Ft. Lauderdale — The First Vacay

Your first vacation experience Noelle — and it had everything: airports, plane rides, hotels, the beach, fireworks, and more. And I got to use the X100s the whole time instead of lugging around the big camera.

Here’s the shot of plane making its way to the gate. We woke up very early to make our flight down to Ft. Lauderdale — I loved how the sky looked as the plane rolled in.

There was so much going on in the airport. We gave you an apple and you just walked around looking at everyone and everything. Mom and I spent the better part of an hour chasing you around the terminal. The good news is that all of our fellow passengers loved you.

Did I mention you love apples?

Mom took a picture of you and me on the plane. You loved looking out the window (and pulling the shade up and down).

We found one of our favorite eating spots (Chipotle) right around the corner from our hotel. You love their pork.

And amazingly, we found a Juice Bar that had just opened the previous week, also right near our hotel. They had all fresh organic juices. They gave you a balloon and you posed with mommy. You also had your first juice with organge, apple, ginger, and kale.

The balloon made it all the way back to the hotel. It wasn’t tied to you — you held it the whole way. Our balcony overlooked the pool.

We took a shuttle to the beach every day and you loved the sand — like it was your personal giant sand box.

And watching other people…

And just having a lot of fun…

And pondering…

Mommy showed you the water. The waves and tide were very rough so we couldn’t let you wander and play much. You loved it though.

A different day — hat blown off — staring out into the ocean…

I took you down the shore and you kept trying to crawl into the water. You’re definitely a water baby, but that water didn’t have good things planned for you.

Back at the hotel, you held on to mommy on the balcony. We were getting ready to head back out.

Your new thing lately is that you hold on to me or mom so you can walk faster. You’re not afraid to walk everywhere on your own, but when you want to go faster you grab one of us. Mommy says it’s so you can lead us around.

We also used a stroller for the first time ever on this trip because we had to do so much walking (3 to 5 miles per day). You LOVED the stroller. In fact, when we told you we were getting ready to leave you’d go climb in the stroller on your own to tell us you’re ready to go.

I don’t have any pictures, but we celebrated my birthday with a great dinner and you got to watch some cool fireworks from the restaurant.

You’re awesome, Noie.

Love, Dad.