I’ve mentioned a few times how excited I am for spring this year. Like, really excited. It’s finally spring, but now I need it to hurry up and feel like spring! We’ve got the longer days… now we just need the warmer temps.

I make seasonal fun lists often, but I haven’t posted a spring version since 2012! (!) Here’s my updated list for this year:

Palm Sunday at Duke Chapel! Very loud hosannas!

— Dig in the dirt at our church’s community garden
— Hunt for eggs with neighborhood friends
— Pick strawberries
— Pay for the person behind us in line (our Easter Saturday tradition!)
— Play at the Museum of Life & Science
— Go to a Bulls game
— Roast s’mores in our fire pit
— Cinnamon rolls on Easter Sunday
— Visit the WRAL Azalea Garden
— Pack a picnic and eat lunch outside
— Get ice cream at Maple View
— Poke around in our neighborhood creek
— Pick blueberries
— Fly a kite (I think June will think this is SO HILARIOUS.)
— Walk downtown for beignets
— Lemonade at the Honeysuckle Tea House
— Celebrate Memorial Day
— Camp with friends
— Wade at Fews Ford
— Plant our veggie garden
— Eat dinner in our backyard (as often as possible!)
— Bring a spring favorite to our block party

Whew! The trick for turning these lists into actual memorable experiences instead of things that just sound fun on a blog? I print them out and post them on our refrigerator! That way, they’re in front of me every day, and it’s easy to make time for them. I will try to post a photo of my printed-out list on Instagram Stories later today, so stay tuned! :)

I would love to hear: what’s on your spring fun list?

Here is something you should know about my husband: he strongly dislikes cold weather. Like, gets a very mild case of SAD in the winter. (Hence our daughter’s name, in part!) For years he has dreamed about taking a warm-weather vacation in the depths of January or February, but the opportunity always snuck up on us after the holidays.

That is, until this year. After a tough 2017, where, among other things, our surprise 30th birthday/fifth wedding anniversary trips fell through, we decided on a whim to finally make a snowbird getaway happen. The deciding factor was a fall Southwest Airlines sale, where we snapped up tickets to Tampa. With a destination in hand, John began researching where, exactly, we wanted to go once we landed. The criteria: warm (obviously), clear water, somewhere within driving distance of the Tampa airport, somewhere with an “Old Florida” feel, somewhere with a relaxed and laid-back vibe, and somewhere we could walk most places. Anna Maria Island checked all of those boxes and then some.

Anna Maria is a tiny, white-sand sliver of a barrier island known for its beautiful beaches and quaint vibe. There are no high-rise condos or obnoxious chains. The island-wide speed limit is 35 MPH :) We stayed at the even quieter north end of the island (the Anna Maria section), and it’s so narrow that you can see the Gulf at one end of the street and turn around to see Tampa Bay at the other. We stayed at the Sunrise Garden Resort, which is really the only “hotel” at that end – it’s surrounded by colorful houses (many of them rentals), cute shops, and restaurants. We were very happy there and would absolutely recommend it over the more commercial south end of the island.

Here’s how we really knew this was the perfect destination for us: I could probably count on two hands the number of people we saw under 40. Ha! That’s a little bit of an exaggeration, but if a place is good enough for retirees, it’s good enough for us! Those people know how to relax, I tell you what :)

This vacation was quite possibly the least-planned out adventure we have ever had. We didn’t make any reservations or an itinerary in advance, and that worked out fine! We arrived Wednesday afternoon and left Saturday afternoon, and here were a few highlights:

— Ginny’s and Jane E’s for breakfast sandwiches and smoothies
— The Waterfront Restaurant for dinner (twice!)
— Bean Point, the beach on the north tip of the island, for long walks, shell collecting, and nature sightings
— Renting chairs from Beach Bums and reading on the Tampa Bay-side beach
— Browsing the many adorable shops on Pine Street
— The General Store for yummy deli sandwiches, salads, and ice cream (twice!)
— Poppo’s Taqueria for burrito bowls and quesadillas
— The Donut Experiment for a design-your-own morning treat

We walked to all of these spots from our hotel easily, which was so nice! We also enjoyed watching the Olympics from bed in the evenings and lounging by (and taking a dip in) Sunrise’s heated pool.

The only real off-island adventure we had was kayaking in Robinson Preserve, launching from nearby Bradenton — the perfect active counterpoint to our generally lazy schedule. We rented a tandem from Kayak Jacks for a two hour or so self-guided paddle (through a mangrove tunnel and out to a sandbar!) and it was a seamless experience.

My favorite part? Aside from the flights themselves, which felt absurdly luxurious without wrangling a two-year-old, my favorite part of the trip was our last morning. After checking out of our hotel, we brought our beach chairs back to the water’s edge and chatted through the famous 36 Questions That Lead to Love. We had never done them before, and though of course we knew many of each other’s answers, it was such a treat to just sit there, enjoy each other’s company, and be reminded of all the ways we are similar and all the reasons we are a perfect match for each other.

