Dinosaur World

We saved the best for last! Our last stop on our mini vacation was to Dinosaur World - a little boy's dream! Carson and Tanner love playing with and acting like dinosaurs, and we knew they would be thrilled to see life-size dinosaurs!

Posing with the Triceratops before entering...

After you walk through the gift shop and pay to enter, you walk out of the doors and into, truly, a "dinosaur world"! Tanner was glued to the giant Brachiosaurus!

You walk down a pathway and into a wooded area with bridges and streams and all types of dinosaurs everywhere. Carson was great at noticing which ones he knew, like the Stegosaurus... 

Dinosaurs in the water, and drinking from the water, so cool!

The BIG T-Rex!

Another Triceratops... 

There were areas to explore for the kids, including fossil digging... 

This specific fossil dig was led by a staff member, and the kids were allowed to keep 3 of the real life fossils they dug up. Carson walked away with a stingray tooth, and 2 shark teeth.

Our final activity before the rain poured in was this fun playground! 

Dinosaur World was alot of fun and a perfect way to end our little vacation with the boys. We were all very tired from our activities but enjoyed being together and relaxing for a few days!

More Vacation Fun

On our third morning of vacation we used Sharon's passes to get into a campground resort that's super close to their house. This campground had a huge pool, kiddie area, playground, and water slide. 

 

 

The boys had a huge pool to themselves and Matt and I were actually able to relax and enjoy swimming without tons of people around. 

The kiddie area had a shallow pool and water fountain. The water coming out of the fountain was freezing, but they enjoyed lounging and playing. 

 

 After a great morning swimming, we grabbed some lunch at the resort, and headed home to pack up and nap! 

Lido Key

After good naps, we took the boys to one of our favorite restaurants in Sarasota, Two Senoritas. They have the best mexican cuisine, it's delicious!

The boys love chips and salsa. We had to get them their own bowl to share! 

After dinner, we went to Daddy's favorite ice cream shop on St. Armand's circle, the Big Olaf Creamery. Carson and Tanner both picked which ice cream they wanted. The tie-dyed brightly colored ice cream was the winner! 

Mmmmm! 

One of our favorite things to do on the west coast is to watch the sunset. It was a bit cloudy on this evening, but it was still a beautiful night at the beach. 

 

 We put the boys suits on after ice cream because we knew they'd want to play in the water again. Our sunburned little fishies... 

Wonder what they were talking about?! So sweet! 

Daddy and his boys... 

What a beautiful evening on the beach! 

And how do you end a perfect evening? With a chocolate peanut butter pie from Yoder's. Delicious!! 

Siesta Key Beach

After the Glazer Children's Museum, we drove to Sarasota and spent our first night. We got up bright and early, hit up Dunkin Donuts for some much needed coffee, and headed for our favorite beach in all of Florida, Siesta Key Beach!

We were ready to set up for the day and have some fun! 

The sand on Siesta Key is pure white and is super soft! The water is much more clearer and calmer than the east coast, and it even has a bit of an aqua tint. So relaxing! 

Mommy and her 2 sweet boys... 

The boys were ready to hit the waves with Daddy right away! 

Tanner is such a beach baby! 

Some nice teens next to us let the boys use their boogie board. They loved playing with it! Daddy gave them both a little ride first... 

Then they gave each other rides after that... 

Tanner was giddy with excitement! 

Matt even gave Carson a little "surfing" lesson... 

We had such a relaxing morning on the beach! We headed home for lunch and naps to gear up for our next vacation outing! 

Glazer Children's Museum

Matt and I were excited to plan a little family vacation this summer. We picked a few days to head to the West coast and stay at Matt's sister's house in Sarasota while they were on their own family vacation out of state. A groupon popped up one day in my email for the Glazer Children's Museum in Tampa, and we knew we had to take advantage of the awesome deal and visit while we were there. 

This children's museum was perfect for the age and stage that both of our boys are at. There were 2 stories of  nothing but fun stuff to do! 

There was so much to do that Matt went with Tanner and I went with Carson separate ways on the first floor because we were all so overwhelmed with it all. 

 Matt and Carson building...

I think the favorite activity of this whole museum was climbing through these raindrops. The boys were not scared of the heights and spent alot of time exploring. 

 They just kept going higher and higher! So much fun!

Daddy showed Carson and Tanner this fun soccer game. They could watch themselves on a monitor that made them look like they were at a really big soccer game, then they'd try to block the balls. 

The rock climbing wall was more of a hit with Matt than the boys! Silly Daddy! 

In the art room, they had 2 staff members leading a group of kids in this olympic paint project. Carson didn't really understand what he was making, but loved the paint nonetheless! 

His finished olympics project... 

I have over a hundred pictures of all the fun we had at this museum, but here are a few of the highlights. Carson loved the fire station area. He dressed up like a fireman (quite a handsome one!)...

Then slid down the fire pole to Daddy at the bottom... 

Then the boys pretended to drive to an actual fire in the firetruck. It was so cool! 

Carson also loved this pizza making station. Maybe a future pizza maker?! He was really good at this!  

Daddy showed the boys how fun it is to press your face and hands up against this fun sensory board! They were cracking me up! 

Tanner loved playing in this little pretend vet clinic. He loved all of the animals! They also had a play Publix grocery store complete with carts and play food.

TT giving the kitty a drink... 

After a few hours of FUN in the museum, we let the boys play in the downtown splash area which was right next to the museum. We had such a wonderful afternoon!