Girls Trip of a Lifetime!

At the end of September I had the opportunity to spend five days with my besties from childhood.  We have been friends for over 20 years.  Yea, crazy! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.  It had been almost six years since we had all been together.  The last time was at Preston and I's wedding! It was such a blast to catch up with these incredible women in my life.  The best part about a friendship like this is that six years can go by but when you get together it's as if no time has passed. Love these girls!!

Now on to a vacation I will never forget!

We had been planning this girls trip since about February/March of this year.  We were so excited that no one would be pregnant or nursing when it was time to go in September.  Oops! My bad :) Being almost 7 months pregnant at the time didn't slow us down though.  We had a BLAST!  We ended up deciding on a trip to Clearwater Beach, FL for our five day get a way. I think we all would agree that it was a perfect vacation.

We were all coming from different places around the country so we did our best to schedule our flights as close as we could.  Wynnie was coming from CA, Rhiannon from UT, Katie from MA and I was coming from TX.  Wynnie, Katie and I were the first to arrive so we went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch while we waited for Rhiannon.  It was delicious!  We grabbed some cheesecakes to go and grabbed Rhiannon from the airport.  We put our stuff at the hotel and walked straight to the beach. May this sweet vacation begin!

Some pics from the trip...

Together again!!

Me, Rhiannon, Wynnie and Katie

We may be in our 30's but we will always be young at heart!

Wyn rented the car for us and was our driver for the trip.  It felt great being chauffeured around. Thanks again Wyn for driving :) 

Backseat buddies

Our first full day in Clearwater the girls went shopping while I went to get a prenatal massage.  Yes, it was awesome.  They came and got me when I was done and we headed to the mall.  Of course we had to all squeeze into one of these photo booths. So much fun!

It was so nice just laying on the beach and talking.  The sunsets were beautiful and the company was perfect!

Beach fun in the sun.  Can you believe that white sand?! It was great!

Florida Sunset

Beach time

One of the days we were there we did a dolphin/snorkeling excursion.  It was so much fun!  We headed out on a boat and cruised the waters for a while.  The dolphins in the area are attracted to the wake of the boat.  When the captain would spot a pod of dolphins he'd slow down and the dolphins would come and play in the wake.  They'd surf it or jump in the air right by us.  It was so beautiful. Dolphins are incredible creatures.  

A view from the boat as we were riding out to sea.

After some boat time we ended up on this island where we docked and could explore.  There was an old fort there that you could walk around.  It was also a great place to find sea shells.

There was a manatee in the water as the boat was docking. 

They aren't the prettiest looking creatures but it was super cool to see.  The Captain told me that if I was to get into the water the manatee would come up to me out of anyone else.  He said that they believe that manatee's can hear the heartbeat of a baby in the water.  They would want to come closer to any pregnant woman because of the soft sounds they hear.  Everyone wanted me to get in to try but let's be honest, this thing is huge. I was slightly terrified ... ok, extremely terrified for that big thing to get close to me or my baby. Haha

Hanging out on the back of the boat.

One night we all got dressed up and headed to a really nice dinner by the water.  It was delicious!  I got the salmon and it was to die for.  So dang tasty.  They also served bread with an oil based dipping sauce mixed with all different kinds of herbs.  (You can see it in the top left area of the pic.)  It was incredible!! The waiter may have told us to slow down on our bread consumption haha.

Me and Rhiannon at dinner. 

Katie and Wynnie at dinner.

The next day we headed to a more southern part of Florida for a little kayaking experience.  

Just by chance Wynnie's brother, Jeremiah, who's also a pilot, was in town for a flight that day.  He was able to come with us and it was so much fun to catch up with him and honestly to have a guide while we kayaked.  Us girls had no idea what we were doing or where we were going. Haha

We definitely had a great time kayaking.  We kayaked through mangrove trees that had millions of these tiny crabs.  It was fun to maneuver our way through but dang was it exhausting by the end. We also saw a dolphin in the water on our way back to the drop off point.  It was crazy to see a dolphin in the little lagoon we happened to be kayaking in.  

We spotted this raccoon as we were leaving the kayaking place.  We have lots of pics from the kayak experience but I didn't take my phone so I didn't have any.  I'll have to get some from the girls.

These two crazy girls.

We had way too much fun!

 Our last night there we went to dinner not far from our hotel and right on the beach.  It was absolutely delicious and they had live music while you ate.  It was fun watching people dance and sing.  We had so much fun!

This was one of the desserts we got. Donut holes smothered in awesomeness. Oh my goodness! I think I gained at least 10 lbs on this trip but it was WORTH IT!

I couldn't believe how fast the time went by but as they say when you're having fun time flies.  We were all so grateful that we could do this trip and spend the time we did with each other.  We vowed not to let 6 years go by again before we see each other.  We are so thankful to have the hubbies we do as well.  They took time off work and were stay at home Dad's while the Momma's could have a get away.  

I am so looking forward to the next adventure we take.  LOVE YOU GIRLS!