Vacation - Day 4 - Sun Kissed & Water Logged

Another great day!  Breezier, but the intensity of the sun seemed to be more extreme.  While vacationing I loved my quiet morning time at the beach!!

This morning we enjoyed Grammy's delicious scrambled eggs and ham and we took our time getting ready.

 Today Mom, Dad, and I swam out to a sandbar just a little farther away from the shore.  Here we were able to enjoy the clear, turquoise ocean we've grown to love!  Later I talked Chris, Garrett, and Ethan into swimming out with me.  We each grabbed a boogie board and swam out.  This was a little hard for Garrett.  Two years ago he was sucked out by a rip current.  And I mean sucked out - in an instant.  SO scary!!  I'm so proud of him, though, because he worked through this fear!  While on the sandbar a "dolphin cruiser" drove by just 50 yards away with a dolphin swimming and jumping behind it.  So cool!!  We got some amazing waves from it too!!   This was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Today I was very, very good about reapplying sunscreen.  I watched the clock carefully and was never late.  This is what leads me to believe the sun was more intense.  I got a sunburn today!  :(  So glad it was the last day.  Also, after several days of being here, today was the day I walked off the beach with "raccoon" eyes.  When we came in for lunch around 1:30, I was beginning to feel it and thought I should probably quit for the day.  We were all pretty pooped!

Later in the afternoon Chris rented a kayak and took the boys out for a spin.

This evening we walked to shop for some souvenirs.  The boys wanted to go home with tattoos!

Thanks, Pop!

As I type this some are packing, some are eating dinner, and some are watching T.V.  I'll miss that about vacation - the freedom of not being on a schedule and very little responsibility!  However, I am anxious to get home and see the rest of the fam and a certain little, white fluffball!



Vacation - Day 3 - Surf n' Sand

I got up a little before 8:00 this morning to enjoy some quiet time at the beach.

I brought my book - the one I saved to read just for this trip and haven't had time to - but couldn't pull my eyes away from this view.  I couldn't help but look at out the seemingly endless ocean and think about it being like God's love - so deep and never ending.  As I was thanking Him for who He is, three dolphins swam by.  They came even closer than some people swimming yesterday.  It was truly breathtaking!

After an hour or so I headed back up to eat breakfast with those who were up.

After a hearty breakfast of biscuits and gravy, we were out among 'em again.  We were so glad that the seaweed was so much better today!!

BIG NEWS today!!  Ethan lost his first tooth!  He's been waiting FOREVER for this!  He's not quite as toothless as Abby, but he's on his way.

 Tonight Mom and Dad and I went out for seafood.  We ate at Floyd's and had some delicious coconut shrimp, grouper, and popcorn shrimp. 

We came back and took some pictures on the beach.

 So thankful for another great day full of sun with temperatures cooler than home, believe it or not!  The day was made better because I've been getting several sweet texts from Sara.  Texts of Chloe being spoiled with belly rubs!!  I may not get her to come home with me!  Thanks, Sara, for taking such good care of her.

Vacation - Day 2 - Fun in the Sun

What a great day!!  A fabulous day!!  We were blessed today with a beautiful, cloudless day AND the weather was glorious!!  A high of 89 degrees!  It was so much cooler than home.  (And I have to mention that I love that there are no bugs in Florida!!)

We started the day with some delicious french toast, pancakes, bacon, and sausage.  (Well, actually, Dad started the day for everyone by getting up and turning on every possible light to make coffee.  To make coffee with our bottled water!)  After "gooping" up we finally headed out.

 

 For some reason there was a lot (and I mean A LOT) of seaweed!  So, we soaked up the beach for quite awhile and then spent most of the rest of the day in the lazy river. Chase made it his personal mission to stick me directly under the waterfalls.  He is SO STRONG.  My arms are so tired from trying to pull away from him, but I had so much fun!!

 We ended the day with a delicious steak dinner...

...and Grammy's made-from-scratch brownies while watching one of our favorites, "Wild Hog's".  The boys love watching this with Pop.

I can't tell you how many times today we talked about missing the "rest of us".  Matt, Tonya, Jacob, Abby, the only thing that could make this better is you guys!  We miss you!!

VACATION - Day 1 - Traveling

We loaded up and headed south at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.  (I really wanted to get a picture, but let's face it, I can't get this group to pose or smile for a picture at a decent hour!)  I had trouble falling asleep, so I only got about an hour and a half of sleep.  I wasn't worried because I knew this would help me pass time in the car.  :) (At least that's what I thought.)  Garrett hopped in the car with us.  He told us that he feels the best way to pass time in the car and create memories was to talk!  Not at all what I expected to hear from a future 5th grader, but he meant it.  He was quite the chatterbox!  We made our first stop around 7:00 for breakfast and Garrett finally fell asleep a few hours after that.  

He and I passed the time together in the back seat playing a little Angry Birds, the traditional "alphabet game", Name that Tune, and he enjoyed teasing and giving me a hard time whenever he could!  Just thought I'd include a little picture of my view when Dad was not driving....

He was ready for a nap but with not being to see out and having the seat practically in my lap, my claustrophobia set in!  Easily fixed, though, I just moved over and crowded Garrett.  I think it might have worked for the best, though, because it gave him less wiggle room.  After the lunch stop Ethan hopped in with us.  He was completely opposite of Garrett and fell asleep right away.

But, he more than made up for it when he was awake!  He loved reading the map and following our route.  However, by the time we'd finally reached Florida state line, he'd pretty much had it!  We ALL had!!

After the 10th hour being couped up in the car you begin to think, "Was this really worth it?"  Then you get there and see the view from your condo and know it was!

We loved our new temporary digs!  So clean and roomy.

After unpacking and choosing rooms...

We had to check out where we were going to spend the majority of the time while we were here!

We all crashed with the excitement of tomorrow!