{Florida}

we had paper chains, tally sheets and posters to count down the days till we left on our epic summer vacation. to say the girls were excited was a major understatement! it was the first time we were driving all.the.way.to.florida...the first time we were linking our florida and georgia trips together and the first time we would be gone from our home for three weeks. ever. did i mention it was epic?

we made it pretty far that first day. i guess leaving at 4:33 am will do that for you! i honestly think the girls were almost as excited about staying in a hotel as they were about the whole trip. seriously what is it about hotels and kids?!? i guess i know what it is...they can swim and they have your undivided attention...no laundry, dishes, yard work or computers to pull you away from them...they have you right where they want you...in our case it's the pool!

this is a crazy blurry red-eyed shot with my phone...
but i couldn't resist that early morning three sister hotel snuggle.

we could see those familiar trees at last...we were close and we could feel it!:)

every summer when we visit our family has a little birthday bash to celebrate riley and aubrey's birthdays and janey's half birthday. this year we went bowling and the girls had so much fun.

i think daddy had fun too.
these pictures just warm my heart and crack me up all at once.

i think he really thought he was driving...ya know those snowmobiles are tricky to maneuver...!!!:)

thanks for the fun party!!

we had three glorious days in a row at the beach.

the weather thoroughly cooperated...not too sunny...just right.

perfect for taking a plethora of pictures.

i tried to pick my favorites but it was just too hard.

so get ready...

:)



i think that's melty granola bar on her face:)

whew

are you still with me?

don't know what it is about taking pictures of them at the beach.

especially aubrey.

i guess it is one of the few places she will sit still long enough:)

the girls had such an amazing time this year.

aubrey would have dug and played in the sand for hours.

she was a bit scared of walking into the water but loved to go in if we held her tight.:)

riley and janey loved going waaaaaaay out to practice body surfing and jump those waves.

i remember doing that all day as a kid and when you would go to bed that night you always felt like you were still riding over those white caps!:)

we collected so many shells and can't wait to get them in a pretty little jar tied up with twine.

the beach filled us all up this year.

thank you so much to our family for showing us a good time in the sunshine state.

we love you all and

 can't wait till next year.:)



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update

just realized i never blogged about last years trip to florida!!!!

guess i was slackin last summer too:)

so...just incase you haven't seen enough beach photos of the girls you can pop on over to take a look at last years trip. they have grown quite a bit i must say!! haha

i did learn one thing though...i was waaaaay better with my camera last year...i sooooo need to get motivated to tackle that baby...again!!:)

**********

on our way up to GA we stopped by to visit my grandad and catherine in melbourne.

they were so excited to see us.

it was nice to have lunch and visit for awhile.

we all wished it could have been longer.

next year we promise to play a little pool with you grandad!!!