A bunny, a roo, and two little beans too.: Florida Fun!

Well, we're back from our vacation in Florida, and we had a great time!! The weather wasn't as warm as it usually is, but it was still upper 70's most of the days, which was perfect! Here are some highlights of our trip:

PLANE TRIP

The kids did really well on the flights - Eli, as we were taking off said, "This is the best ride ever!" And when we landed he said that that was "a fun time we had up there." Matea slept the whole way down except for the first 10 minutes and last 10 minutes, so that was great. The ride home she was awake most of the time, but was content to eat Cheerios and talk to everyone around us and dance on my lap. Happy baby.

Little waif, Eli, ready for the flight with a blanket and his puppy.

Studying the emergency procedures, and pointing out to Mommy that there is a slide on the plane!

Fast asleep!!

PLAYGROUND!

We found an AWESOME park, with a tiny train to ride (it wasn't working while we were there) and a train-themed main playground. Plus, water splash pads and a smaller playground that was bigger than our biggest playground here. Eli loved it!!

"I climbed the cowcatcher!"

This was Eli's favorite structure in the park.

Eli got really good at crossing these ropes.

Matea's first swing! She loved it!!!

Eli did too! He said this chair looked like a rocket ship.

Part of the other playground.

More swinging! (and look at those pigtails!) :)

SAND AND SURF!

It was cooler than normal for Florida, so we only made it to the beach one time unfortunately. But it was nice and warm and a gorgeous day. The water was cold so we didn't swim, but instead spent our time looking for shells, playing in the sand, and walking the beach. The kids loved it!

We weren't sure if Matea was going to like the ocean, but she liked the waves and was all smiles!

Schneider family hard at play: Daddy dug a deep hole, Mommy made the sand castles, and Eli was in charge of road construction. We had a so much fun!

Checking out the hole.

Yep, it looks safe for my truck to play in.

Eli liked going in the hole himself too.

Matea did NOT like the hole. :)

Happy beach baby!

Jon and Eli . . . I love this picture!

AROUND TOWN!

There were quite a bit of other things to do around Ft. Myers besides the beach and the pool and the park, so we went exploring around town too. We went to the Manatee Park hoping to find, you guessed it, manatees, but they had moved to other waters (I guess they didn't get the memo that they are supposed to stay at the park that's named for them so all the tourists can get pictures). And on Saturday, Jon and I successfully pawned off the kids so we could be by ourselves . . . wait, I mean, Grandpa and Grandma jumped at the chance to watch the kiddies so Jon and I could go to the places that the kids would find boring beyond belief. Jon and I went looking for pottery (my obsession) and found it (yay!!) and then visited the Thomas Edison Winter Estate which was extremely interesting, if not cheap. We really enjoyed ourselves - thanks Dad and Sherry for letting us get a vacation during our vacation!!

No manatees at the park, but Elijah successfully wrangled a crocodile for us.

We went to a Florida version of a cider mill - a juice factory! Eli loved this giant orange, the fresh-squeezed limitless orange juice samples, and the playground there. Oh, and they gave him free ice cream too. What a great place!

Lunch time view from our table Saturday at Bert's Bar and Grill in Matlacha. It looked like a shack, and pretty much was, but the food was really good and the view couldn't get much better!

Jon with a giant statue of Thomas Edison, in front of a Banyan tree on the estate that covers more than an acre!

Pretty palm tree in front of the Edison pier.

Pretty girl in a pretty garden.

Enjoying our solitary day together!

AROUND TOWN!

Dad and Sherry have a swimming pool in their community (that's heated to a wonderful 90 degrees - heaven!), and we took full advantage of that! Eli was really excited to get back in the water and after getting his new floaties and swim vest on he was off and paddling. And Matea loved loved loved the water, and loved loved loved her starfish float. Elijah was insistent that he push Matea around the pool (even to the deep end), and he did a great job. I'm looking forward to more swimming this summer!

Swimming is fun! Come on in Mommy!