Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Fall Vacation in Florida

This was our bedroom for 5 nights and 5 glorious mornings!!! I like to sleep with the blinds open so I can see the sunrise or sunshine in , it's a lovely thing to wake up too!!!! I do not know why I only do this on vacation!!!!I would sit out on our balcony and stare at the gulf of Mexico below!!!!
Our view!!!!
Miss C wasn't so keen of the gulf, she liked it WAY more then the Pacific ocean though, maybe because the gulf temperature was 84-86 everyday!!!!!By the last day though she loved it!!!!!
We went to the BEACH often, as she would scream--BEEEEE every time she saw it out the window or out on the balcony!!!!We collected more seashells then I'll ever know what to do with!!!
She knew exactly which sea shell she wanted, I would point out a medium size one and she almost always picked up the smallest ones!!!!
back from the beach, look at that sandy little bum!!!!!
Aunt Stacie and Grand dude came along too!!!!
We met Dad and Diane(my in-laws) for dinner in downtown St. Petersburg, first we went to the Pier but settled here at this British Tavern/restaurant!!! Guess what!!!! I ate Shepherds Pie!!!! It was made with Beef so I decided to give it a try and it was soooo GOOD!!!!!!!
The restaurants at the Pier didn't look so inviting!!! The fine dining place was completely empty so we took that as it must not be all that good or terrible expensive, anyways we decided to try somewhere else!!!!
An awesome sunset pic!!!!!That's me, my daughter Corie and Camdyn, my daughter Stacie and my Mother-in-law Diane.
My Mother-in-law gave me a wonderful Disney charm bracelet!!! She knows how much we love anything Disney!!!!Thank you so much for that!!!! I love it!!!!!
Great Grandpa and Grandma with Camdyn
The next day we decided to head over to the Don Cesar Hotel, isn't this a lovely pink Hotel????
The lobby!!!!
The back view!!!!
Miss Camdyn in her darling pink ice-cream bathing suit!!!!!



Sunset
Beautiful!!!!
After going to Sloppy Joe's in Key West to get a drink and visit the famous bathroom(I'll tell you about that another story)we decided to go to Sloppy Joe's here on Treasure Island!!!!It was right on the gulf and the food was so good!!!

Camdyn in her new sunglasses
back at the pool!!! Our place had an adult pool and a kid friendly pool, seperated from each other, so Miss C could walk right into the beach entry pool and we were more at ease knowing she could come and go as she wanted to!!!! And she played in that pool for hours and hours everyday!!!! We would love to get her -her own little kiddie pool now!!!!! Hmmmmm......the next project maybe????
just chillin in the baby pool!!!!
back to the beach again!!!!!

Friday afternoon, Stacie's friend Sheri came out to visit us and the girls had tickets to go to the New York Yankee versus the Tampa Bay Rays game, so I decided to go along and just get any ticket I could!!!!!It was alot of fun, although the Yankee's lost!!!!
Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter!!!!! I will tell you my Derek Jeter brush with fame story another time!!!!!
The New York Yankee Dugout!!!!! Can you see Derek Jeter????
After the game!!!!
We decided to drive down to Sarasota and eat at one of the places the Man Versus food guy ate at when in town!!!!The Old Salty Dog!!!! Famous for their fried hot dogs!!!! Chuck had one, he said it was good!!!
Then we went over to the Ca' d Zan, it was the winter home of John and Mabel Ringling. Their 2 museums and Art Museum and their mansion is here!!!! It is amazing!!!! Only Stacie and I took the tour, and we did it in about 2-3 hours, really you could spend all day here. It is so fun and so much to see. The museum had their private railroad car they traveled in during their circus days, as well as costumes and alot of the stuff they used in the circus days, like the truck mounted with a cannon used to shoot men out of it!!!!!
The beautiful pond and some of the moss draped oak trees!!!!
The house, the Ca' d Zan which in Italian means "house of John" was constructed in 1924 at a cost of $1.5 million. It is 36,000 square feet, they wanted a home that reminded them of their favorite destinations in Venice.
The back view and it's expansive marble terrace that sits on Sarasota Bay. Those 5 arch doors are the living room of the home.
Stacie and Miss C!!!! The rest of the family walked around the massive grounds and then headed out to a local gelatto shop!!!!
Alot of the statues on the property were of lions, angels and ladies. Miss C sitting in one of the many lion chairs!!!!
The ceiling in the ball room.
The living room
family beach photos!!!


I need to photo shop C.J. in there!!!!! He is busy with Law school and could not join us!!!


Running for her Auntie Stacie!!!!!

Miss C and I got up early on our last day here to head to the beach one last time!!! Mimi had her coffee at the beach and Miss C used it for her sand pail!!!!!
look at all those sea shells!!!!

I'm not afraid of the surf anymore!!!!!!
We finished our last day at Rain Forest cafe, as the day we were suppose to go there , we got soaking WET from the rain and we had to go home to change. More on that to come!!!!
hmmm... what do I want to eat???? We are tired of restaurant food!!!!!
Mommy and Camdyn looking at the Gorillas at the cafe!!!!
and the awesome aquarium!!!!!
One more HOO-HOO ride!!!!!


