Recently our family headed down to New Smyrna Beach, FL for our family's annual vacation. This year, we decided to simply take it easy and enjoy our time there; we didn't plan any side trips or before/after trips. We were appreciative that Mom and Dad let us stay with them; they are always so gracious with that. Overall it was a lovely week. Here are several pictures (in no particular order) of the fun we had.
What a welcoming site! Ryan and the girls headed down to the pool pretty quickly once we got down there, and I headed over to Publix. This greeted me in the parking lot. What a great reminder of one of God's promises!
I have to admit that we didn't take this picture; my cousin Lisa did. Isn't this sunset amazingly beautiful?! This was our first night there and the view from JB's restaurant. I couldn't resist keeping it.
Randy and Georgia are so kind every year to play a game where all of their nieces/nephews get their birthday money gift from them and Meme. Each child ends up getting around $40. Needless to say, it's a much anticipated event! Our girls certainly appreciate their generosity!
We surprised the girls with boogy boards this year. They couldn't wait to try them out!
Trying to catch some waves!
Of course, the beach is also great for playing in the sand.
This is one of the beautiful sunrises Ryan saw...I missed this one (and every other one this week).
Well what do you know? The boogy boards are fun in the pool too!
Mia loved getting some pointers from Papa on how to catch and throw a ball; she can't wait to play softball this fall!
Lily got the hang of diving this year!
Both girls loved it when Ryan would throw them in the pool. Mia could catch some air.
Lily was a little more reserved (and just a few pounds more), so she didn't fly quite as high.
One fun little treat this week included a stop at Baskin Robbins after dinner one evening.
We were all so excited to meet our newest cousin, Maggie Jane. She's five weeks old now. Her birth mother chose Jason and Jill to be her parents when she was only two days old. She is absolutely precious, and we are glad to welcome her into our family. We had a fun baby shower for her and our second new cousin, Bryce, who technically joined the family last year just before the beach trip but was officially adopted in during the year. We love kids in this family!
Both girls were a little nervous to try the big surfboard, but they were willing to give standing up a try with a little help and encouragement from McKayla and Madi.
Wayne and I enjoyed sitting down by the water catching up one afternoon.
Lastly, here's the shot of the big group after enjoying hot dog day. My family isn't perfect, but we love each other. I'm thankful for the traditions that have been established over the years!
On Friday, it started raining about noon, and the forecast said that would keep up the rest of the day. We decided to pack it on up and head north. We stopped in Daytona for a couple of hours first though, so I could get my Bubba Gump's shrimp in; still my favorite shrimp ever. We headed on home after that which ended up working out well. We missed a good bit of traffic (there's a mass exodus from Florida on Saturday), and that gave us the whole day on Saturday to catch up on laundry and rest. Trips are always fun, but there's nothing like coming home!
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