Which really, was the whole point. I’m not the first one to say it, but time away together is a joy and a priority if you have kids. Yes, we generally like to prioritize trips that include the whole family (and love traveling together dearly!), but John and I plan to be best friends long after kiddos are off to college, and best friends need love and attention and special memories all along the way, not just after the kids have officially turned out alright. We’re grateful we got to to take this trip (our first multi-night stay away) and especially thankful to my Mom for watching June! They had a great time, too :)

Anna Maria was the perfectly relaxing winter getaway we were hoping for, and we couldn’t recommend it more!!

I’d love to hear: Do y’all have a favorite winter getaway? And, if you have kids, have you gotten away yet with just your spouse?

P.S. Clearly I am a big fan of this hat – perfect for such a sunny location!

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About a year and a half ago Marget and Seth moved to California, which was terrible in pretty much every way for us (because they are far away now!!), but seemingly a good choice for them :) The silver lining? This year, we got to spend Christmas in California! Here are a few photos and what we did, if you’d like to see…

John, June, and I flew out at 7am on Christmas morning. We were NOT about to spend $600+ dollars for a plane ticket for our not-yet-two-year-old, but were VERY thankful to score an empty seat in our row on not just one but both of our flights! Hallelujah and thank you, Delta!!! June decided she did NOT enjoy the cool headphones we’d gotten her in preparation, but was content to simply watch the TV screen on the seatback and push all the buttons repeatedly for the duration of our five-hour flight :)

Marget and Seth live in a beach town near LA, and the first afternoon, we walked to the beach at sunset! It was the perfect wide-open arena for J’s current favorite game, run and chase.

For Christmas dinner we had ragu and papparadelle, a newish Thomas family tradition! We opened gifts a little bit at a time over our entire visit. June doesn’t seem to have totally grasped presents – she was just kind of happy to be included :) This, however, was clearly her favorite toy she received!

The next day we went for a hike at Forrestal Preserve and had lunch at Malibu Eatery (yummy grilled chicken tacos!). I was so proud of our little hiker – she walked at least half of the steep uphill climb!

We also visited the tide pools across the street, beneath the Trump National Golf Course.

In the evening, we walked the canals of Venice to look at the Christmas lights (such a crazy place!!), then had a delicious dinner at Rose Cafe. On a return trip I would love to do some shopping on Abbot Kinney – so many cute shops!

The next morning we took the walking path that runs through Marget and Seth’s neighborhood to their favorite playground, where we ate a mixed-up breakfast of bagel sandwiches from Noah’s and acai bowls from Paradise Bowls. My first time eating the latter – SO good and so California :)

As you can see, Uncle Seth was the fan favorite all week :)

Pretty soon it was time to head to LA for an al fresco lunch at The Paley and a matinee performance of Hamilton!!! Yes!

Needless to say, it exceeded all expectations. And the theater was so beautiful! I feel so lucky that we got to see this spectacular show – what a treat.

On our last full day we had breakfast at Uncle Bill’s, a pancake hole-in-the-wall, then spent a few hours back at the beach. There was much digging, and Marget and I played Chicken Foot.

Our flight home was uneventful, and now as I sit here writing a few days later, it is SNOWING! So different from warm Cali, although to be fair, snow is rather unusual for North Carolina.

Hoping you all had wonderful holidays breaks, as well!!

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Our Michigan vacation was a very welcome respite in the midst of July’s crazy. We spent a week at John’s family’s rustic cottage on a small lake near Traverse City, and it felt like a very classic summer vacation: we cooked big meals, we waterskiied and paddleboarded and kayaked, we drank root beer floats, we watched the cousins dig in the sandbox, we played badminton and cards, and we watched the sun set over the water while roasting marshmallows. This is the kind of stuff I live for, and I wanted to share a few photos, if you’d like to see!

Is that not the life?! Much of our time was spent lounging in those Adirondack chairs, reading, chatting, and then walking the few steps to the lake when we got too hot.

By far the best part of this trip was the people. We were gathered with about 28 extended family members, including all of John’s siblings, spouses, and their kids. We are spread out around the country, which is sad, because we love spending time together!! It was a treat to all be in the same place.

We ate dinner perched on the porch steps, looking out at the lake, almost every night. June was a big fan of the setup.

We stuck pretty close to the cottage most of the time, but did make a few trips out for ice cream, lunch at the A&W, and climbing the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

I’ll leave you with perhaps my favorite photo from the trip, snapped mid-run through the towels on the line. Are those faces not pure, unadulterated JOY?

Happy summer, friends!

All photos by me, John, and my talented siblings :)