Florida in August – Nonni & Papa’s House

The second leg of our trip to Florida in August was out to the Gulf Coast, between Sarasota and Tampa, to my parents’ house.  Most of our week isn’t documented here in these images but was on Instagram instead.  We spent a lot of our time taking advantage of my parents’ country club.  Ella and Jack did a golf camp for four of the mornings we were there, my mom and I played two rounds of golf together (my dad was recovering from back surgery), and the kids and I played tennis a few times.  We all loved it—makes me wish we had courts and a golf course within walking (or golf cart, I guess) distance from our own house.  We also did the activities we’ve always come to love at the “Casa de Slaton” resort—swimming in their pool, enjoying the hot tub, doing some art and craft projects with Nonni, and cuddling with Papa during an afternoon rainstorm movie.  These images are from the adventures we had during our time visiting my parents.  One afternoon we snorkeled together at a beautiful Gulf Coast beach—love the clear, aquamarine water.  And then, the last morning we were there, my parents took us on a Sea Life Cruise through the Mote Aquarium in Sarasota.  It was a gorgeous day, and we all love boat rides, so this was definitely a special treat.  We toured the Sarasota Bay, talked about marine life and birds in the area, stopped off on a little island (where we actually saw a manatee in the water), and then touched and looked at some fish and other sea creatures caught with a fishing trawler (Jack’s favorite part—he loves learning about animals).  We loved every minute of our visit with Nonni and Papa and were so glad we could spend more than just a few days on this trip.  It was perfection, beginning to end.  Can’t wait to head back!










{“we love you, papa”—a sign that was high in a tree on the little island we explored.  we call my dad “papa” so i had to document.}