We filled our days with lots of sunshine, beach time and family time with Nona and Papa!
While living away from any family can be challenging for many reasons (we’re missing them and not being able to see them all the time #1), Ryan and I have said repeatedly that we’re really lucky that both sets of grandparents live in places where visiting is a wonderful experience. You won’t hear us complaining about short vacations to visit family at the beach in Florida, that’s for sure!
Now that the boys are older and traveling is a little easier, trips to Sarasota for Easter have become somewhat of a tradition for our crew. While the timing of our visit (aka Spring Break) means Sarasota is quite busy, our main goal is to spend time with Les and Dianne, so we don’t feel overly obligated to see and do all the things we can while we’re there. (However, we’ve covered a lot over the years and have some solid Sarasota family-friendly recommendations if you’d like to check them out here: Sarasota with kids.)
Thursday and Friday: Peaches, Payne Park, Mote Aquarium and Crescent Beach
Our first full day in Sarasota was on Thursday and it started with a visit to Peachy’s, a local family-owned bakeshop in the area.
Oh my god, you guys.
Our family loves to seek out local donut gems when we travel (mainly because we wake up very early and they’re often the only places open before 8 a.m. – but also because we love donuts) and when Dianne thought of Peachy’s, we knew we had to try it.
We ordered one of each donut (they have four flavors every day) and suddenly threw in a soft pretzel because it sounded so good. When I tell you this was the best soft pretzel I’ve ever had in my life, I mean it. The pretzels were doughy and buttery with a subtle sweetness and saltiness that our entire family raved about. The donuts were incredible too!
Full of flour and sugar, we headed to Payne Park, where the boys enjoyed climbing on the circus-themed playground.
The rest of our Thursday was spent swimming, stopping for ice cream in downtown Sarasota, and relaxing on the swing in Les and Dianne’s backyard.
We walked the trails of Urfar Park on Friday morning before setting off on a new journey Mott Science Education Aquarium. The previous Seaside Mote Aquarium had been a favorite of our family for years so we were all really looking forward to visiting the new facility.
It was beautiful and a great stop for our family. We spent a little over two hours at the aquarium and the big tanks filled with otters, penguins, touch tanks and sharks were the highlights for our group.
And I couldn’t resist this vintage chunky hat from the gift shop!
(skirt: J.Crew Factory -Currently 50% off/t: nudes – JULIEF10 Saves 10% / Purse: Claire V.)
After the aquarium we apparently headed to the beach with the rest of Sarasota. We headed to Crescent Beach, which is the supposedly quieter southern extension of Siesta Beach, but it was completely packed with people. Thankfully, we weren’t there just to sit and relax so we didn’t face much trouble from the crowd.
Our primary mission was to splash around in the ocean, play in the tide ponds, and check out Point of Rocks, an area we’d read was known for good snorkeling.
The ocean water was too cold for me to last long, but Ryan and Chase went a little further and found some big shells, which got them all excited! We brought home a ton of our shells and beach goodies, but not before stopping at Captain Curt’s Crab & Oyster Bar as we left Siesta Key.
Caspersen Beach, Family Time and Easter
The boys were at the beach after Friday afternoon’s activities and got the idea to spend Saturday morning at Caspersen Beach, also known as the shark teeth capital of the world. We have loved this beach for years because it makes it relatively easy to find a good amount of small shark teeth.
Although our kids’ mission to find a megalodon tooth remained incomplete, we still had a great time and left and right before it got too bad.
We spent the entire Saturday afternoon at Ryan’s Uncle Dan and Aunty Dianne’s (his dad’s sister) house, which was wonderful. Ryan’s cousin Daniel is one of our best friends from college (and was the best man at our wedding) and he was in town over the weekend too, so we knew we had to find time for everyone to get together! We love whenever we get a chance to spend with Daniel, his wife Katie and their 2-year-old son.
Our boys joined a group of grandchildren at Dan and Dianne’s house and had the best time hunting for Easter eggs, swimming in the pool, and attacking the Easter Bunny Pinata.
We arrived back at Dianne and Les’ house in the evening and played bocce ball in the yard before eating pasta with Les’ homemade sauce, I swear I could drink it, it’s so good.
Easter was on Sunday and it was also a travel day for our family. Our flight back home didn’t leave until midday, which thankfully meant we had plenty of time for an egg hunt and a delicious Easter Brunch with Dianne and Les before we had to pack up and head out.
And now I’m ready to rock this Monday! When we got home last night we didn’t have much time to unpack and do normal weekend activities, so I have a lot of work to do this morning. I hope you all have a wonderful week!
