Wordless Wednesday-- "Can't seem to come back to reality"

I know our trip is over, and it is time to jump back to reality...but do you see why I am having a hard time? This was heaven! (FYI, yes Gracie picked up someones pop) :-) She always wants to be like the big kids!!

Wordless Wednesday...."mama, sea sells" :-)

hugs from both my daughters = priceless

"My First Kiss" Dolphin style!

Discover Cove is definetly a vacation spot to hit if you can! It is one place that was so relaxing. You get there and check in right at 8am. The cost is a little high, but it was for sure worth it for the day. They feed you breakfast and a big lunch, drinks and food all day long are included in your cost. Today I am sharing the highlight for me which was kissing and swimming with the Dolphins. THis has been a dream come true for me. With your family pass you get one dophin swim. My family all voted for me to do it since I have dreamed about it for so long. What a great experience to feel, touch, kiss, and swim with such an amazing animal. They are so sweet!

The boys loved the coral reef, they swam in that all day long snorkeling. There were amazing fish they were just in awhhh over. And the thrill of swimming right there with them was amazing to them. The set up in this park is all like a beach, sand and chairs all set up. You feel like you are at the beach and you just go to whatever you want to do. Swim with the fish, do the lazy river, go see the birds ..this is what Amanda and Grace loved because the birds just land on your hand and you can feed them. It was such a relaxing day Gracie even napped for 2 hours. I vote this a 10 !!

A little taste of Paradise.....

Our vacation has gone way too fast and now today we will say good bye to my little taste of paradise here on Cocoa beach. We definetly have been blessed with the most perfect weather and good health through out our time here and we even made some new friends. This was so great for our family to really get away and finally take a real vacation. I know this has been really good for my soul. This trip was not about keeping busy...our lives are busy enough. This get away was about getting time to relax, and I can say we did just that. Are we feeling refreshed? Yes!, BUT we are not ready to go back home. In fact this morning we are all pretty sad about leaving. Even the kids say this and want to stay longer. This just tells me that we need to do this more often and a little longer next time. We absolutly love it here and will have this for sure be a destination we will hit again. Hopefully sooner rather than later. The rest of this week I will be sharing some of my favorite photos (I only took 1,300 photos this week) and some fun stories to share with you about our experience here at cocoa beach. I hope you find them fun! Here are just a few for today....before we head to the airport....

view from our condo deck. More very fun pictures to come tomarrow!

Florida Vacation- Day one...

Our family Vacation is going great! After 16 years of never taking a "real" vacation, I think we will definetly make this a family priority! Well lets just say we must make it a priority! It really has been so great here. I had only dreamed of getting away like this. Well now we are here. In our condo on Cocoa beach and able to really kick back and relax. So far we have spent the first two days just enjoying the beach. The kids are having a blast! This morning we took a run on the beach, it is so beautiful here. I am not going to want to go home..well none of us are going to want to. Here are some pics Im sharing from just the first day. I have so many more, but just thought I'd pick some faves! More to come through out the week. Right now Im thanking God for such amazing family time. So refreshing!

More to come................

Happy 4th of July and B1 Bomber fly by

Happy 4th of July everyone!! I hope you all have had a great weekend! This morning we went to the local parade. The clouds were rolling in and it was a much cooler day. This photo was taken of us all just before I dropped my camera in some mud and yes it is broke. Thankfully it was not my professional one, and just my less expensive point and shoot one. ugh...but this meant I did not get anymore pics :-( If you know me at all, this was very much a bummer for me! Towards the middle of the parade we had a down pour of rain...now that would have made for some interesting photos too. Grace loved the parade and getting a few pieces of candy. I remember last year at this time I was carrying her in the little front pack. Amazing how fast time seems to fly by. Lots more packing to do for our vacation..so will write more later! Have a great day!

Below is when we got to our house, we hopped onto our roof to see the b1 bomber fly by. :-)

This one he was directly above us...sooo soo cool!!

Carnival fun..

Carnivals are not exactly my most favorite place to be at. But this year Bailey has loved the zipper ride, just like I did when i was his age. So while driving by the carnival we have been telling Gracie we would take her on the horses, and she was not going to let us forget it either. She loved her horse so much, she would not let go of her when the ride was done. :-)  Afterwards we went home and climbed on our roof too watch the local fireworks display. Tomarrow is the parade..so more to come from our lovely weekend! Happy Fourth of July everyone! God bless !

earlier in the day Amanda and I snuck away for a quick pedicure. It is one of our favorite treats to do together. We have to have nice feet or the beach right ..lol

Remembering Gramps..

2 years ago today our sweet Gradpa went to be with the Lord..and united with his son (my daddy). When my dad passed away (his only son) at such a young age (42) it crushed us all, but for grandpa it really crushed his spirit. He did not think it was fair that his son went before him. I'm sure the moment he entered heaven my dad and him went off fishing..getting the biggest catch of their lives! :-)

 Grandpa is someone everyone loved. He was always so giving and loving. He would do anything for all of us. I have so many great memories of Gramps. Going camping, fishing, spending time and being so proud of his garden (which now my beautiful grandma still does).  He was the first to take me out and teach me to drive a stick shift. When we went to visit him and my grandma no matter how much his knees may have been hurting him, he was the first to pop out of his rocking chair to give us a hug and a big kiss. Now when we go to the house to see grandma this is the big part missing!

We miss you Grandpa and love you!

And Grandma, if you are reading this, please know that we are so proud of you, and we love you so very much! You truely are the best! We love you!

He passed the test!

Well it is official..Bay passed his driving test the first time. Don't worry everyone..it is only a permit which means he drives only with us in the seat next to him. This is him driving us home. :-) I am really proud of him, he is becoming a young man. He has a summer job mowing lawns and does a great job.

As for driving....I really was not ready for this at all. He is growing up on me, and I have had to learn to let go just a little bit more to give him room. This also comes with trusting that God will watch over him when I can not. I have always been a pretty cautious/protective mom, any of my close friends would attest to that one. :-) I feel like time is passing so quickly and I want it to slow down a bit. Another reason a vacation sounds so great to us all so that we can just slow down. I think when we are running such a fast pace in life this makes times go just a little faster..or so it seems!

Beautiful Butterfly

This butterfly has been living in our front yard. I think she is beautiful and I just had to share!The detail is amazing to me. Wish I would have had my good camera on me, but still got it with my little point and shoot too. Happy Summer everyone!