Our Trip to Florida

Last week for my spring break, Toby and I traveled to Florida! It was so nice to get away from the cold weather. The winter blues is a real thing y'all. I'm originally from Florida so every time we go back I get super nostalgic! I am definitely built for the beach/warm weather life. I tried very hard to convince Toby that moving to Florida for a year would be a great idea. I don't think it worked! But he definitely wants to go back again so that's a start :)

We flew down which was great because I think we were both dreading the thought of driving for 16 hours straight. We spent our first three days in Orlando which was so fun! Toby got us an awesome deal on a hotel that was walking distance from Seaworld. My dad got us Busch Gardens passes for Christmas which get us into eight different theme parks on the east coast! This worked out great for us because two of them are in Orlando (Seaworld and Aquatica) so we spent a lot of time at those parks. With our passes, we got discounts on food and we got "ride again privileges" on the roller coasters which was so much fun! The parks weren't crowded at all and the weather wasn't too hot which was a real blessing. We were able to just enjoy ourselves rather than sweating like crazy and spending the day in lines. When we left VA it was 8° and there was a lot of snow on the ground so we were both so happy to be in Florida that we had fun just walking around outside. Our hotel had a pool and a hot tub and if you can believe it, it was warm enough at night to go in those. I love Florida weather. Toby has most of the pictures from Seaworld on his phone, so I only have a couple to post. And Aquatica is a water park, so we did't get any pictures there because we locked our phones away. We loved exploring Orlando and spending all of our time outside!

When we left Orlando, we went and stayed with my Aunt and Uncle in West Palm Beach for the remainder of our trip. We cannot thank them enough for taking us in! They really blessed us on our trip. They housed and fed us every day. We spent the time hanging out at their pool, going to the beach, and exploring West Palm! It was so great to see my family, especially since I don't get to see them very often. My little cousins are 9 and 11 and they adore Toby. He was so good with them. I loved the fact that they got the chance to get to know Toby and that they spent so much time with us! Also, my cousin Keenan used to live in Fairfax and moved back to Florida last October, so it was good to spend some time with him as well. All in all, it was an awesome week!

Toby insisted on keeping his mustache for the first day of our trip. I kept catching him taking pictures of it.

The Walruses were HUGE! 

The Beluga Whale looks to me like an overweight dolphin.

I love dolphins so much. They have always been my all time favorite animal! 

The Shamu show never disappoints! We also saw the killer whale that the whole "Blackfish" documentary was about. He was in the show. Pretty crazy.

They had this cool window where you could see the killer whales while they swam by. This was the baby. Can you imagine how big the adult ones would be in this window?

This was the coolest British Pub we got to eat at! They have different beers from all over the world and a "Pour your own beer" wall that works like a froyo place (pay by the ounce). 

The beach was so pretty. This picture doesn't even do the blue water justice!

We went over to the top of the Everglades and we got to see some alligators swimming around. My cousin said this one is between 6 and 7 feet long. He said if you measure in inches the distance between the eyes and the edge of the nose (snout?) that's how long it is in feet. Pretty cool! Better than measuring from up close...

We got to sit outside at World of Beer on our last night.

My favorite person to travel with!

This was the weather on the day we were leaving. I think it was a sign we should have stayed...

I'm A Horrible Blogger

I am a terrible blogger. Apparently I forgot that I even have a blog because I can never remember to post. I will take some pictures and think "oh I can put these on my blog!" but then that's as far as it goes. Oh well, it's the thought that counts, right?

Since I haven't posted in like a month, I figured I would do one long blog to recap the last month in the Schaefer house!

Going way back to our first married Valentine's day: Toby and I had breakfast together and I gave him the card I made him. I recently got some water color paper so I had to try out an idea I saw on Pinterest :) After breakfast, we went to the National Gun Show where Toby got a gun. I know he was excited because he has been wanting to get a pistol for awhile now. The day after Valentine's day, I made us a romantic dinner and Toby surprised me with a room at the Westin! It was so nice to get away for the night and spend some time together. We love the beds at the Westin, they feel like what I imagine sleeping on a cloud would feel like. So comfortable. I want to get one of those beds.

Our breakfast (pecan cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs, simple and unhealthy; my specialty)

The card I made for Toby. I think this will be the new way I make cards!

Toby signing all the forms to buy his gun

I guess I should learn how to shoot now, right?

Literally the best hotel ever

Our romantic dinner: Coq au Chardonnay, mashed potatoes, bread, and red velvet cake pops for dessert :) In setting up for dinner I realized we didn't have candle holders, so I used Mason Jars. 

Now for the rest of the month, these are just some random pictures of what has been going on!

Chewy isn't supposed to be on our bed, but every time I come home from work or school he has weaseled his way up there! He looks to cute to scold...

We have had so much snow this winter! I took this picture back in February when I still thought it was pretty. Now it's just a nuisance and I'm ready for summer.

Toby and I love going over to Scooter and Laura's! It's so nice living close to family and getting to see them so much. I love when Toby plays with Landon. He's going to be such a good dad.

Scooter took Toby to the CPAC conference one night and they got to go to some really cool places! Toby loved it and is still talking about it a month later. He looks so handsome in a suit.