We just got home from a 5 day excursion to the Florida Keys. I haven't been in almost 20 years...eekkk! And Mr.E has never been there. We figured it'd be an easy relaxing, jaunt with a toddler and pregnant Mama.
We stayed at Hawk's Cay which is in the middle keys. My family stayed their when we went last time (20 yrs ago). However, they have obviously upgraded and made it into a resort. Our room was nice, but not spectacular. I guess I have been spoiled by getting used to staying in condos and not hotels on past vacations. Little Lion's favorite part of the resort was the 3 pools. The resort pool was closest and HOT!!! They didn't heat the pool, but it was easily 95 degrees! What was nice though was they always were playing reggae music through the speakers which gave it a nice island feel :)
The kids pool area had a pirate ship and regular pool which was shady...not so hot :)
One of the neat features of the resort was the lagoon pool. It is made from the ocean water that they let in. So little fish and shells and other critters were in it. In the middle was a dock where you could jump off. Little Lion was brave enough to swim to the middle which is way over Mr.E's head!!
During the day, there are kayaks that you can rent and tootle around the lagoon. Mr.E wasn't very excited to paddle in circles, but a 3 year old was ;)
One of the coolest things that happened on our trip was on a walk around the lagoon. We were checking out the sealife in the canal behind it. I noticed something on the rocks with a few fish around it. Mr.E thought it was an anemone. I figured he knew more than me, but he kept an eye on it. All of a sudden he shouts, "It's moving!" I thought OMG it's squid...COOL! No, it was actually and OCTOPUS!!!!!! So awesome to watch it move through out the ocean. And did I have my camera with me....NO!!! GRRRR!!!!
Hawk's Cay also had a kid's play area with a playground which LL loved.
While he played, Mr.E and I played checkers. Mr.E made me take a picture at the end to show he was the winner....such a guy!!
As a pregnant lady, food was important ;) We ate at a lot of yummy dive restaurants. Each had their own unique twist, and more importantly, good food! Our goal was to either eat on the water or have a band playing. Little Lion loves both!
And you can't go to the Keys without having Key Lime Pie ;)
We took 2 trips to Key West. Our first trip was to the Most Southern Point in the US. We took the obligatory picture.
It was soooooo hot outside. We decided to check out the Key West beach which is not very exciting, but cooled off our toes and was gorgeous.
After talking with a few locals, we were told to check out the Butterfly Conservatory. It was amazing!! There were HUNDREDS of butterflies and birds and baby quail. Little Lion loved it!
After all that excitement, we decided to head back to the resort since it was nap time and it was super hot! Here is what we saw on the way out....
We had to wait for it to cross the road! And to show we were the furthest you could go.
Our 2nd trip to Key West was after nap time which meant cooler weather and sunsets! We headed to Mallory Square first to catch the sunset.
They have many street artists performing acrobats, tightrope walkers, guitar players, fortune tellers, and other instruments. LL was in awe of all the things going on! However the main event was the sunset! Here are some pictures from the evening.
After we walked around the touristy shops.
For dinner, we decided to take Little Lion to his first bar...The Famous Sloppy Joe's Bar!
Little Lion was in his glory! They had a live rock band ;) He was dancing up a storm!!
The funny story of the evening was after we left Sloppy Joes. If you don't know anything about Key West, Duval Street is kinda like Bourbon St. in New Orleans...lots of bars and exciting nightlife. We were walking back to our car, and I was holding LL's hand and Mr.E was on the inside. All of a sudden a visibly drunk lady came dancing out of a bar singing loudly. I stop and stop LL, so she doesn't do anything like fall into him ;) Instead she proceeds to flash us and the neighboring bar patrons. EEEKKKK my 3yr old's vision!!!! He really didn't get it. But the funny thing was that since I stopped to hold LL back since I knew she was going to do something crazy, I blocked Mr.E's view of it...hahahahahaa! He was a little pouty he missed the exhibition ;)
My most memorable experience was feeding the Tarpons at Robbie's Marina in Islamorada. We got a bucket of fish...eeewwww
And walked out to the dock. You could see the hundreds of HUGE Tarpon just waiting for lunch ;)
You dangled a fish above the water.
And this is what happens....
Pictures do not even do it justice!!! The excitement of not knowing when one was going to jump! Plus they are HUGE!! Here is a video of brave Mr.E.
Here is a shorter video, but watch the ending! So exciting!!!
We had a great time relaxing and enjoying family time in the Keys!
Our next vacation will be as a family of four!!
Then he went to the toys. His first choice...an ironing board :) He's going to make a great husband one day :)
Before we left LL posed by the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree. It's going to be their theme for this week. My *gifted* child points to the bulletin board and says "Mommy, it says Chicken, Chicken Boom Boom!" Hey that's close!!!
We even had some time to jump on the trampoline.
I got him ready and put him in a cute outfit and ready to go. Do you think LL was going to be cooperative and let me take his picture??? NOOOOOOO!! Doesn't he know this is a milestone and a Mom MUST take a picture??? This is the majority of pictures I got.....he does have a cute butt though :)
I did actually manage to get a FEW of his face. 
And one with his friend C...they are only 2 weeks apart in age...LL looks shrimpy! 
I left quickly while he was occupied. I enjoyed my first morning alone in a few months by having donuts with C's Mom and grocery shopping without a spaceship cart!!! I picked LL up and he had a good day :) A great report from his teacher :) And told me he didn't want to go home, but back to school!!! Those things make a Mommy happy! Aww my big boy is growing up!!
