Florida! Part 1

(originally published January 6, 2016)

On the Fourth of July we drove from Atlanta to Tallahassee - about a 4.5 hour drive.  We first drove to the house of Ben's best friend, Tim, where we had dinner with his family and hung out for a little while.  Their kids are almost exactly the same ages as our kids and they all love being together.  Cat spent the night there to have more time with Lana (our rule is that sleepovers are only allowed with family or those-we've-known-as-long-as-family and Ben and Tim have been best friends long enough to qualify) and Jack and Madi decided that they are going to get married (Jack still acknowledges this eventuality and they've already exchanged love notes via snail mail).

We then headed to Mema and Papa's house and were so excited to be there and see them!  We had fun watching the fireworks show put on by the Baptist church across the street from Ben's parents' neighborhood.  It was a treat to visit with old friends in Mema and Papa's ward the next day, since it's the same ward Ben grew up in, the ward I was born into, and the same ward we lived in for the first year and a half we were married, and many of the same people are still there.  And to make the day even better, we had a HUGE downpour during church.  This picture doesn't even do it justice.  Oh, it was awesome.

That afternoon we all got together for Cat's final birthday celebration, with lovely presents and a cake courtesy of Mema.  Then it was time to drive to St. George Island so the reunion could officially begin.

First order of business: family pictures on the beach.  Our kids were SO anxious to get in the water after being beach deprived for 2 years that we couldn't keep them dry while we waited for the other families to get their pictures done, so we told them they could put their feet in.  Next thing we knew...

So they were pretty soaked (from the shoulders down) for the rest of the photo session, but we got some good ones anyway.  Here's my favorite of our little clan, and the entire group.

Over the next several days we had lots of fun on the beach and in the water.  Uncle John brought his kayak and Uncle Mike rented a jet ski and let everyone have turns.  Awesome!  We got a kick out of spotting dolpins, too.  That never gets old.

When we needed a break from the sun (imagine that!) we came in to the house for games or movie time.  And in the evenings, each family took a turn planning an activity for the group.  We celebrated Mema and Papa's anniversary one night with dinner and a family trivia game.  We sang silly songs and played group games led by John and Sarah's family.  We had an awesome treasure hunt that Mike and Keturah put together, culminating in finding a treasure chest with pirate booty buried on the beach.  And at the end of the week Mema and Papa put all of the fish everyone caught to good use by having a fish fry.  Mmmmm.

Stay tuned for more of our Florida Reunion Adventures.