Hey Ya’ll

 I’ve been in the South all week so I feel justified in saying “Ya’ll” :) How’s everyone’s Summer treating them? I hope you are all enjoying those summer rays!

Kody, Ellie, Grandma Pam and I went on a vacation last week. We traveled to Marco Island, Florida.

Kody and I have been saving up to go on a tropical vacation after we both graduated college. We really wanted to enjoy the island life by deep sea fishing, jet skiing, and snorkeling but we didn’t want to leave Ellie home. Pam (Kody’s mom) said she was in need of a vacation and suggested that she would be our “nanny” during the times Kody and I went and adventured. We thought that was a great idea so we were happy to have her come along.  

We flew out of Salt Lake City on a non-stop flight to Miami. Ellie was such a good girl. She watched her Ipad, played with toys, and actually napped the majority of the flight. We arrived in Miami at midnight. We were all so exhausted so we stayed the night in Miami.

When we awoke, we drove for two hours to Marco Island. Along the way, we stopped in Everglades National Park. It was beautiful! We were so glad we stopped because Ellie got to see so much wildlife. It was super neat. We drove down a dirt road and saw alligators and turtles everywhere! It was definitely a highlight of the trip.

We got to Marco Island and were so excited to lay by the beach and enjoy the sunny weather. We were super disappointed when we arrived. It was cloudy and rainy. We were hoping it was just an off day but it turned out to be an off week. It rained all day, every day! Not a little shower, flood status. Local businesses closed due to flooding and some of the locals said it was the worst they’d ever seen. I was a little freaked out. We received flood alerts on our phones and I thought we were going to be in a Hurricane at any given moment. Luckily, the hurricane never came and we were alright;)

We made the best of the floods by going puddling haha. I think that was Kody’s favorite part of our trip. We would drive through puddles that would splash higher than our car. It was crazy! Probably not the safest thing to do but we had fun.

Not only did we have flood like weather, we also all came down with a flu bug. Ellie awoke throwing up. This was the first time in her life that she had thrown up, so we were slightly freaked out. She rested half of a day and was all better. The next morning everyone else woke up throwing up. It’s funny to think about now, but at the time we were all pretty bugged with how our vacation was going. On the bright side, we got caught up on our movie watching:) We were all lucky because it was just a bug and we were better the next day.

Our favorite pastime was to walk along beach and find sea shells. I’ve never seen so many shells in my entire life. The beaches were beautiful. The white sand was made up of crushed sea shells. It was gorgeous! Ellie and I had the best time picking up shells. (I brought some home so I could make her a picture frame using the shells we picked up. I’ll post a picture when I’m done.)

We also traveled to another island called Naples. Kody, Pam and I were obsessed with the adorable houses on this island. They were the cutest little beach cottages. Kody and I may retire there someday;) Naples was beautiful. We went shopping, ate yummy food and hung out at the pier.

On our last day the rain stopped (complete miracle) and we were able to hang out by the pool and beach all day. It was wonderful! I got sunburned but Kody and Ellie turned into brown bears! They got so tan.

Our vacation wasn’t what we expected but it was perfect in it’s own way. We all had great attitudes and just enjoyed our time away together as a family. It was so fun to have Ellie there because she didn’t care if it was sunny or not. She was happy to play out in the pool even when it was raining. The amazing food also helped out attitudes, well mine at least! We ate so good. The fresh sea food, fish tacos, and mangos were heavenly.

Below are pictures from our week. I also have direct links to a few of my favorite resort wear. See direct links!

Distressed Keyhole Graphic Hoodie: BB Styled This is one of my all time favorite tops. I wore it on the airplane because it is so comfy and then wore it as a swim cover on Kody’s and my date night.

 Ellie’s Red and White Swimsuit: Janie and Jack