was done eating sand)! He was mesmerized by the waves and of course just wanted to touch the water with his toes. It was so fun to watch him experience all of these new things. We watched the sunset and then walked back to the condo to have pizza for dinner.

In the morning we headed to the beach and went for a short walk with Augie in the stroller before going out to breakfast. We went to Mango’s and had a nice breakfast outside before heading back so Augie could take his morning nap. After his nap we drove to the fish market to pick out some fish for dinner. It was a fun little hole in the wall place where we got some fresh fish to cook for dinner. In the afternoon we took Augie to the pool – which he loved just as much as the beach! He had a couple pool toys that he fell in love with.

The next morning it was a little rainy and cool. We walked on the beach before it rained mid morning. In the afternoon we let Augie play in the sand on the beach for a while. We ordered food from the restaurant on the beach and picked it up after watching the sunset. After Augie went to bed Alex and I went out to meet up with a friend that had moved to Bonita Springs. We caught up over a drink at Dolphin Tiki.

Our last full day in Florida was a hot day. We went for our usual morning walk before breakfast and Augie’s nap. In the afternoon we pack up all of our beach gear and spent the afternoon on the beach. In the evening we took Alex’s parents out to dinner at CJ’s on the Bay before heading back to watch the sunset.

The next day we had time for one last walk on the beach before packing our bags and heading home. We had such a wonderful trip to Florida. I’ve always loved being on the beach, but it was made a million times sweeter seeing how much Augie loved the beach. I was already planning out all of the beaches we could take him to this year on our way home.