Marco Island - Take Three

We just returned from Mollie's third annual Marco Island visit with Grandma and Grandpa. Every year I have thought that seeing Mollie dig in the sand and splash on the beach couldn't get any better and every year I've been wrong. It was so much fun to watch our fearless 2 1/2 year old split time between bobbing wildly around the big pool and splashing and floating on her tube in the ocean. Her smile said it all... she absolutely loved it!

A flashback to the last three years...

and this year...

As usual, our vacation was not short on celebrations. The Easter bunny visited Eagle's Nest and Mollie had a great time hunting for her "Easter bag" and an even better time eatingher goodies.

We also decorated eggs and were very pleased with the outcome!

Mommy and Daddy celebrated our six year wedding anniversary with a sunset dinner in Naples while Mollie had special Grandma and Grandpa time.

And lastly, we had a celebration for my 32nd birthday. I had the best gift opening helper I could have asked for :)

Thank you to Grandpa and Grandma for hosting the perfect beach getaway for our whole family, and for all of the wonderful celebrations the trip included. As always, we loved every minute and we miss you already! CHEERS!

The Sunset

Running towards sunset.

Big sis giving some love to her future little sibling.

And some love to her Grandparents.

And a memory from our last vacation as a family of three!

"Mommy, where did the sun go?", Mollie asked after it dropped below the horizon. Precious!

The Babe

The babe hit the 24 week milestone this week. Highlights included another trip to the beach where happy mommy could float on her tummy and Grandma AND Grandpa feeling the babe bouncing around. Dos is the size of an ear of corn and really making his/her presence known. So fun!

The Ocean

My favorite part!

She plowed right on in on her first day. The splash of salt water in her eyes slowed her down for a second, then of course, she wanted to walk/swim by herself and she wanted to go "deeper" and deeper!

After she discovered the freedom of her tube, she spent most of her ocean time floating in it, spinning in circles, pretending to sleep and singing to herself while she relaxed in the waves.

Today when she woke up she said, "Mommy, can we go to the beach?". I wish we could :) but we went to school instead. Glad you love it pretty!

The Beach

If I had a choice, I would definitely choose a beach trip over a pool trip, so I was thrilled when Mollie took to the sand with such excitement. She loved the castles that dad built, mom burying her feet and Grandpa making her pools to splash in. And she was especially excited about the dinosaur she found on top of someone else's castle, that she borrowed to put on her own.

The Pool

Going swimming in the "Big Pool" was a highlight of the trip. Her first entry was in her undies at about 8pm on the first night we arrived. We tried to walk past the pool to our condo on the way home from late dinner, and that wasn't going to happen. Before we knew it, we had a naked, happy babe splashing around the pool. The next morning, we couldn't get back to the pool fast enough!Her smile never faded. Miss independent wanted to swim all by herself with her noodles, rafts, and sometimes without any floating device. She also loved jumping off the side and playing with the friends she met by the pool.

We were also lucky to have a visit from the Zanins and Mollie showed off her swimming, and lit up when Uncle Lee joined her in the water.

It's going to be a fun summer of swimming.

My mom went to Guernsey...

and all she brought me was this shell...

...which I was actually really excited about.

Then I was even more excited when she brought me out for cookies!

"I love you SOOOOOOOOO much" I said to my mom.

That made my mom so happy!