flo-rida!

tuesday was the day we were flying out of costa rica, and just happened to be my birthday too!  yay for hitting the big 2-4!  it was an eventful morning with everyone getting to the airport for their different flights, but somehow we all left the country when we were supposed to and didn't leave anyone behind.  most of our group flew back to utah but there were 5 of us that planned to stay for a few days in a condo in st augustine, florida, owned by megan's parents.  we flew from costa rica to miami and then to orlando where we met up with this dreamboat... 

yep, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you.  he has a mexi-stash.  chester the molester style.  sick.  what a great birthday present, right?  josh had flown to orlando earlier that day and met up with us when our plane finally landed around 8pm.  i was excited to see him and was even more excited to help him shave off the facial hair later that night.  we were all starving because we'd been traveling all day so we got our rental car, started driving east, took a random exit and ended up at a steak house where we celebrated my birthday with some yummy steak.  (for some reason, i didn't take any other pictures on my birthday.  lame)  at dinner, josh surprised me with a 2nd band to complete my wedding ring.  i was excited because i thought our florida trip would be my present and i definitely didn't expect to get the rest of the set so quickly!  i think it's beautiful!after dinner, we made the rest of the drive to the condo in st. augustine.  we were so tired that we pretty much crashed as soon as we got there, but only after i took a picture of the beautiful room josh and i got to stay in.  megan's mom has decorated the condo in a whole seashell/beach theme and it was fabulous.  and the next morning, we found out that those large windows overlooked the ocean.  

the next morning we got up and headed to the private beach just outside the condo.  (this is a picture taken from the balcony).  even though the weather forecast predicted thunderstorms, there wasn't a cloud in sight.  we had a great time laying out, boogie boarding, reading, swimming in the ocean and the swimming pool...
flying kites...

playing bocce ball (a new favorite of ours)...
and soaking up some rays...

we also bbq'd up some fabulous burgers and dogs

the next day we hit up some historical sites.  st augustine is actually the oldest city that has been continuously inhabited in the united states and has a lot of spanish influence (thank you wikipedia!)  we went to the historical lighthouse...

went to the harbor and saw some replicas of the pinta and nina (the ships the pilgrims sailed on)


we walked around the docks and looked at the beautiful yachts and sailboats


we saw some of the beautiful historical buildings, like this one... flagler college...
we drove to jacksonville to visit the city, to go to the budweiser factory and see how beer is made, ate some yummy bbq, and we made a pit stop at the river/fountains to get some pictures as a crazy thunderstorm was coming in.  on our way back, we hit up the outlet malls (despite the groaning from the boys) and did some shopping.  


the next morning, maria, megan, and i got up super early to go to the beach and watch the sunrise.  it was gorgeous.  

we spent the rest of the day playing in the sun, reading books, swimming, and napping.  
that afternoon we went to o'steens, a restaurant with some of the best shrimp i have ever had.  thanks megan for the recommendation!
we then headed to the old town st augustine to do some more sight seeing.  (my dad would be so proud).  we made our way to many of the little shops located on st. george street.  we also came across the oldest school in the usa and had to snap a picture of it.  

after doing more and more shopping, we stopped of at a creamery for some delicious ice cream and walked over to the castillo de san marcos fort.  it was cool to see the structure of this fort and the area where the moat would have been.  

liz and josh, holding down the fort.  (cheesy, i know.  we saw it on a postcard and decided we needed our own version of it)
saturday morning we got up semi-early, packed up the car, and headed back to orlando to catch our flights.  we were sad that our trip had ended, but we had a great time!  spending a few days in florida was just what we all needed to relax and recoup after our trip to costa rica (you'd think the cr trip was a vacation, but most of it was work!)  it was fun to spend our nights hanging out, eating treats, and watching movies and i liked that we didn't have to wake up early or be on any set schedule the whole time we were there.  thanks again megan and her parents for letting us stay there, it was perfect and beautiful and we really appreciated it!

my goodness, catching up on these vacations takes a lot of time and i'm not even done yet!  that's pretty much it from our out-of-state vacations, but we've been busy ever since we got back to utah so i'll have to catch up on those events when i get more time (and the desire to do it!)  i hope i didn't bore anyone to death with my lengthy posts, numerous pictures, and crazy details!