The Vance's: 1st Vance Family Vacation.

WARNING: LOTS OF PICTURES!
We took our first family vacation to Orlando/Tampa/Clearwater Florida 2 weeks ago. We had been planning to go in December but bumped our trip up when my Grandpa's health began to decline. Plus, we had an extremely stressful and busy September and were in great need of a vacation. So...off we went! The plane ride went really well. Considering we were planning for the worst, we couldn't complain that Carter took 2 naps, snacked, laughed and played with his toys for the 6 hour flight. We stayed in Orlando our first and last night. The hotels were great (and the sun and warm pools were an added bonus!)

We stayed for a week on Clearwater beach in a 1 bedroom condo on the 8th floor. The view was amazing!

As with any cute beach condo, the place was filled with wicker furniture and beach themed trinkets (not very baby friendly). So, we did a little re-arranging to make the place feel more like home.

Carter went swimming for the first time and LOVED it. So, we went every day after that. And, when we got home I signed him up for swim lessons! This kid loves the water.

He looked pretty cute in his crocodile towel too!

The beach was literally just a step away and we took full advantage. We took 2 early morning walks, 2 late evening walks and plenty of walks in between.

We took a day trip to the Tampa Zoo (which I highly recommend to anyone visiting that area). It was a very hot and humid day and Carter did fantastic in the heat. The animals were beautiful but the highlight of Carter's day was riding his first carousel.

Another amazing view from our condo.

We spent another day taking a drive down to Indian Rock Beach. On the way we drove by some beautiful beach mansions. We had heard that Hulk Hogan owned one of them, but he wasn't around that day. Carter liked meeting this pirate on the boardwalk.

Another beach picture. It was just too beautiful.

Carter took a turn playing in the ocean. Too bad all he cared about was eating the sand.

We tried to eat at as many locals places as possible all week and were not disappointed. We found an amazing cafe for brunch (which had the best french toast with cinnamon sugar butter I've ever eaten in my life. Not kidding, I talked about it all week!), a yummy Mexican restaurant, and our favorite little ice cream shop. We probably went here 3 times!