When the days get shorter and shorter in the midwest winter, sometimes you need to recharge in the sun. We all needed a recharge because this winter was particularly bad for us. Plus Oliver and Phinehas had only been to the beach once before. We can’t have that kind of track record. So in the middle of February we set off to Ft. Lauderdale.
Traveling
After some investigating and consulting with more experienced travellers, we decided we would do an airline hack. We rented a car in Kansas City and drove through the night to Chicago to catch a (cheaper) flight from there. It was about 6 AM when we made it to our terminal in Chicago O’Hare.
Flying with kids has it’s perks though. We can board first.
Although, we will never fly Frontier airlines again, in spite of the ‘ultra-low cost’. The ‘ultra-low amenities’ almost killed the experience for us. For the kiddos everything was just fine.
They had plenty of space and got to look out the windows. It was the first time flying for Phinehas and Oliver. Thankfully nobody freaked out and they all enjoyed checking out the window as we were flying.
Because we left so early in the morning from Chicago, it was daytime while we were in the air. The best time to fly with little kids if you had asked me. Everyone could see the ground as we sped by overhead. And the bright fluffy clouds were pulled straight out of a movie.
Starting off at 6 AM had other consequences too. Nobody was bothering the grownups on the final leg of the journey picking up our rental car from the Miami airport and driving to our VRBO. We brought our own car seat for little Oliver (that we had to lug through the airports), but Phinehas has a really cool folding seat-belt positioner that practically fits in your pocket.
This crash nap was definitely needed by these tired little boys. As soon as we got to our little apartment we dumped everything inside and changed our clothes. From the front door it was 2 small blocks until your feet were in the sand at the beach.
Beach Day 1
We left Chicago at 6 AM at 27 degrees with our hoodies and long pants on, and by 6 PM we were in Lauderdale-by-the-sea at 77 degrees drawing our names in the sand watching the waves crash. Not bad for a 12 hour journey. And it was still daylight at 6 PM on top of that.
Beach Day 2
The house we were staying in provided beach things for us to use; chairs, toys, umbrellas. It was very nice of them and saved us quite a bit of time, effort, and money. The laundry machines there also were a welcome amenity as well. We didn’t have to pack as much because we could just wash each night.
The next day we set out early with our hats and sunglasses to hit the beach. We stayed at the beach playing or lounging the whole day. The kids played in the waves and found treasures in the sand. Rachel soaked up the sun and I did something in between.
While we were playing a strange thing happened. Our best guess is that someone got caught in a riptide. We saw a helicopter as well as both an ocean rescue boat and truck. I hope whoever they were looking for was found. That would be a terrible thing to happen while having fun at the beach. We took the opportunity to remind the kids to stay close to the shore since none of them are strong swimmers
After playing at the beach for the whole day we worked up quite the appetite. So we came back to the house and changed into our Kansas City Royals gear and set out to find someplace good to eat. We didn’t have to look far. Literally across the road was a burger shop called ‘BurgerFi’. It was awesome. We ended up eating there twice, breaking the vacation rule of one-visit-per-trip.
Little did we know that Oliver had made off with one of the fan remotes from the villa and had it stashed in his pocket. He said it was his phone, and that he needed to call Momma on it. Needless to day we made him put it back in his pocket so we could return it to the right place when we got back for the night.
And this is how the day ended. Well this is how the day ended the whole trip. They were all worn out every day by the time bedtime came around.
Beach Day 3
The next two day we soaked up the sun, played in the waves, got sand in our bathing suits, okay that last one was just me. Here are some of the highlights of playing on the beach. All the boys worked together to sift sand looking for seashells and cool rocks or sea glass. They even found some, but nothing worth keeping.
Sandcastles, snacks, and seashells are one thing, and they had fun for sure, but chasing birds is another.
Silas tried to get one to snatch a Cheeto from his hand, but never could get them to come close enough.
After a while the sun passes zenith and the boys start getting tired, or in the case of Oliver, completely fell asleep. What better place could a little guy ask for though than wrapped up in a cozy towel, held in his Momma’s arms.
So we headed back to the villa and cleaned ourselves up to go get some dinner. We walked to the local plaza and did our best to choose a good place from all the options we had.
Being an oceanside town most of everything was was strongly influenced by the fresh fish, but eventually we found someplace Rachel would be able to find something on the menu at.
Beach Day 4
With toys and towels in tow we trotted back down to the beach. Being so close to the water was perfect for us on this trip because we were just being beach bums and soaking up the sun and surf. Speaking of surf, it was particularly strong this day, as was the wind.
Before we went on this trip all the boys had their own monster truck toys. Oliver and Phinehas brought theirs along on the trip and played with them at the beach. It was great fun for them to use the sand to build ramps and obstacles for them to jump and drive over.
Phinehas brought his favorite truck, Brodozer, and Oliver brought his favorite, El Toro Loco. Sadly this was the last day we would see El Toro Loco. He got buried in the sand while they were playing and, as things go, with stuff under the sand was immediatley lost never to be found again.
They got pretty upset about it so we had to promise to get a new El Toro when we got back. (Don’t worry we made good on that promise)
I tried to help Silas get the basics of boogie-boarding down, but the surf was just too rough and we kept getting rolled before we could get out far enough.
So Silas and Phinehas just layed about for a while and let the sun warm them up.
We found a couple sea turtles washed up on the beach. They looked familiar though, like we’d seen them before. This was our last day at the beach for this trip so we all clung to the late afternoon daylight as much as we could before heading back to change for dinner. One last hug and view of the beach.
We still needed to get dinner and we had been passing this little ice cream and candy shop while walking around the plaza. On the last day it was time.
Heading Home
We had to leave at 4 AM to have the right amount of time to get the rental car back to the airport and make it to our terminal.
Some of us were more tired than others, in spite of it being almost 7 AM and full daylight. Thank goodness for airplane window shades. We landed back in Chicago around 9 AM and picked up our rental for the drive home.
I’m so happy that we were able to take this trip when we did. Little did we know that we would make it back just in time for a nationwide lockdown with a virus pandemic ravaging across the globe.
