It was so nice to get back to New Smyrna Beach with the family this year after missing out last year (granted, it was for an Alaskan cruise, so I'm not complaining!). This was a lovely week.
The crew gathered round the cornhole arena. This competition is almost as big as the family tennis tournament, nicknamed the Sandpiper Open.
Just hanging out with our toes in the water.
My favorite picture from the whole week! These two had a blast on their boogie boards this year. They spent hours in the ocean learning to ride the waves!
They always appreciate Randy's birthday money game. This year it included Easter eggs, so that's always fun.
Of course we always made time for a little summer reading and snacking too.
Mia made these beach-themed cupcakes to share at Hot Dog day. She made vanilla cupcakes then iced them with blue-tinted cream cheese frosting. She added swedish fish to the ocean, and then added crumbled graham crackers to make a beach. There were only 20 so they got snatched up pretty quickly!
Hot Dog day!
The 69 of us who made it out this year. We were only missing a few!
One very rainy afternoon we decided to skip out for a bit, and we headed over to watch Hotel Transylvania 3; it was a cute movie.
We also discovered there's a Bob Ross gallery in New Smyrna that he opened in the early 90's. We had fun visiting this and watching the class that was going on. Maybe next year we'll be able to participate!
A beautiful sunset over the intercoastal and a fun playground to visit.
Cousins' dinner night out at Garlic. We sat down near Jason and Jill and Lee and Jaime; it was a hot evening but fun to catch up with them.
Mom and Dad with their five grandkids. They are such fantastic grandparents.
Sweet kids.
All of us. I love my family!
We actually ended up leaving on Friday and drove over to Orlando. We were looking for a fun way to avoid the Saturday mass exodus of everyone leaving Florida. We checked in to the Animal Kingdom lodge which we really liked. Our room had this great view over the savannah. It's difficult to see in this picture, but we could watch giraffes, zebras, gazelles, wildebeests, cranes, pelicans and such. It was really cool and peaceful.
Of course the girls favorite part was the bunk bed in our room.
The hotel itself was really cool, and we had a good time exploring it. The gift shop had all sorts of fun stuff in it, like these masks. We watched a man work on carving a walking stick too which was fascinating.
On Friday evening we headed over to Disney Springs for dinner and exploring. The Lego shop was a big hit, and miraculously, we didn't buy anything!
Dinner at Rainforest Cafe is always a treat too. We enjoyed our meal and the girls loved getting these souvenir cups.
After dinner we stopped by Goofy's candy store where Mia got a Mickey Mouse chocolate chip cookie that was literally as big as her head! With her new dental appliance (the precursor to braces) she can't have her typical gummy favorite desserts; this was a great alternative. Disney Springs has changed a lot of the last few years, and they have a ton of new shops and restaurants to explore. They have a fabulous gourmet chocolate shop now that I thoroughly enjoyed.
On Saturday, we enjoyed several hours playing in the hotel pool. It was a great way to cool off and have fun. After that, we showered and went to a cookie decorating party in one of the restaurants. Cute cookies, bright icing, and lots of fun candies made for a fun and delicious time.
We once again went to Disney Springs for dinner Saturday night which was fun. We stumbled across the little Winnie the Pooh area from 10 years ago and couldn't resist taking this picture. Where has the time gone?!
What a great week!
