bienvenido a miami

Mark and I took a little vacation to Miami, FL. Just the two of us. Addelyn went to Papa and Nonnie Hoskinson's house and Papa and Nonnie Kramer's house. She had a blast, of course. Ate lots of fruit snacks, fished, and played with the kitties and new puppy, Sadie.

We also had an amazing time. We stayed in this sweet little condo on the beach (we have some hookups if you are interested, thanks to Dave Hansen and his Ebay searching a few years ago!). First of all, Miami was a very unique place. A cultural hub I would say. So many people there from so many places - visiting and living. We slept a lot, had great quality time together, read a few books (okay I did), laid on the beach, played frisbee in the ocean, worked out (this may sound dumb but how fun is it to be able to workout whenever you want, I forget what that feels like!), went to South Beach and walked around, ate out at fun places at night- we promised ourselves we could only go to unique "non-chain" restaurants, snorkeled in the middle of the ocean, played some cards, sat on the beach at night and looked at the stars, and just had a wonderful time being together and connecting. I figure from this time in life on, our vacations will be filled with lots of family memories. This year seemed to be a perfect year to go as a couple. I'm thankful we did.

Mark promised that one night I could go somewhere to get fresh seafood. We sat out on a patio by the ocean our last night and I ordered crab. I LOVE fresh seafood. LOVE it! Eating took me over an hour. Mark just watched me in kind of a gross amazement as I pulled apart the crab legs and devoured them. I was such a mess when I got done eating. Such a mess I walked quickly into the men's restroom to wash up....whoops. One of those embarassing moments of life in a full restaurant. ha ha

See our foreheads with marks on them from the snorkel equipment? This was on the glass bottom boat and we were in the middle of the ocean. It was about 20 feet deep and there were tons of cool fish swimming around. Mark LOVES the chance to snorkel and see the sea creatures. This is definitely a highlight for him. I was a little freaked at first- I couldn't get my equipment to work and the waves were huge. Mark tells our snorkeling story a little differently. He took the brunt of my fear/frustration and witnessed a bit of a tantrum in the middle of the ocean! Ahhh not one of my prouder moments. At a certain point though, I finally enjoyed myself. Until a fish nipped at my foot. I was done then.

Miami Ink in South Beach. We were up close by the shop but felt stupid and touristy so I made us walk across the street to take a picture.

The beautiful beach we enjoyed all week. I thought this picture captured our week. At times, Mark would get sick of laying out and finally bought googles at the local grocery store. Notice him on the right- just playing in the ocean with his goggles on. Gotta love my hubby.

Probably one of the best parts of the week- dates! So many of them....just the two of us. No agenda. No place to be at a certain time or babysitter to pay when we get home. Just some good connecting time as a couple.

What a great vacation. And how wonderful to get home to our little girl. We missed her way too much! Oh and a huge thanks to the grandparents for watching Addelyn- we are so thankful!