Saying good-bye. I cried, Corie cried and Stacie cried!!!! I always cry!!!! She will be home in December, but it still is hard saying good bye to her.
I will post about our first 4 days later, I caught the bug that Chuck caught on vacation.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh what a WONDERFUL family vacation!! I am from that area and oooh, how I LOVE the gulf beaches!!
Isn't the Don CeSar just gorgeous???
Little Miss C is just too precious in her little bikinis!
Thanks so much for sharing with us!
Hugs,
Lynn♥

~Let FREEDOM Ring!~

Deanna said...

Oh no, the bug! Hope you all are well now. I have been sick this week...miserable. Went to the Dr. today, not the swine flu, but am having a heck of a time.

Your pictures of your Fall Vacation are great! It looks wonderful and fun by all.

The ocean...ahhhhhhhh.

Your family is wonderful and you are a very blessed lady.

Take care,
d

AnjuGandhi said...

lovely photos
i feel like visiting this place
and the kids are so cute

Corie said...

We had SUCH a GREAT time...but seriously when do we not??!! I miss Stacie and the beach, disney, and all the fun!!! When can we go back???

Stella said...

Looks like you all had a lovely time. The beach is beautiful. Hope your bug isn't too bad. Thanks for sharing.

Abatevintage said...

OH sweet Jamie, I would've cried too. You looked like you had a blast, so many wonderful sites to see, and Miss C what a doll! Wow thank you for showing the pictures, I love to visit places I have never seen and never been. Try to feel better soon.

Blessings,
Heidi

Jule's Spot said...

Your photos are beautiful...I miss Camdyn...she is so precious! I wish we lived closer! I am glad you had a wonderful trip and seeing the sunshine cheers me up...gloomy in Indiana!!!!
Love ya
Julie

Chrissy said...

What a great family time you guys had! It is always hard to say good bye when you visit family! Your family is very fortunate though at how often you do get to see Stacie! Loved reading about your trip. Hope you are feeling better!
Love,
Chrissy

Fifi Flowers said...

Looks like a FAB vacation!!! Adorable little one!!!

blushing rose said...

Somebody is having WAY TO MUCH FUN! in a WAY TO BEAUTIFUL PLACE! ... enjoy! The wee one is DARLING!

Have a lovely snuggly eve. TTFN ~Marydon

Buttercup said...

Miss C gets cuter every day. Thanks for taking us on this great vacation. I was at the Ringling Mansion too when I was in Florida two winters ago and so enjoyed the tour. So glad a good time was had by all.

Stacie Gibbs said...

I loved the photos and loved having you all out here in the sunshine state...well except for that day at Animal Kingdom ;)!! Love ya!

M.L. @ The House of Whimsy said...

I LOVED this post. You are certainly a family who knows how to vacation right. What fun!!!
Miss Camdyn is adorable in all her pix, but I loved the sunglasses and "sandy bottom". Ha!!
So glad you had a wonderful time together.
M.L.

tracy said...

Oh Jamie...
your home...welcome back.
Your pictures are great!
I loved every one of them and even felt a little warmer as I looked.
What a nice room you guys had,I too would have kept the blinds open.
The beach looked so inviting,and you and your family look all happy and healthy...thank you God.
I love those family pic's of you all in yellow and orange...did you buy the t-shirt's for the photo?
The pink hotel is so beautiful,you could use it on "pink Sat":)Most of all Miss C. looks so pretty in all her cute swim suites.You are a happy Grandma...oui?
I got the t-shirts for my Billa,they are so cute,thank you for sending them.I will send you a check in the mail for the second t-shirt(which by the way,I love it goes so nice with a pair of pink pants I bought her) when I return from my road trip.

Oh my, I have said enough..I have to pack for our trip,I'll see talk with you in a few days.
PS: you look great in your pic.s
I hope you feel better soon.
Hugs Gracie

Bunny said...

Sure looks like you had a wonderful time I love the beach so I envy you waking up in the morning with that wonderful view. Little Miss is adorable those are treasured photos. It would be fun to make a collage for her to hang in her room.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jamie! I missed you!!! your trip looked awesome and all the beautiful hotels omgosh your pictures were excellent!! I love the family picture, that's such a nice keepsake. I'm thinking Miss C is turning into a beach baby. I love reading about your trips and all the neat places you go you take such nice pictures and it's almost like we are all there...I'm sorry to hear you and chuck were sick, so far me and the hubby haven't been. I knock on wood everyday that we don't get anything either...: ) By the way, I hate saying good bye too...When my mom comes to visit or I go there we always cry when we have to leave... ;)...Have a super weekend Hugs & Love Jennifer

Jil~Say It With Roses said...

I feel like I have been on a vacation! Thank you, I needed one, too and the beach is my favorite place to go.....everyone look so happy and relaxed and what a charmer Miss C is.
Wonderful post!
Jil

Leslie said...

Jamie... let me know next time you are going on vacation. I'm packing myself in your suitcase!