Adams Family Visits for the Holidays: Marco Island (January 2016)

(Continuing where I left off months ago...)

It truly was the best vacation with my family over the holidays last year!  We spent a week in south Florida, a week in Orlando at Disney World, a few days in Key Largo, and then finished off the adventures with three nights on Marco Island at the GORGEOUS Marriott resort.  Dallas wasn't able to join us with work and sickness and Stuart and Gel had to fly home to get back to school.  It was a lot of fun to end our adventures with just my parents, Dax, and I.

Marco Island is about 1.5 hours west of where we live.  It is just south of Naples and is such a beautiful island.  It is very peaceful and mostly populated with retirees and tourists.
The second we walked into the lobby, we knew we were going to get spoiled!  My dad has been a loyal member of the Marriott family for decades now and since it was their off season, they royally hooked us up!  They upgraded mom and dad's room to a massive suite with wrap around balcony and even gave us an adjoining room for Dax and I.  It was stunning!

The lobby looking out to the ocean and pool areas

Our views from the wrap around balcony!

Mom and Dad's room

They even had a TV on their bathroom mirror!  Daxton's mind was blown.

More views from our rooms

The resort was located right on it's own private beach lagoon.  The weather was still pretty cloudy for most of our trip, but we loved it regardless.  After getting settled into our room, we walked out onto the beach.  It was such an interesting texture, very compact and easy to walk across.  Once we got closer to the water, the sand broke up into soft white powder. 

Even with cloudy skies the views were still gorgeous.

We brought sand toys and found some empty beach chairs and set up camp.  Daxton immediately made himself at home building sand castles and looking for shells.

Aren't my parents the cutest!

Gotta love Daddy's leg kick :)

I loved watching Dax and Grandma play in the ocean waves.

This little man belongs by the sea.

He is such a little beach bum!  I love those golden waves in the wind.

Grandma and Daxton had so much fun searching for cool shells to bring home.  Much to mom's surprise though, the second mom would show Daxton a shell he would grab it out of her hand and throw it back into the ocean.  Then he would tell her it needed to go back to it's home.  Needless to say, she started to hide them in her pockets :)

As I was relaxing on one of the beach chairs, I looked over to find Daxton like this...

I guess the 70 degree temperature wasn't cold enough to keep him out of the ocean...clothes and all!

Mom and Dad snapped these pics while I was off playing.  It was fun to actually be in some pictures for once since I'm usually behind the camera.

After a "chilly" couple hours, we walked back to the hotel and checked out one of their large pools.  We were super excited to find that it was heated to almost hot tub temps.  Dax immediately got in, wearing his regular clothes, to warm up.

The next day we decided to drive around and explore Marco Island a bit.  Mom and I were both very excited to see all the different Florida Panther crossing signs.  We had no clue there were even Florida panthers!

We decided to get out and explore Tiger Tail beach a little.  Dax and I didn't take mom and dad across the lagoon to the actually beach, but we had fun exploring the boardwalk paths and checking out the fresh water lagoon.

These two buddies are everything to me!

Dax loved running up and down the boardwalk.

I love my parents so much.

They are truly the most amazing examples of unconditional love, support, and generosity.  It is the most amazing feeling, watching them build such strong relationships with Daxton.  He really loves his Grandpa and Grandma!

After exploring Marco Island a bit, we went back to the hotel to relax, play on the beach, and catch another gorgeous sunset.  Daxton loved kicking his legs over the balcony for a better look at the landscapers below.  I still can't get over how stunning that view was from our balconies!

First glimpses as the sun descends

Grandpa and Daxton exploring as the sun sets behind them.

More playtime at the beach

One of my absolute favorite shots from our trip...

I love these two together so much!

As we drove back through Alligator alley the next day on our way home, we made a few pitstops to look at the unique scenery and use the bathroom...or in this case...for Grandpa to teach Daxton how to pee on all the fish in the everglades!

And yes...Daxton still talks about how much fun it was to pee on the fish.

It was such a fun trip with Grandpa and Grandma.  We loved having them in town and all the fun adventures we were able to do.  There's nothing I love more than creating lasting memories with the people we adore.
Thanks for coming to visit us!!

