Brooker and Laye Family Vacation in the Keys

Day 1

This morning, the guys loaded the boat up early and hit the road to the Keys and the girls loaded our car up too and hit the road as well.  The girls made a few more stops than the guys and had a fun ride down to Cudjoe Key to stay for a week. 

potty break at a fun Burger King...the kids had a blast playing for a few minutes in their kid zone

Robert is Here fruit stand came highly recommended so we stopped by it on our way down and grabbed some yummy shakes and fruit!  DELICIOUS!

There was also a small animal area for the kids to see all kinds of animals...they loved it!

Marlee loved the honey tasting center...she loves honey and gave them all a try!

It was our lucky day...we got to meet Robert himself...he was so nice and taught us a lot about fruit!

The girls loved going over all the bridges and pretended they were roller coasters!

After many hours in the car, you get a little silly with your pictures!

We stopped for a late, late lunch at Lorelei's and the gitls loved this pink limo boat!

Dinner on the water in this cool cabana!

We finally arrived to our house in Cudjoe about 4 hours after the guys (there was a wreck on one of the bridges so it took us almost 9 hours to get to the Keys) and it right at dark.  We snacked for dinner, explored the house, and called it a night!

Day 2
This morning, Summer and I woke up and went for an early morning run and explored the neighborhood.  We cooked breakfast at home and then decided to head to Key West to explore!  We rented golf carts and toured the town, had lunch right on the water, enjoyed some yummy key lime pie, visited Fat Tuesdays where we all had yummy drinks (the kids even enjoyed their virgin pina coladas), and then danced to some street performers music!  Once we arrived back to our house, we went on an evening boat ride and enjoyed the sunset! 

 

 

Day 3
The kids all slept good and enjoyed lounging around this morning.  Poor Summer dropped her phone last night and cracked the screen really bad so the girls decided to go to Key West to get it fixed for the day while the guys went out on the boat!  We had a fun day exploring more fun sights in Key West, had a yummy lunch on Duval Street, did some shopping and really had a fun day together!  We stopped by Publix and grabbed food and cooked dinner at home while the kids swam in the pool till dark!  We all had a fun day!

We did some shopping at The Lilly store and the girls had a fashion show for us with dresses they had in stock in all their sizes!  They had all the customers gathered around watching them! :)

Another yummy stop at Fat Tuesdays for some virgin pina coladas for the girls!

Day 4
We had ordered the kids all snorkel masks and had them shipped to the house and they were so excited this morning when they arrived!  The masks are so awesome and the kids love them!  And they are so easy for them to use!  We spent the day on the boat snorkeling and had a blast!  The water was beautiful and we saw so many lobsters and cool fish!

We were the bow bunnies most of the time...keeping an eye out for everyone in the water!

Naps on the boat are the best!

back in the water with the Dad's after naps :)

After a full day on the water snorkeling, we all got dressed and went to Key West at sunset to watch the street performers in Mallory Square and to have dinner!  The kids enjoyed watching all the performers.  We weren't able to eat where we had planned so being right downtown grabbed dinner at Hog's Breath.  Another fun day in the Keys!

Marlee loved giving money to the street performers!

Day 5
This morning we woke up and decided to go and have breakfast in Big Pine.  We enjoyed Buck Tooth Roosters...it was so yummy!  After breakfast, we stopped by the dive shop to grab a few things we needed and then came home and got all ready to go out snorkeling.  We had a fun afternoon snorkeling...the adults would all take turns getting in with the kids...we all really loved it and saw so many neat things!

testing out all the snorkeling gear in the pool before going out in the boat

We stayed out on the boat until almost dark snorkeling and then came in and got dressed to have dinner at The Square Grouper!  It was so delicious!  The kids were all so tired from being in the water so much today that no one had any trouble going to bed tonight! 

 Day 6
This morning, Summer and I decided to take out the kayak that was at the house and made many memories on our trip.  We saw a shark right under us, got soaked due to a sudden rain, and paddled all the way to an island against the wind because we were determined to make it to the island!  After our kayak adventure, we all loaded up and drove to Big Pine for lunch at No Name Pub!  The kids were very excited to see lots of key deer and pet them.  They were so friendly and the kids loved that!  At lunch, we gave all the kids dollar bills and they enjoyed decorating their dollar to hang on the wall.  :)

breakfast cheers from these cuties :)

the girls were so excited to twin today :)

A storm set in when we got back from lunch so we were unable to do anything outside so we just enjoyed relaxing in the house for the rest of the day!

Day 7
The weather was beautiful this morning so we were so excited to go out on the boat and snorkel.  We had a great day exploring reefs and seeing lots of lobster!

This is how Karsyn rolled...hanging on to my feet as I snorkeled!  It actually worked great!

a stop at the marina for some ice cream to cool this kiddos off

Uncle Charles flew down and joined us on our vacation and the kids had so much fun with him.  Marlee has been working on mastering her dive and loved for Uncle Charles to help her.

Our crew...headed to dinner in Key West!

sunkissed sisters :)

We had dinner at Hogfish Bar and Grill tonight and the food was so amazing!!

Day 8 (Last Day)
We woke up sad that today was our last day but truly will treasure all the memories made on this vacation!  
On our way home we stopped by Robbie's and fed the tarpon!  Such a fun experience for the kids! A long ride home from the keys but so worth the drive!  The Keys are so beautiful and I am so thankful we were able to go on this vacation with The Laye family!

As Marlee and Karsyn both have said...this was the best vacation EVER!