VACAY!!!

Last month Drew and I decided we'd take a long weekend trip down to South Florida where we would visit one of my very best friends and Drew's family. Two birds with one stone. Drew hasn't traveled down to Miami since he was 13, and he has aunts, uncles, a bunch of cousins, and grandparents down there. 12 years!!! Crazy huh? And some of them he hasn't even seen at all since then! Anyway it was really nice to get away from the day-to-day routine and to see family and friends - other than the fact that we spent a total of 2 hours on the actual beach the entire time we were there... :)

We arrived Thursday afternoon just in time to catch some rays on the beach and in time for a short run down A1A. It was a great start to the trip. Not to mention, that night I learned how to make sushi!!! It was so much fun! And SOO easy! I didn't realize how easy it was until I tried. I am definitely going to have to buy my own little sushi kit now. The fresh mahi-mahi and salmon were perfect in the rolls we made, and it was a great night and probably the highlight of my trip.

 Rockin' and Rollin'

Not a great pic, but it was sooo yumsie!!

Friday we traveled about an hour south to Miami where we visited Drew's Nannie and Grandpa. I was able to see the house that his grandfather built many years ago and where his mom grew up. Pretty neat-o. After that, we headed to his Aunt Nancy's house where we took us on a little detour into the Keys where we had an awesome dinner right on the water. I kind of felt like we were in the Caribbean. It was my first time down there, so it was pretty special!

 Key Largo

The beautiful sunset we watched while we ate!

Us with Aunt Nancy!

On Saturday Aunt Nancy invited some aunts and uncles over for lunch and then we stopped by Drew's Uncle Mark's house on our way out. He and his wife have five kids, who are adorable, and have an awesome house! It was built in the 1930s and has so much character to it. The family built a grotto on the property and have an awesome yard filled with tropical plants. It was definitely a worth-while stop. We headed back up to Ft. Lauderdale where I was able to spend the rest of our trip with my Melanie!!! We ate on the beach, went downtown for drinks and billiards, and spend the next two (cloudy) days snuggling together with her pups in her bed watching movies. It was the perfect way to spend time with her:

 

We did some other neat-o things in the meantime, like got some awesome drinks at Mai Kai, went shopping, ate fresh caught red snapper, etc. Just the usual in the life of a South Floridan.

I cannot wait to head back down there next March for her WEDDING!!!!!!! WOO HOO! I love you Melly Bear and I miss you everyday :)