We woke on Saturday to the most beautiful, sunny, cool and breezy day!

We swam in the pool for a little bit in the morning, but it was chilly!

Because of the temperature, we had decided the night before to go and visit the zoo on Saturday after lunch.

But first we stopped at Target for some things we needed and Blake bought the kiddos a coffee treat!

Over the last month, the kids have been watching a show called San Diego Zoo on the channel Animal Planet – which shows all kinds of behind-the-scenes care of the animals at the zoo.

It is a fascinating show!

Blake and I knew it would make a trip to the zoo all the more interesting after everything they have learned on that show.

The Naples Zoo did not disappoint!

It was the most beautiful zoo I have ever been too!

I could not get over the trees, flowers and greenery!

Just look at these trees!

Isn’t it beautiful?

We saw some amazing animals that were hard to photograph with a cell phone!

When we got to the giraffe exhibit, we saw that you could feed them some lettuce for $5.

Of course we had to do that!

I only have a photo of Chad feeding them because I took video of the rest of the kids doing so.

We ended our afternoon at the zoo with a show about the animals.

It was awesome!

Such a fun way to spend a beautiful day!

After the zoo we went back to our home away from home and fed the kiddos quick.

Next up we headed to the beach to watch the sunset from the pier.

Little did we know that the temperature was dropping and the winds had increased to 40 mph!

It was COLD and SO WINDY!

I have great photos, but we didn’t last long.

There was a mama with this crew (that’s me!) who was huddled behind her hubby trying to stay out of the direct wind gusts because she was frozen to her core, ha, ha!

Please notice how the palm trees are bent way over in that wind!

And notice how big the waves are too!

We drove around for a little while before the sun went down, just to look around and see all the things!

Naples is beautiful!

Sunday morning was another beautiful day.

The winds and clouds of the last three days were gone!

Blake researched on line and found a church for us to attend.

We enjoyed church SO MUCH!

Our church here at home loves to sing, and this church we visited in Florida was the same!!

What a beautiful time of worship we had and were also challenged and encouraged by an amazing sermon.

We had driven by a place called Seed to Table on our way to church and went back to check it out after church!

It was very neat!

Think Joanna Gaines kind of neat.

It was packed with people though, and was not allergy friendly.

We bought some guacamole and salsas to go with our lunch and that was all.

Sunday afternoon had us back at the pool – the first time it was warmer and completely sunny!

We made a delicious meal at our home away from home Sunday evening.

Then Chad kicked Blake and I out on a date!

Why, yes, thank you, Chad!!

We went to check out a bakery we hoped to enjoy with the kids, and of course went grocery shopping.

Date night was just like here in Wisconsin really!

Monday morning brought the promise of a super yummy breakfast at an all gluten-free bakery.

It did not disappoint!!

I was not able to eat anything there because I do not eat grains or sugar, but Blake and the kids said it was the best gluten-free baked goods they have ever had!!

We ate on their patio even though in the shade it was a little chilly!

Thankfully Blake had a sweatshirt for Eliza to borrow.

She is so cute.

Because of Monday’s predicted temperatures and clear blue skies, we decided to go and play at the beach for the first time during the day.

It ended up being a great choice!

We were turned away from the first beach we went to because it was at capacity, which meant there was no parking.

I told everyone that finding a different beach was going to be a happy accident, and it was!

We found one and Blake let us out so he could go and find parking.

We ended up walking quite a ways through a construction area, which no one else was bothering to do, and had an entire beach almost to ourselves!

The other side of the construction was packed with people.

I am so glad we decided to take a chance on that long walk!!

After getting back to our suite Monday evening and getting everyone cleaned up and fed, Blake took me out on another date – for dinner and a smoothie!

It was fantastic.

The date and the food!

Pretty great vacation so far, wouldn’t you say??

I am SO thankful I have all of these photos!!!

They will be such a joy to look back on!!

Stay tuned for the HUGE finale to our trip that Blake planned for us – that will be up in the next post!!