VACATION!

Last summer we had just moved back to Anderson and spent most (at least Kevin did) of our time renovating or working on our house.  So this summer we were thrilled when my parents invited us to join them for a week in sunny Florida!!!  They rented a three bedroom condo right on the beach and we were all very excited but first we had to try to fit everything in the van…

Luckily Kevin is super packer!  We didn’t arrive until after dinner time Saturday evening so we held the kids off until Sunday for some beach time.  I think Kevin was as excited as they were because he was up with them in the morning and ready to go.  Each morning we claimed our little spot on the beach and set up tent.  

Kevin played with the kids all day with only a short pool side break for lunch.  They built sand castles….

The masterpiece...

Found sea shells...

 and swam in the ocean...

Henley was dressed and ready for the beach as well.  

She chilled in a cool chair my friend Melissa let us borrow with Grandma and Grandpa chilling close by…

Grandma took Henley out to sea for a little dip….

 We also had a very cool float that my friend LeeAnn let us borrow for Henley that she enjoyed but I didn't get any pictures of her in it.  Kevin taught the kids how to fly kites.  Chase was so excited...

 We learned from day one to force the kids to take more breaks (or at least a break) so Mom and Dad can get a break as well.  Henley was excited to get to wear her other bathing suit...

She passed out for her morning nap with Grandma...

Kevin created an in-sand babysitter so he could sit down for a few minutes.

It did take them a few minutes to break free.  Grandpa brought his fishing stuff down for the kids and Leah couldn’t figure out why he was fishing off the balcony.

He was just getting his poles ready but unfortunately the fish were not biting. The kids still enjoyed feeding the bate fish to the birds. Monday night was really windy so Kevin took chase down to the beach after bedtime for some night time kite flying.  The bird kite was really hard to fly...

By Tuesday we were all in need of a little break from the beach and the sun and luckily for us it happened to be a rainy, overcast day.  We decided to take the kids to Smugglers Cove for a little game of putt putt golf.  We had so much fun with the kids. Kevin worked with each of them on their swing...

 Leah had a cute little butt wiggle to go with each putt.

Chase got a hole in one...

Henley chilled with me and took a little nap...

This place had extra cool factor because they had baby alligators that you could feed...

Both kids enjoyed feeding the gators and we luckily didn't loose anyone to them. We were happy that Tuesday was the only gloomy day. The break gave us a short rest and we were geared back up for some more beach fun and swimming.

Wednesday night we took the kids to a little store that I grew up visiting when I was a kid called the Candy Kitchen.  We let them go wild picking out whatever candy they wanted and they had the time of their lives doing it.

Time goes by way to fast but we made the best of every moment in Florida and really enjoyed our time.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the wonderful week!