Family Fun Vacation to Fort Lauderdale with Young Children
Recently, we went on our first trip of the summer to visit friends in Fort Lauderdale. It has become a tradition to visit our close friends following Drew’s big budget meeting and the end of the school year. We spent 4 wonderful days playing in the water, chatting, eating and drinking and having the best time spending time catching up. It truly is wonderful how close friends’ children become close friends with each other (maybe there is something to that?!)
On Saturday morning, we arrived at the airport after dropping Scout off at the dog sitters. Side note: if you are in the Atlanta area, I highly recommend Rover.com for dog sitting and the parking spot 2 is a convenient/inexpensive place to park. We flew Spirit airlines which was the cheapest fare by far, even with a checked bag, but we had a couple delays coming and going so be cautious when flying with them (I would only fly a direct flight with them, personally). We touched down on Saturday afternoon and immediately went into the pool when we reached their house. Reid just finished his learn to swim class and became a confident swimmer over the next 4 days of our vacation. Saturday evening, we went to a block party with an inflatable bounce house in their neighborhood.
Sunday morning, it was a gorgeous day and we headed south to take their boat to Biscayne Bay and the top of the Keys. We floated and chatted with fellow boaters before heading out to fish and explore the area. The boys caught barracuda and even found a lobster. It was so fun to explore and watch the kids’ amazement at all the water creatures. Their favorite part was playing with the shrimp bate 🙂 Following our day of boating, we grabbed pizza and cookies on the way home and relaxed by the pool while the kids swam.
Monday, Drew and I went on a 3 mile run around their neighborhood. It was fun to run in a new area and the flat paths were wonderful (nothing like hilly ATL). Following the run, we headed for a day on the boat around Lauderdale and the area that is very congested with boaters during the weekend–perks of a Monday! We went to an island where the Atlanta ocean/beach was on the opposite side, it was so refreshing to see waves again! We ate at a restaurant on the water while the kids all napped on the boat next to us. Following lunch, we headed around town to look at the various marinas and the area a little more. Following our adventures, we went back to the house and fed the kids while the husbands went out for a late night fishing trip–they caught two but nothing big enough to bring home.
Tuesday, we took advantage of a later flight time and following more swimming in the pool, we went to Pompono Beach which is about a 30 minute ride away from Davie. The beach was gorgeous and the area was very pretty. We ate lunch at a great spot with breathtaking view, The Beach House, and enjoyed soaking up the heat and watching surfers while eating. Following lunch, we hit up the ice cream shop before walking the pier and watching people fish. It was a lot of fun and a perfect ending of our trip. It was a little too hot, but they have a great playground right near the pier too, that we will have to check out next time. We swam in the pool before getting to the airport (another delayed flight!) and arrived back in Atlanta after midnight. Thankfully, the boys did wonderful and fell asleep on the way home and are really a joy to travel with!
We had the best time and had a great adventure for our first summer vacation. We are so grateful to have such wonderful, close friends and the cherry on top is that they live in a cool spot :).
What is your first summer vacation?!
