Long (Overdue) Post about Memorial Day

I haven't been good about blogging lately because I'm discouraged that I can't currently upload pictures from our camera. (It's a long story.) For some reason that fact has kept me from blogging with the pictures I already have uploaded on the computer. That's about to change! I know you've all been on the edge of your seats, so here you go!

We had a wonderful mini-vacation Memorial Day weekend. We spent the weekend in Tallahassee, FL with Ben's folks, hereafter referred to as Mema and Papa. After driving to Tally Saturday morning, we ate lunch at Mema and Papa's house before getting back in the car to drive to St. George Island, a beautiful barrier island off of Florida's panhandle, and a favorite spot of mine, since it's where we always went to the beach when I was going to college at FSU. It was cool to take the kids there, and for this to be Eliza's first trip to the beach. There was hardly anyone else there and the weather was perfect: warm but not unbearably hot.

We invited our friends Tim and Cassie and their 3 kids to join us. Ben and Tim were best friends in high school, Tim was the best man at our wedding, and all of our kids are almost exactly the same ages. We love hanging out with them!

Cat and Lana were pretty much playing in the Gulf the whole time. They took a few breaks to play in the sand, grab a cookie or a drink of water, assist the fishermen, and inspect the catch of the day, but then they went right back into the water.



Eliza seemed to really enjoy herself. First, she napped under the canopy. Then, she tested the water before deciding to just hang out with her buddy Jacob:


Jack was wary of the water for the first few hours, spending most of his time watching the girls, playing with cars (surprise, surprise), and helping Daddy and Papa with the important business of catching Sunday's dinner:


But finally Jack decided it was okay to play in the water after all. (I wish I had a good picture of Jack with Madi, Tim and Cassie's 2-year-old daughter. Next time!!)


Jack even seemed to enjoy tasting the water. See for yourself:

And I had to include this video of Jack running. Just because I love the way he runs!

We had so much fun with Mema and Papa and Tim and Cassie's family - playing, fishing, swimming, and just enjoying eachother's company - that we didn't leave the beach until after 8pm. By the time we got some dinner and ice cream and loaded up, the kids were completely exhausted, and slept the whole way home. What a lovely day.

After Church on Sunday, we enjoyed a delicious fish fry and had some play time with cousins:


On Monday, Mema took us to a park with a fun playground and a lake, where Cat was looking for sharks:



My awesome sister-in-law, Lindsey, is starting a photography business and asked if she could take some pictures of our family. Umm... sure!! If you're on Facebook, you can see her "Lindsey Lou Photography" page here. For those of you who, like me, are not Facebookers, I'll post a few of her pictures later.

Then, we had a little more play time before it was time to head home:


Thank you, Mema and Papa, for a wonderful weekend! We can't wait to come visit again!