Adams Family Visits for the Holidays: Key Largo (January 2016)

(Picking up where I left off months ago :)

After spending two straight weeks of fun adventures with my parents, two little brothers, and sister in law, you'd think we would be exhausted...

But we weren't!

Bradley had to fly home right after we all got back from Orlando and Dallas had to fly to Chicago for work, but the rest of us continued south into the Florida keys.  Key Largo is only about 1.5 hours south of where we live and we thought it'd be fun to show Stuart and Gel what the Florida Keys looked like before they flew back to Utah.  We ended up all staying at the Marriott Resort in Key Largo located right on the water and it was AMAZING.  We had so much fun for three days as we explored different adventures in the keys.

On our drive down to Key Largo, we decided to stop at the yummy fruit stand, Robert is Here, for the second time on our trip.  We ate yummy shakes, looked at all the fun animals, and bought some fresh produce to bring along on our trip.  Daxton was so cute with Uncle Stuart.  You could tell that Daddy was gone, because Dax immediately started hanging on Stuart and Grandpa even more.  We were all pretty excited when we found a pinwheel tractor that reminded us of sweet little Liam.

When we checked into the Marriott, Daxton immediately made himself at home.  I swear that kid has stayed in more hotels in his four years than most people do in their entire lives!

Each of our rooms had gorgeous balconies looking out towards the hotel grounds and ocean.  It was absolutely stunning!  Daxton loved climbing all over Uncle Stuart and playing in all the soft pillows.  He is quite the fun little travel buddy!

While everyone else was relaxing and getting settled in, Grandpa, Dax, and I decided to explore the hotel grounds a bit.  It is built right up against the water and had a fun little beach, pool, lots of paths, and cabanas to check out.

Grandpa and Dax loved playing in the hammocks!

These two little buddies melt my heart!

Since the temperature had dropped into the low 70s, it was a bit too chilly for us to want to jump in the ocean (Florida spoiled!)  Daxton still had a blast running along the beach and dipping his toes in the water.

I loved this sign we found with all the bright colors against the colors of the palm tree.  It was fun to read how far away each of the locations were.

Exploring more of the hotel grounds...

I am still constantly amazed at all the unique beauty that surrounds us daily.  I love all the different tropical plants and vibrant colors that are SO different from where I grew up.

On our second day in Key Largo, the weather was still in the 70s, so we decided to do some fun dry activities.  We decided to explore Robbie's, a local shopping and dining spot that turned out to be TONS of fun.

There were several locally owned shops/shacks filled with all sorts of art and sculptures to look at.  I loved all the colorful signs and decor throughout the shopping areas.

We made our way back to the main restaurant where you can buy frozen fish by the bucket to feed the giant tarpon in the ocean.  Along with the massive school of giant tarpon that constantly swim near the docks, there are also several pelicans and other large birds that circle in hopes to steal the fish before it gets to the tarpon....basically it was my mom's worst nightmare :)

We all had so much fun (especially Daxton) watching the tarpon swarm, eat, and even jump out of the water as we started to throw the fish.  Auntie Gel was a sweetheart and kept a good hand on Dax so I could take pictures.  Grandpa was quite the character constantly trying to scare Grandma as the big pelicans would swoop in closer.

Daxton was so brave and loved taking his turn feeding the tarpon!  Grandpa even ended up getting another bucket since Dax was having so much fun.

Family pictures on the windy dock

We could have stayed there forever looking at all the fish and birds.

So many pelicans!

After we finished feeding the tarpon, we walked around all the shops and looked at all the interesting artwork.  It was made out of all sorts of mediums.

Before heading back to the hotel, we made one more stop at the Rain Barrel, another fun shopping area filled with local artists.  Dax and I had a blast watching the big tank of hermit crabs.

Back at the hotel Daxton continued to explore and play all over the grounds.  He especially loved the bridge connecting us to the amazing restaurant.  We spent three days exploring the keys and although it wasn't the best weather, with cloudy skies and scattered rainstorms throughout our stay, we still had a really great time...as you can clearly see from this little boy's face!