First family vacation with Emma

The Burrows June 2011 travel as a group of four (plus 2 cats)...

Yes, all four of us drove from MA to MN, but that doesn't really count as a "vacation".   This was the first trip just for fun that we have been on as a family since Emma was born.  I have to say it was a huge success.  There were so many things that could have gone wildly wrong traveling with 2 small kids but we just had fun start to finish.  The girls did great with all the car and airplane trips so long as there was a movie for Ada to watch and Emma had a place to squiggle around (one of our laps) and plenty of food to eat.

We stayed with my folks- this was the first time we've been down and it was even nicer than described.  We got to spend loads of time in the pool and go out on the boat a couple of times too.  Emma LOVES the boat- the faster the better- I think I finally have found my roller coaster/ snowboarding buddy.  Ada was way more excited about swimming in the pool.  all. day. long.  There's a cool butterfly garden with hiking trails near their house and we went for a nice walk surrounded by palm trees and mangrove.  We also saw a great blue heron on that walk.

We hit the beach near their house which is on a canal, and made it out to the open ocean too.  Amazingly when we got to the ocean there was a pod of dolphins about 50 ft off the beach just swimming around.   It was so beautiful to see.  Tony and I had seen "Big Miracle" the night before so I was primed to see ocean mammals.  Yes, because we were staying with Nana and Gampa we had built-in babysitting so we could sneak out to have a couple of dates:)

Emma has been fascinated with birds for weeks, but Minnesota in the winter isn't exactly the best place for birdwatching.  She was so excited to see all the seagulls, pelicans,  herons, osprey, and ibis.  And in fact she said "bird" for the first time while we were there...

The ocean was the highlight for me.  Tony, Don, and Ada built an awesome sand castle and Don even brought a real shovel to dig into the sand and make it super huge.  Ada and Emma climbed on top which they of course thought was fantastic.  Ada ran back and forth to the water's edge collecting buckets of water to add to the "river" and a big hole that Papa built.  Emma and Nana made a big batch of "clam soup".  We all made it into the water and spent quite a while enjoying the waves and watching the pelicans and seagulls flying and fishing.   The beach was filled with seashells and we were able to collect  some to bring back to have in Minnesota and for Ada to bring in to school to show her friends.

***Beach pictures are on a different camera...coming soon***

As you might be able to tell from the looks on their faces in the airport picture above (it's on the way home, they're sitting on the window together), the girls really got to play and develop their relationship as well on this trip.  They were sleeping in the same room (they don't usually) and they thought that was HILARIOUS!  In fact, the grown ups thought it was pretty funny too when they were up giggling after bed time.  We've been putting them together since we've been home and they are loving it!

Tony and I spent a bit of time plotting on when we can get back again to the sunny oasis that Florida is.  We certainly enjoyed it even more coming from a cold place and going to a warm place.  Sandals, shorts, swimming, and lots of smiling.

Thanks Nana and Gampa Don for having us.  We had a blast!!