Beach Family Photo Shoot

While vacationing on Anna Maria Island we knew we had to attempt some family beach pictures. Duh. So Saturday morning we all got dressed and ready and within minutes of when we were going to head out a storm blew in. Wah way wah. Thankfully later that afternoon the storm let up and we hit the beach for pictures. We used my tripod and camera remote and I'm actually really happy with how most of the pictures turned out despite it being extremely bright and very windy. Here's a look at some of my favorites from our family photo shoot and then of course I had to share some outtakes.

And here are some outtakes of the whole crew, which actually might be my favorites...

Our first family vacation {Anna Maria Island}

We are home from a sweet and very memorable first family vacation. We spent a week on Anna Maria Island in Florida with my husband's family and had the best time. All 9 of us stayed together in a house just minutes from the beach with access to our own private pool. It was a little slice of paradise.

I took over 400 pictures and will obviously not be sharing them all in this post, but this is fair warning: this post does contains lots and lots of pictures mostly of a cute little chubby baby on the beach.

Let's start with Aiden's first experience with the ocean. Little man was intrigued by the ocean. He was very content just sitting and digging in the sand and surprisingly didn't eat any of it! He didn't mind the waves (except for when he got a wave to the face...he can thank his Dad for that one. Haha)

Aiden's Grams, Aunts and Uncles spoiled him with lots of attention and playtime every day. We are so blessed to have people who love our little guy so much and who will be ridiculous just to make him laugh. And I apologize to them all for having Daniel Tiger songs in their head all week long.

We spent a few days exploring different places like Myakkah State Park where we saw Alligators and walked along a trail with a canopy walk. We also visited the historic fishing village of Cortez, Anna Maria pier and several new restaurants and shops.

Myakkah State Park where my husband went head to head with an Alligator

Anna Maria Pier

Dinner at the Waterfront Restaurant

Ice cream at Dips

Seafood Shack in the historic fishing village of Cortez

While we had fun exploring the island, most of our time was spent on the beach or in our amazing pool. We took turns cooking dinners so most of our evenings were spent around the house, which was awesome for Drew and I since Aiden usually goes to bed between 8 and 9. Let me just say we had a house full of top notch chefs and every dinner we had was full of fresh seafood and delicious drinks! The meal Drew and I made can be found here. Trust me, it's a keeper!

I really did not want to see this vacation come to an end. It was full of family time, good food, lots of firsts for baby and some memories that I will cherish forever. I have a few more vacation related posts coming your way including our trip to Universal, family beach pictures and a sail boat ride in honor of my father in law.

Have you ever been to Anna Maria Island?