Our Last Day at the Beach

July 20, 2012

I did not sleep well, so I awoke early and worked on my summer Bible study.  It was a great way to start the day as I watched the sun rise over the houses across the street.

We bid Susie, Eric, and Lesley farewell as they headed home in the morning.

Tara cooked my favorite breakfast...french toast.

We then hit the beach shops for souvenirs.  I really just wanted a t-shirt, and I really didn't want to take the kids.  I got the shirt with the kids in tow and spent valuable time perusing trinkets that did not interest me.  Ira also now has a tie dyed, Destin onesie with "Are you really my relatives?" printed on it.  You really just don't know how appropriate this is until you have spent a week on vacation with us.  

The family enjoyed the afternoon at the pool, and I enjoyed hanging with Ira. We celebrated Danielle's birthday with an ice cream cake.  Happy Birthday, Danielle!

Savannah and Wyatt got the necessary picture taken.

We tried for good pictures again.  Tiffany wanted some too.  I am telling you that relatives cannot get good pictures of teenage boys.  Toddlers are easier.  Hire a professional.  Enough said.

Score!  I love this picture!

This one isn't perfect, but I am satisfied.  

After pictures we were going to attempt the pier again.  However, I was outvoted.  Is it too much to ask to try and see a dolphin when in Florida?  Everyone wanted to visit the arcade, so we did.

After the arcade, the kids played in the pool.  I went along to get pictures, and the water was oh so tempting, but I did not succumb.

Savannah was so tired that she did not want to get in the water.

Handstands!

Shark!

Savannah caved.

We concluded our night with the obligatory interviews on video that are a family tradition.  Clearly, I take hundreds (okay thousands) of pictures each year.  I am not so good at recording my children's little voices on video for posterity, so I have one of the kids interview everyone on vacation every year to get their favorite memories.

Some favorite memories:

Zach- hanging on the beach and watching Grandpa play Quelf 

Savannah -playing with Regan and not driving with Grandpa

Joshua-not having to do his own laundry

Tessa and John -getting engaged

Danielle -Regan loved the water and the beach

Wyatt - the pool and the beach

Logan- swimming (totally believable - he would go swimming while the other kids were chilling in the house)

Austin- arcade, swimming and the beach

Julia-playing with the boogie board

Tamara- hearing Regan's pig noise (a very good snort), hanging out in the ocean, having my family all together in one place with no practices, work, etc.

We missed Mom and Tony. As good as vacation was, the sting of loss still hurts.

reminder- you can click on any picture to see it bigger

Picture Post

July 19, 2012

We started today with the beach. Storms loomed in the distance, and while my intention was to spend just a short time on the beach, the waves kicked up giving Julia a great opportunity to ride her boogie board. Wyatt joined the action with a tube, and we stayed for quite a while. 

Smiles!  That's what I'm talking about!  Clearly, they are having a blast!

We had a photographer scheduled for this evening, so we planned to visit a pier where dolphins play and then head for our session. Unforutnately, widespread storms caused our photographer to cancel. We raced to get ready and head to the beach to try and get our pictures before the storms. We got some great shots, but that elusive family shot did not happen as the wind really destroyed my hair in the only really good shot. Hopefully, we will have more success tomorrow. I am very disappointed about losing our session with professional but am trusting that God will grant us a great family picture here at the beach.

I hoped our photographer would get a good shot of Andy and me as well as good pictures of each of us with Wyatt.  All of our other kids have professional shots of themselves with Andy and with me.

total opposites, and they get along very well

Our photographer...Joshua took the best picture we have ever had of our family, so I trust him with the camera.

We never made it to the pier.  We capped off the evening with an attempt at a date night.  Andy and I headed down the traffic laden strip.  We stopped at a restaurant overlooking a beautiful dock, found the menu to be pricey for a long wait and started back toward home.  

We ended up stopping at a huge strip mall where we feasted on soft crab sandwiches that were not what we expected.  Anticipating fried crab meat, we were surprised to receive actual crabs on toasted bread.  It was adventurous, and I can check it off of my list of things to do in life-no need for a repeat.  We ended the night with frozen yogurt.