Bonita Beach

It's tradition that each year we vacation with my parents! We always look forward to it... and so does Nina! The annual trips (since Mr. Evans came into the picture) include Napa Valley, Las Vegas, Bonita Beach, Miami, Ireland... and now Bonita Beach again! Typically we go in April when the Wisconsin winter weather has worn us down and we need sunlight and warmth! But this year, since baby #2 plans to arrive around then, we moved our trip up a bit earlier. Here's a recap... :)

We flew into O'Hare on Sunday night around 8:00 pm (after a delayed flight) after a fun week in sunny Florida, and were greeted by a crazy snowstorm. Unfortunately, we didn't make it back home until Monday morning around 8:00 am. The roads were awful and we decided to sleep a few hours at a hotel and let the roads clear (fun, fun). As we say to Nina, safety first! It was baaaad.

So anyway, I'll share a few photos below but mainly our days consisted of ... breakfast and lunch at the condo, building sandcastles with Nina, playing in the ocean nonstop, drinking limey cocktails/mocktails, celebrating St. Nick's, watching the beautiful sunsets, dolphin spotting, nonstop seashells gathering, building snowmen out of sand (sandmen?), renting a pontoon and exploring the back bays, going out to dinner every night at some of the best restaurants, playing cribbage with my parents after Nina was in bed, and more! Vacationing with Nina keeps us busy, but is SO much fun and I wouldn't have it any other way. She loves it, we love it... everyone's happy!!

p.s. I never edit/crop my photos for my blog so take them for what they are. :)

The Captain on our flight let Nina come in the cockpit and they snapped a Polaroid. I think Mr. Evans liked it more than she did!!

Before I go on, here are my tips for traveling with a toddler... Nina loves planes (this is only her second flight, but she did awesome!)...

- lots of snacks, special treats (Nina's nana spoiled her with some candy!), suckers (helps during takeoff/landing), stickers, coloring books, iPad, magna doodle
- we did a wrapped little "present" every hour for something fun
- her own seat sure makes a difference!
- pay attention to your flight times and always do a direct flight
- you can also do a small dose of baby medicine to help with takeoff/landing if there are issues (just to it in advance so it has time to set it)
- extra clothes (Nina is potty trained and is good at "holding it" but I brought extras just in case... luckily we didn't need them!)

(Tired after a fun day in the sun, but still wearing her sunglasses... lol)