Siesta Key Beach Trip 2018

If you've been following me on Instagram, you've seen that we usually take a trip to Siesta Key each year around this time. It started out as our yearly anniversary trip, but it's turned into a family trip. We weren't sure that we were going to make it this year because Olivia had been hospitalized a few days before our trip, but things started looking up and we got the okay from her doctors to go. We spent a few days in Orlando around mid May, but this time we got to spend four days with all our family. I can't tell you how awesome and much needed that was for us. The weather was perfect, Olivia got to play with all of her cousins in one place, and we got to try out some new restaurants.

We stayed at the Parrot Beach Cottages again. We stayed there last year and loved that it was such a short walk to the beach. We didn't use the pool last year because it rained a lot and when it wasn't raining, we were at the beach. This year, the kids might have enjoyed the pool more than the beach. It was easier for them to get in and out and didn't have to worry about being covered in sand. Olivia decided that she wanted to learn to swim and ditched her life jacket in the pool. It was crazy! She just started swimming and jumping in on her own. Obviously, there was always an adult in the pool with her though. The rooms where we stayed are super cute and decorated with beachy decor. They have a full kitchen, 1 bedroom, a full bath, and a pull-out couch in two of the rooms. There are four rooms total there. So, if you didn't want to eat out everyday, you could make your meals there. It's also not pricey compared to all of the other beachfront locations. 

The first night there we met some family that was down from Tennessee at Outback. That's always a yummy meal. You can't go wrong with delicious bread, steak, and veggies. It was nice getting to see everyone and meet cousins we didn't get to see last year. The second night, we went to Gilligan's Island Grill. The only thing good about this place was their music. It was super busy and we had so many people in our party, I think the server got a little flustered. The kiddos were all tired, so it went down hill fast. We decided on our last night there that we wanted to eat at The Hub Baja Grill. We would have eaten at this place every night if we could. We ended up just ordering our food to-go because we didn't want to miss the sunset. Dannie and I ordered the Chicken Quesadillas and the Hub Dip Sampler. They were both super delish and we didn't even eat them right away. After dinner, we picked up some of the donuts over at Meaney's Mini Donuts. We ate breakfast twice at The Village Cafe. It's some of the best breakfast I've ever had. We didn't even order anything fancy. We saved money on our other meals and brought snacks and food to make in our room. 

 It's a little crazy to think next year when we go that Livi will be five. I love traveling with her because she thinks the best part is staying at different hotels or houses. As much as we love Siesta Key, we miss the quietness at Longboat Key. It's beautiful and so close to the beach where we stay at Siesta, but it seems to be getting a little wild there and maybe not as family friendly. I'm already missing the beach though and secretly living through other people's photos I see on Instagram. I was hoping we'd make it back to the beach for some day trips this summer, but Livi started steroids and her little cheeks get so red from just running around. I can't imagine if she was out in the sun for a few hours. We made a summer bucket list with some local places around Ocala and Gainesville. I'll share that later. We haven't had the chance to do anything yet because it's either too hot outside or it's raining. Florida weather is so unpredictable.