We had the unique experience of attending an Icelandic wedding in Florida in March! Although we were hoping this would have been an opportunity to take the kids to Iceland, escaping the neverending winter this year wasn't too bad either with some warm Floridian weather. I grew up knowing Hlin (our dad's went to grad school together), and we've kept in touch even though she is in Iceland. She was at my wedding 10 years ago and I'm so happy to have been able to attend hers!
We flew from Philly to Tampa direct, then rented a car for the trip over to Sarasota. We stayed at the hotel with many of the guests (including my parents) which had a great pool area and close to many restaurants (and the beach!)
The flight was so easy now that the kids are older. Both are happy with their tablets and coloring so we had very little issues. Excited to be turning a corner here to open up a lot more travel for our family!
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| Emmy before take off - excited with her favorite stuffed animal (a dog named McCow) and her magnetic drawing board |
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| Veteran travelers! |
The first day of our trip was mostly spent traveling and getting settled into our hotel. That night, we found a great little brewery in Saratoga that had an awesome outdoor play area for the kids. We keep saying we need to open one of these in our area!
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| Rock pit at the brew pub |
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| Happy to be wearing tshirts and shorts in early March! |
The next day was the wedding, but since it wasn't until the afternoon and not far from the hotel, we had lots of time in the morning to spend in the hotel pool!
After a pool-side lunch, it was time to clean up and get ready for the wedding! The kids looked so adorable - I took a million pics.
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| All cleaned up and ready for the wedding! |
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| The face she makes when she's "over the pictures" haha |
The wedding was at such a beautiful location - The Powel estate in Sarasota. It was a beautiful spanish-style mansion right on the ocean. The weather was perfect too with a breathtaking sunset.
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| My girl and I before the ceremony started |
After a short ceremony (spoken in both Icelandic and English!) we enjoyed a beautiful cocktail hour outside while watching the sunset. The kids loved the open space to run around.
After cocktail hour, the first dances were outside and a few fun songs for everyone to dance to (of course "Don't Stop Believing" was one of them, because how could Emily not be left out?!)
After some brief dancing, we headed inside for dinner and lots of speeches. As with a similar Danish wedding we attended, it is tradition for many people to give speeches to the bride and groom. The parents of the bride even gave a slideshow of childhood memories! The kids grew a bit antsy here, but luckily the other kids from the wedding party were having an iPad party upstairs that Emmy didn't hesitate at all to crash. It was hilarious to see her surrounded by a bunch of girls that only speak Icelandic, all watching the trolls movie ;)
Everyone was up late, but woke up excited for another day of vacation! We started it off right by eating breakfast out before heading to the beach!
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| Mickey chocolate chip pancakes for the win! |
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| Mini pancakes for Emmy! |
We drove over to Siesta Key, which was not very far at all, for a fun day at the beach! It was such a treat to be at the beach while it was winter storming at home!
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| Water was warm and calm! |
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| The ever elusive beach family photo!! |
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| Sand castle building without sand toys (we packed light!) |
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| Exploring the beach and finding lots (and lots) of shells! |
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| Overcast day, but still warm and no rain! |
We capped off the day heading into a nice walkable area and had mexican food for dinner followed by ben & jerry's ice cream <3
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| Our drive to dinner! |
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| Happy kid with a big ice cream cone! |
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| Picking out "owen the owl" as her trip momento. Nolan got "starfire the dragon" |
The trip went by super fast, and it was time to pack up to head back the next day! The kids loved sleeping all in the same room at the hotel (we rarely stay in hotels so this was a treat for them (not us)). I was happy to get back to my big bed without Emmy kicking me all night! haha
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| Nolan made a cute drawing in our favorite little window seat at the hotel before leaving (nice and early) |
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| Giving back our rental! |
Until next time, Florida! Thanks for warming us up a bit this long winter!
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