This past Sunday, Trey went to Tampa for business and Ashton and I decided to go with him. It was the first of 5 weeks that Kaylyn will be gone during the summer and it was good to get away and get my mind off of that (I have the hardest time when she is gone and it never gets easier...it absolutely breaks my heart).
When we decided that we would go too, we knew we wanted to meet up with our friends, Andrew and Lindsay in St. Pete. They recommended a great restaurant called Moon Under Water, so we met them there. We were early getting into town so we decided to let Ashton run around some before dinner and there were these really awesome trees.
Daddy & Ashton
During dinner, Ashton decided that she wanted to sit with Lindsay and play with her necklace...
On Monday, I took Ashton to the Glazer Children's Museum while Trey worked. It was the neatest place and all of the exhibits are hands on.
*I am sorry for the picture quality. These were all taken with my phone and a lot of them are blurry.
Getting ready to go on our adventure...every little lady needs her purse!
The first thing Ashton ran to at the museum was the tugboat. She was able to play Captain of the boat and there were a bunch of buttons that when she would push them, they would make different noises.
She loved steering!
Our next exhibit was the Cruse Ship. It was a ship docked at an island and there was lots of "sand" (tiny rubber pieces) for the kids to play in. There were shovels, buckets and even buried treasure to search for.
Filling up her bucket...
Upstairs in the museum there were even more exhibits and one of them was a ball pit.
Tots Construction in the Design + Build area
(Ashton insisted on carrying a hammer...I guess it was just in case she needed to fix the tunnel)
Back downstairs (yes, we went up and down & up and down) was the KidsPort exhibit that Ashton loved! We actually came back to this a few times before leaving. The purpose is to teach kids the importance of how water moves, but for Ashton, it was just fun in the water!
Back upstairs was the Publix Super Market. Ashton tried the buggy, but decided she was better with the basket. This way she was able to grab and just throw it in. I think she cleaned off all of the shelves. By the time she was done "shopping", she was dragging the basket behind her.
Vet's Clinic
The Firehouse was another favorite. She even got to go down the pole with my help, but there was no way for me to take a picture.
Riding shotgun in the fire truck...
If you are ever in Tampa and have kids, I highly suggest that you take them to the museum. And when you leave, there is a wonderful grassy area to run around in outside and even things that shoot up water for the kids to play in.
On Tuesday, we went to the International Plaza Mall so that I could look around and so that Ashton could play. We also got to meet Lindsay again and have a girls lunch. It was so nice to sit and chit chat. I wish I would have taken some more pictures, but I guess I will next time.
While we were in the hotel, Ashton decided she was Queen of the bed :)
The Queen
The Queen & Daddy
(I don't know what that face is for)
We had a wonderful time in Tampa and cannot wait to go back. Next time, we want to take Kaylyn so that she can go with us to the museum and experience all there is to see and do.
