Florida Birthday

Kevin surprised me with a trip to Florida for my birthday this year!

And by surprised me, I mean that he mentioned it a couple weeks before my birthday, researched the best deals and we planned it all out together.  He figured it would be a fun treat to head to the ocean in November.  That's my kind of surprise :)  Both he and Olive had the week of Thanksgiving off so he figured it would be a fun time to get away to somewhere warm.  He was right!  I've never celebrated my birthday at the ocean before.

I'm always thankful when a stranger offers to snap a whole family picture of us.

We took a late night flight out of Indianapolis the night before my birthday.  It was the first time flying late in the evening with the kids and they did great.  We usually fly in the morning or afternoon to try to catch some flight during nap time.  We didn't get to Kevin's parent's condo until midnight, but everyone was so excited about the trip that it worked out just fine.

The next morning was my birthday.  We had donuts, enjoyed a relaxing morning and then headed to the zoo.  The day was supposed to be one of the coolest days while we were there so the zoo was the perfect outing.  The weather was perfect!!  It really is one of the prettiest tropical zoos.  We would HIGHLY recommend going to the Naples Zoo if you ever get the chance.

We got to feed the giraffes.  Olive has done this a couple of times.  It was Fletcher's first time.  The giraffes were really hungry so it was fun.

 The kids took turns riding around in the stroller.  The animals were all out and about since the weather was so nice.  The zoo not crowded at all.

Everything was still in bloom so it was fun to stop and smell the roses.

There was a fascinating exhibit at the zoo.  It was all of these animal sculptures that were made from trash washed ashore at the ocean.  It was wild to see all of the things that had been found at the ocean.  The kids had tons of questions about the items.  There was an octopus, fish, shark and so many more creatures made of out of sea trash.

We strolled through the zoo, checked out the playgrounds and snacked.  It was so nice.

We grabbed burgers on the way home and then all took a nap!  We headed to my favorite restaurant for dinner - Tommy Bahama.  It was so fun to eat out on the patio with twinkle lights.  We love this place.  They serve their appetizer bread in the shape of a starfish, have delicious crab cakes, have live music/patio seating and we love their key lime pie.

The kids did great!  They seemed so big on this trip.  They ate lots of good food, enjoyed their surroundings and it was a lot of fun.

Downtown Naples was all decked out for Christmas!  It was so charming to be in a big city that was all decked out for the holidays.  We spotted Santa hanging out in the tree, all the palm trees were covered in lights and there were Christmas trees everywhere.  

We did some birthday shopping the following day.  I had the best luck at TJ Maxx.  Don't you love it when you find a fully stocked section of shoes in your size!?!?  9.5 always seem to get picked over fast so it felt like a jackpot to find so many good shoe options.  I always walked away with fun Christmas stuff.

We hit up the outlet mall another day.  We made wishes in the fountains, found some great deals and headed to our favorite Kate Spade store.  Olive loved all the sparkles.  I found some new earrings.  I just LOVE the studs from Kate Spade.  They're so classic.

It's time to link up with my favorite Welcome Wednesday ladies.
Be sure to join us with some fun links of your own and meet some new blog friends.

Whitney at Polka-Dotty Place / Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter 

Stefanie at Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam & Dylan Too / Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest / Facebook

Keri at Keri Lynn Synder / Faceobok / Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest 

Mauri at The American Patriette /  Facebook /  Pinterest / Instagram

Sarah at Sarah E. Frazer / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Pinterest 

Lindsay at Lindsay's Sweet World /  Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

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