Road Trip!! part 4

WE LOVE THE BEACH!!!!

Road Trip!! part 3

We had so much fun at the beach!  The sand was white powder and super soft.  The water was clear and beautiful.  Although it was FILLED with jellyfish.  We caught about 20 jellyfish in our fishing net and on our last day, Eli got stung by one.  He was really strong about it and it didn't slow him down for very long.

 A couple of times we saw dolphins swimming out in the water.  The first time I saw them I panicked because all I could see was a fin.  My first thought was SHARK! but we quickly realized they were dolphins.  This picture was taken from our balcony.

 Eli loved net fishing!!  It was HARD to catch big fish but we caught several small creatures.

 Chase and Reed looking at Eli's catches of the day

 Chase fell asleep at the beach a couple of times.  Vacation is exhausting!!  : )

Road Trip!!! part 2

On Sunday afternoon, we arrived at our destination.... Sandestin, Florida.  We booked our trip without knowing much about the resort, etc.  We were all nervous as we walked to our room (condo).  It was a very nice resort with beautiful views and scenery, but until we saw our room we were still nervous.  As it turns out, our room was PERFECT!!!!  It was a beautiful beachfront condo that was perfect for our family.  Only one king bed, but we brought the air mattress and there was plenty of room for it in the same room as the king bed.  We had a full kitchen and a washer/dryer....and a vacuum (Eli was most impressed with this!)  Perfect for an 8 day stay at the beach!!!  We planned to do a little sight seeing, but ended up spending every day at the beach and pool.  It was perfect!!!  We all had a great time and are ready to go back the first chance we get!!

 The view from our balcony

 Lots of naps!!

Road Trip!!! Part 1

We went on our first LONG family road trip in May.  We drove 13 hours to Destin, Florida.  When we left we were optimistic about how the drive would go but kept saying...you never know if 13 hours is too long until you try.  We tried and it was not bad at all!!  We split it up into 2 days which made it much easier.  We left on Saturday afternoon and drove to Shreveport.  We stopped for dinner....the kids discovered Cracker Barrel....and then drove three more hours to Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Eli and I studied the Mississippi River last fall so Eli was very interested in seeing it.  We arrived in Vicksburg late and Eli was already asleep.  The next morning we spent time looking around the river and some of the Civil War battlegrounds.  Eli LOVED that...we will definitely be back to Mississippi to do more sightseeing when all of the kids are a little older.  

 Jumping bed to bed in the Vicksburg hotel.....my sister and I used to do this as kids when we were on vacation.  I never taught Eli and Chase to do this.  Some things are just born in kids.  Luckily we didn't end up with a bloody nose or lip like we have in the past.  ; )

Phillip's 66

We had a great time celebrating Dad's birthday!  And I have to say, I've been waiting a LONG time for this one!!  As long as I can remember I've wanted to have a "Phillips 66" party for Dad on his 66th birthday.  : )  And my Grandma told me years ago that we had to do that for him.  I was so happy with the cake...I never really know if the cakes are going to turn out, but I loved this one!!!  Happy 66th Birthday, Dad!!!

Texas Bluebonnets

I've always wanted to have the pictures taken in the bluebonnets, but have never been able to justify the cost.  This year, we went to a great bluebonnet hill and I took some pictures.  I got some great ones, but obviously wasn't able to get a family picture.  I sill LOVE the pictures and am so glad that we did it!!