First Beach Weekend

We have been saying for a couple of months now that we want to get the kids to the beach, and this weekend we finally did! Rylie has been to the beach a few times with my mom and loved it, so Brian and I were looking forward to taking her ourselves. Bryce had only been to the beach once back in December when we took our Christmas pictures and didn't really care for it, so we were hoping he would like the sand this time, and he sure did.

My good friend Carol lives down in Sarasota, and we have been trying to get together, so we took a trip down to Siesta Key beach and met up with her and her family. I don't know if Rylie was more excited to go to the beach, or stay in a hotel room. She was so excited when we got to our hotel Friday night.

I want to give a quick shout out to the Best Western Midtown hotel! When we were looking for hotels to stay in, this was the only hotel with decent ratings that was under $100 a night. We didn't want to spend a lot of money on a hotel room since we knew we wouldn't be there much, so we decided to give it a try. I was a little skeptical at first, basically because of how affordable the rooms were, but I have to say that it was a great hotel. It was super clean, which is always my main concern when staying in a hotel. There wasn't one spot on the sinks or in the shower, and there was not one speck of dust anywhere. The room we stayed in had two double beds, a table and two chairs, a refrigerator, and plenty of room for Bryce's pack n play. They offer a continental breakfast every morning from 7-11, which we ate on Saturday morning. We had french toast sticks, biscuits with gravy (the kids had theirs with jelly), fruit, muffins, bagels and orange juice and coffee to drink. Everything was so good! Every employee we came into contact with was very pleasant and helpful. We didn't use the pool while we were there, but it looked very nice. If you are looking for an affordable Sarasota hotel, I highly recommend the Best Western Midtown!

OK, so back to the fun. We met up with Carol and her family at Siesta Key beach on Saturday morning. Once we got there, Rylie ran to the ocean and jumped right in. She loved being in the water! To my surprise, so did Bryce! He couldn't get enough. He loved when the waves splashed him in the face and was giggling the whole time.

I didn't get too many pictures during the day because I didn't want to take my eyes off of the kids. I did manage to get a few, though...

Rylie had a great time filling the buckets with sand and water. She seemed to always be doing some kind of "project".

I had so much fun playing in the water with Bryce! He doesn't like to swim in any kind of flotation device (the kid seriously thinks he can just jump in and swim on his own) so we hung out in the shallow water and rolled around in the waves.

While we were playing in the water, Carol's daughter Chloe got some sun...

Rylie couldn't get enough of any of it! She was like a little fish in the ocean. I got a cute shot of her running to jump in the waves while Daddy and Bryce played.

Rylie had a great time playing with Camdyn!

After a while of playing in the water, Bryce's eyes got really swollen and red, so we had to get out for a while. The kids had a little lunch (thank you SO MUCH Carol for coming prepared!!!) and then Bryce took a nap on me while I relaxed in one of the chairs under the umbrella. I rarely get snuggle time with my kids anymore, so I certainly enjoyed that.

After everyone had their fill of the sun and sand, we packed up and headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up and head over to Carol's house for dinner and more play time. My kids decided they were too excited to nap, so we took baths and showers and headed out.

As you can see here, Rylie and Camdyn got a little too much sun. I swear we slathered sunscreen on these kids all day! I guess it wasn't enough, though. Rylie's eyes were pretty red too. Apparently my kids don't do well with salt water.

We had such a great time hanging out! The kids all played well together and the adults were able to actually have a nice meal and chat for a while.

It was so funny when we showed up and Rylie was dressed in the same outfits as Carol's girls. I did manage to get one decent picture of all four kids together. And I had to snap this cute picture of Camdyn and Bryce. She was like a little mother hen to him. It was so cute! Look at him...already getting attention from the older girls.

Thank you so much Carol and Chris for your hospitality! We had a great time and I soooo wish you guys lived closer. I can't wait until we can get together again!

We really had a great weekend! Our first hotel stay as a family went off without a hitch and I can't wait to do it again!