We filled our days with lots of sunshine, beach time and family time with Nona and Papa!
While living far from any family can be challenging for a myriad of reasons (us missing them and not seeing them all the time being #1), Ryan and I have said repeatedly that we’re really lucky both sets of grandparents live in places that are a blast to visit. You won’t hear us complaining about mini vacations to see family at the beach in Florida, that’s for sure!
Now that the boys are older and travel is a little easier, trips to Sarasota for Easter have become somewhat of a tradition for our crew. While the timing of our trip (aka spring break) means Sarasota is quite busy, our main goal is to spend time with Les and Diane, so we don’t feel overly obligated to see and do all the things while we’re there. (We’ve done a lot over the years though and do have some solid Sarasota family-friendly recommendations if you’d like to check them out here: Sarasota with Kids.)
Thursday & Friday: Peachey’s, Payne Park, Mote Aquarium & Crescent Beach
Our first full day in Sarasota was Thursday and started on the highest of high notes with a trip to Peachey’s, a local family-owned bakeshop in the area.
OH MY GOSH, you guys.
Our family loves scouting out local doughnut gems when we travel (mainly because we’re awake so early and they’re often the only places open before 8 a.m. — but also because we love doughnuts) and when Diane raved about Peachey’s, we knew we had to give it a try.
We ordered one of each doughnut (they have four flavors every day) and on a whim threw in a soft pretzel because it looked so good. When I tell you this was the best soft pretzel I’ve ever had in my life, I mean it. The pretzel was doughy and buttery with the perfect subtle sweetness and saltiness that had our entire family singing its praises. The doughnuts were incredible, too!
Fueled by dough and sugar, we made our way to a Payne Park where the boys enjoyed climbing all over the circus-themed playground.
The rest of our Thursday passed by in a blur of swimming, a stop in downtown Sarasota for ice cream and relaxing on the swing in Les and Diane’s backyard.
Friday morning we walked around the trails at Urfer Park before setting out to visit the new Mote Science Education Aquarium. The previous seaside Mote aquarium was a favorite of our family’s for years so we were all really looking forward to visiting the new facility.
It was beautiful and a great stop for our family. We spent a little over two hours at the aquarium and the otters, penguins, touch tanks and large tanks filled with sharks were highlights for our crew.
And I couldn’t resist this throwback Mote hat from the gift shop!
(Skirt: J.Crew Factory — currently 50% off / Tee: Nuuds — JULIEF10 saves 10% / Purse: Clare V.)
After the aquarium we headed out to the beach… along with the rest of Sarasota, apparently. We made our way to Crescent Beach, a supposedly quieter southern extension of Siesta Beach but it was absolutely packed with people. Thankfully we weren’t there to just sit down and relax so we didn’t mind the crowds too much.
Our primary mission was splashing around in the ocean, playing in the tide pools and checking out Point of Rocks, an area we read about that’s known for decent snorkeling.
The ocean water was too cold for me to last too long, but Ryan and Chase went out a little farther and found some big conch shells that had them all excited! We took our haul of shells and beach finds back to the house but not before stopping at Captain Curt’s Crab & Oyster Bar as we left Siesta.
Casperson Beach, Family Time and Easter
The boys were on a beach high after Friday afternoon’s activities and jumped at the idea to spend our Saturday morning at Casperson Beach, also known as the shark tooth capital of the world. We’ve loved this beach for years because it makes finding a decent amount of small shark’s teeth relatively easy.
Though our kids’ mission to find a megalodon tooth went unfulfilled, we still had a fantastic time and left right before it got too slammed.
We spent all of our Saturday afternoon at Ryan’s Uncle Dan and Aunt Diane’s house (his dad’s sister) which was so, so wonderful. Ryan’s cousin Daniel is one of our very best friends from college (and was the best man in our wedding) and he was in town for the weekend as well, so we knew we had to make time to all get together! Anytime we get to spend with Daniel, his wife Katie and their 2-year-old son is time we absolutely love.
Our boys joined the gaggle of grandsons at Dan and Diane’s house and had the best time hunting for Easter eggs, swimming in the pool and whacking away at an Easter bunny pinata.
We made it back to Diane and Les’ house in the early evening and played bocce ball in the yard before digging into pasta with Les’ homemade sauce that I swear I could drink it’s so good.
Easter was on Sunday and it was also a travel day for our family. Our flight back home didn’t leave until the afternoon which meant we thankfully had plenty of time for an egg hunt and a delicious Easter brunch with Diane and Les before we had to pack up and head out.
And now I am off to get this Monday rockin’! We didn’t have much time to unpack and do the usual weekend catch up last night when we arrived home, so a lot of that business is on my to-do this this morning. I hope you all have a wonderful week!
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