Key West Day 1

It was time to get ready for our trip to Key West for Phil's cousin's wedding. Because of Calvin we had to bust out the big suitcase. And of course with a suitcase that big you can't not have a picture of the baby in the suitcase. Calvin did not seem to like being in the suitcase. I think he was scared we would actually make him ride inside all the way to Key West. I call this his "Please don't make me ride in the suitcase" face.


Calvin fit perfectly on top of the suitcase as we waited for the shuttle at the airport car park.

This was Calvin's first ride on an airplane, so we were a little afraid how he would take it. Luckily, as soon as we were on the plane he was out like a light! He eventually woke up during the ride, but we just gave him a half-empty water bottle and he was happy as a clam.



After we arrived at the Miami airport we met up with Phil's sister, Winnie. And we took Calvin for another little ride...


Afterwards we sat down for some food while we waited for Phil's cousin, Lydia, to land. Calvin was out again...Good job with the multi-tasking, Phil. Calvin better not wake up with pizza on his head!

Once Lydia arrived we headed to the car rentals to start our drive out to Key West. The car rental place actually has baby car seats you can rent along with the car. So Calvin got to ride in his first forward-facing car seat.


Calvin had fun watching all the cars through the window and playing with Lydia.

We met up with the other car of cousins driving down to Key West and they passed on some food for us. I believe this was from a Cuban restaurant. It was some kind of sandwich made with a cornmeal tortilla type bread filled with meat and cheese.


There were some nice views of the water as we made the drive from Miami to Key West.

Rather than staying in a hotel, one of Lydia's co-workers had a summer house in Key West that all of the cousins were able to stay in. It was beautiful!

This is the front entryway into the house, with the living room straight ahead.


Right off the left of the front door is a master suite.

The bathroom is hidden on the other side, behind the wall at the head of the bed. It came complete with a heat lamp (though I can't imagine why you would need one in Florida), standing shower and a bidet!

The living room was expansive and had a beautiful view into the backyard.

To the left of the living room was the formal dining room. Surprisingly large enough to fit all the cousins (after squeezing in some extra chairs).

To the right of the living room was the kitchen. Huge stove and range, and they even had a special wok burner. I guess they like to make Chinese food. But oddly enough, not a microwave in sight...

To the right of the front entryway, across the hall from the master suite was a library/study.

There was a door under the stairs, which I thought was a closet, and being the dork that I am it immediately made me think of Harry Potter, but turns out it was actually a bathroom! Economical use of space I guess.

Upstairs there were 2 bedrooms, that were pretty much idential aside from the color scheme and number of beds. And each room had it's own separate half bathroom.

And out in the hall between the 2 bedrooms was a separate shower. It was kind of weird to open the door in the hallway and walk straight into the shower.

Saving the best piece for last, they had a beautiful back porch overlooking a pool. There was even a huge flat screen TV mounted to the side of the house so you could watch TV while swimming in the pool (which we fully took advantage of while we were there).

And across the way was a pool house and an outdoor shower. The pool house was newly renovated, so we weren't allowed access, but it looked nice from the outside.

With such a nice kitchen we decided to eat in. Alex was busy in the kitchen cooking up a storm with Lydia and Lucia.

While others (*cough* Phil *cough*) were passed out.

The dinner spread...

Lydia was setting up the table and wondering what was taking everyone so long.

It was a good start to the Lea and Wally wedding weekend extravaganza/Cousin reunion.

After dinner we had to have dessert. Some of the cousins had picked up some Blue Bell ice cream at the supermarket. I'd never heard of Blue Bell before (apparently it's a southern thing), but this could quite possibly be one of the best store bought ice creams I've had. They need to move this stuff up North!