florida

Last week was our family vacation to Treasure Island, Florida. 

It was so great to spend time at the beach and by the pool. Even though we were just a short drive from Busch Gardens, we decided to stay close to our hotel and take in the local flavour. Owen still naps twice a day so we had short intervals of outdoor time. Luckily with American networks Nuno got to enjoy HBO and I got to watch all the Martha Stewart shows on Hallmark channel which made Owen's nap time great in our suite.

Here are some highlights; some food related and some not.

Starting off, we went to a place featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives called Keegans Seafood. The food here was fantastic. 

I had stone crab legs and Nuno had a grouper sandwich (actually, grouper cheeks). 

These two seafood dishes are what this part of Florida is renowned for. 

For dessert I had a Key Lime Pie.

On this trip we discovered that Owen loves to go out to eat. It combines his two favourite things, food and catching the attention of others. So we ordered him an entree off the kid's menu which came out on a frisbee. 

This is his new favourite toy, not that he knows how to throw one, but it makes a great drum.

Along with the seafood, Florida has amazing citrus. 

We went to the Orange Blossom three times while on vacation! Of course, the fresh squeezed orange juice from this place was like nothing we drink up here in Canada. I bought several Fallglo Tangerines, but what we were really going back for was their orange/vanilla twist soft serve. 

Again, something that drove Owen wild. He somehow managed to finish every kiddie cup we gave him. He actually screamed for more ice cream when he finished his cup. 

We arrived in Florida just in time to pick up huge discounts on Halloween merchandise at Target. I always wanted my kids to grow up with a tickle trunk of lots of neat costumes to play dress up. I picked up Owen's future Micheal Jackson costume for $2.50! Although MJ died while I was expecting Owen, I'll be sure he grows up learning how to dress up like the King of Pop.

Along with the MJ costume Owen also has magician, gorilla, fire fighter, swamp monster and barbarian costumes for future play.

Oh man, we discovered the most amazing place for Cuban Sandwiches!

The Floridian made the most delicious sandwiches, which are called Cubanos. It includes ham, roasted pork, Genoa salami, Swiss cheese, sliced pickles and mustard on Cuban bread which is really a French bread. So good if you're into sandwiches like I am.

While on vacation we had a small family birthday party for Owen with delicious carrot cake.

This was his first taste of cake and he was quite familiar with the taste of the icing, cream cheese! He licked the frosting first.

We might just have started a yearly tradition of a family vacation to Florida.

This past week away was a time I'll never forget.