We did our annual Tucker family vacation/reunion last week.  This year’s destination was Florida.  We spent a few days at the Marriott Grande Vista in Orlando, then drove down to stay at Marriott Crystal Shores in Marco Island.

As an added bonus, both Chris and Joe celebrated their birthdays while we were with extended family.  This little guy is 3 years old!

And “the big guy” is 33 years old!

My mother-in-law, my husband, and my father-in-law

We truly enjoyed the time in the pools, on the beach, and catching up with family.

Apparently it was really warm while we were down there.  I honestly didn’t even notice.  I spent most of my time there hanging out in tank-tops and shorts or swim suit.  Plus, seeing the ocean each time I looked up made it feel cooler!

My brother-in-law and niece on their parasailing adventure!

There were plenty of activities at the resorts.  The resort in Orlando had some really cute kid-centered activities in their “Tree House”.  Joe was able to make his own mug cake (with some assistance from the Tree House staff) and both he and Jack had fun playing with the toys there.  This was the perfect hang-out spot for the few times we were rained out of the pool.

There was a lot to do at the Marco Island resort, too.  Joe loved the swimming pools and the beach (as did Jack) and both had fun playing foosball (well, as much as a 3 year old and 13 month old can “play” foosball) and chess!

On our second-to-last day, we were all feeling a bit tired of the sun and the beach, so we decided to head into Naples to check out the Children’s Museum.  I thought for sure that the boys would want to play with the exhibits outside, but no – they wanted to be outside in the water!

I eventually took Jack inside for a diaper change, leaving Chris and Joe outside.  Jack and I headed up to the toddler area on the 2nd floor of the museum, and Jack had a blast.

We flew out of Ft. Myers airport on Saturday.  I’d managed to get of our departure airfare through points (we only had to pay $6/ticket for a processing fee) but this meant that I had to select a later flight rather than the first one in the morning.  I’ve learned that when you travel with kids, it’s almost always a good idea to get the earliest flight that you can.  Yes, it may mean getting up at 4 am, but it’s worth it.  Flights are often delayed, and I’d rather start my travels with two fresh, mostly well-rested children than with two kids who had to miss a nap to get to the airport or who are approaching bed time.

Anyway, we flew out of Ft. Myers but, guess what?  Our flight was delayed.  By an hour.  And we only had an hour in Atlanta till our next flight.  Rats.  I’ve learned to just go with it when these things happen.  Getting anxious and worried won’t make the plane fly any faster!  We got there 5 minutes before our connecting flight was supposed to depart but, thankfully, it was delayed by 20 minutes.  We ended up running from terminal C to terminal B and were the very last ones to board the flight.  I didn’t care – just so long as we made it!  I really didn’t want to wait another 2 hours for the next flight.  But honestly, I’m thinking that the next time I fly through Atlanta, I’m wearing running shoes.  I’ve run through that airport far more times than I’d like to admit.

Our luggage naturally didn’t make it, but that was fine.  We de-planed in Norfolk and went straight to the lost luggage department.  Chris gave them our baggage tags, they gave us all of the info that we would need to track where our suitcases were and when they would be delivered to our door, and that was that.  The bags showed up less than 24 hours later 🙂

All in all, a great trip with minimal stress.  I’m still in my post-vacation recovery mode (what do you mean I can’t see the ocean each time I look out the window?! and what’s with all of this laundry?!) but feeling refreshed and ready to go back to everyday life!