Naples: Downtown, Zoo & Gardens

I'm back to finish documenting our trips to Naples a couple weeks ago.  We had a blast.  The weather was lovely and much warmer than it was in Indiana.  The sunshine and break was good for all of us.  We spent a lot of time at the pool, ocean, zoo, botanical gardens and our favorite spots.  It's definitely more crowded in November than it is when we come in the Summer.

We watched Notre Dame play football poolside.

Went for walks.

And really enjoyed hanging out.  I kept finding these two snuggling up on the couch or out on the patio.  I think they enjoyed the break from our regular routine, too.

We went to the outlet malls.  People in South Florida always seem to have interesting dogs.  We make sure to ask if we can say hello to them.  These poodles were very friendly.  The kids loved them and their owner was proud to show them off.

Christmas lights on a palm tree.  They looked so pretty lit up at night.

Several different days we'd go do a fun outing in the morning and then head to the pool in the afternoon.  We'd swim during the warmest part of the day and then head to the pool grill for dinner.

We went to our favorite spot for dinner on our last night - Tommy Bahama.  It's in downtown Naples.  We love the food, atmosphere and walking around the nearby shops.  They're all pretty pricey so we mostly enjoy window shopping in the lovely weather.

Crab cakes, starfish shaped bread, key lime pie and cocktails (for Kev).

Dancing the night away.

Mischievous little man.

Naples Zoo:
I mentioned in my other post that Fletcher got Bronchitis on one of our last days.  He was pretty pitiful, but rallied for a trip to the zoo.  We did the monkey cruise, saw our favorite animals and went through pretty quickly.  It's always tricky to get sick on vacation.  Everyone has things they're hoping to do and you don't want to have to miss out.  So we changed our plans, rested and relaxed all morning and then shortened our usual zoo trip.  That way Olive still got to go and Fletcher took it easy in his stroller a lot of the time.

More sunshine = more freckles for Olive.

She's loving leopard & cheetah print lately so she couldn't wait to blend in with the animals.

She seemed to catch the cheetah's attention!

Downtown Naples:
It's so fun to be in a city when they first decorate for Christmas.  There's a buzz in the air and everyone is so excited to welcome in the holidays.  This sleepy Santa is a favorite.

Naughty or Nice??

Botanical Gardens:
It was a little cool on this day so we wore pants.  We hit all our favorite spots.

Playgrounds:
We always look forward to checking out new parks and playgrounds for some FREE FUN while we are on vacation.  This park - Sugden Regional Park - was really cute with the ocean themed play equipment.

And that wraps up our Naples trip!  Adventure awaits for sure!