Florida 2016

Here we go on another trip back in time.  The Parish picnic was the first Saturday in June and with all the kids running in different directions this year with their friends, I did a horrible job of taking pictures.  Ella, our rebel child, was the only one willing/wanting to go on the twisting, turning, and spinning rides.  This is her and her friend Allyson on the spinning apples ride. It wasn't until she went on some crazy ride similar to the traditional "scrambler" 3 times in a row, that she felt too sick to continue and needed a break, a 15 minute break to be exact.  Wild child!

She rode the actual scrambler as well.  The one that made her sick spun around and went up and down at a much faster speed.  Although she doesn't look like she's feeling too well on this ride either. She is with her friend Maddie's little sister Gabbie.  This gives you an idea of Ella's size...Gabbie is getting ready to start Kindergarten, and is one of the youngest in her class!

Ava, our cautious child, rode the slide (a big step) and the ferris wheel, and then decided she would much rather spend her time getting her hair sprayed blue and green, and her face painted.  Gavin is still too young to determine if he will follow in Ava or Ella's foot steps, he is too short for the crazy rides right now.  He did what he could and all three of them brought home more wonderful picnic junk treasures.  

 That's it, like I said, pathetic attempt to remember to take pictures!  I left the picnic early to start packing...we were leaving for Florida in less than 24 hours.  Being the procrastinator that I am, there was a lot of packing to do!

The day after the picnic we headed back to our favorite place in Fort Walton Beach, FL.  The kids couldn't wait to play in the sand, which is exactly what they did as soon as we got to our condo.  G-ma and G-pa C were with us again and this year Aunt Linzy, Ashton, and London came too.  The second night there, the five of us went out to dinner to quench Dan's craving for seafood.  We drove along the strip till randomly pulling in to a parking lot and trying a new place.  Other than the crazy long wait for our food, it was a great place.  The kids loved the "pirate" that was walking around making balloon items.  Gavin requested a sword...big shock!

Ella requested a turtle, might have been more believable in green, but who am I to judge?

Ava opted for the parrot to sit on her shoulder.  This was the toughest one to "see", but she loved it.  Due to the extremely long wait for our food, it turned into a late night for us. 

The next morning we were booked on an early morning catamaran ride.  I didn't know this picture was being taken so it's not my favorite, but it's the only one showing our sweet seats on the boat!

There were random hula hoops for the kids to play.  Ava tried it, but Ella kept going and going...

A couple new captains...I don't think we got too lost? LOL

The boat took us out to a shallow cove where we could get out and snorkel.  Everyone was suppose to find the best hermit crab they could to bring back on the boat for crab races.  Ava and Gavin were all over this activity.  They didn't want any part of using the snorkels, which were used by God knows how many people before us, so gross.  However, they found a lot of crabs!

Ella had mixed feelings about this opportunity.  She got in the water with everyone else, but after just a few minutes she came back up on the boat and said she didn't want to be in the water.  She also wouldn't tell me why?  When it was just about time for all to come aboard, she decided she did want to go in the water, and did so for the few remaining minutes.  So much emotion in such a little body!

All our racing hopes were riding on these massive hermit crabs.  I have asked around and tried to remember the results of the race, but all we remember is that one of our came in second and Ava's came in fifth.  Yet another downside of waiting so long to post things.

On the drive back the kids aboard were allowed to split into two teams and have a water gun fight.  Ava Ashton and Gavin were the only ones from our crew who wanted to participate.

You can't see it in these pictures, but there was another netting area identical to this one on the other half of the boat, which is why they're shooting that way.  Ella and London would have enjoyed shooting the guns, but probably wouldn't have been thrilled with being on the receiving end.

That night we all went out to dinner together.  Five kids, five adults, we had high hopes.  Actually, dinner went great.  All the kids behaved themselves, the food was great, and we were home early so everyone could go to bed before we lost control.

Since all the kids were wearing clothes as opposed to swimsuits, we grabbed a couple family photos. 

Wish they were out on the beach, but I wasn't about to take my freshly showered children back in the sand for a few pictures RIGHT before bedtime!  Sorry, not that kind of mom.

Grandma and Grandpa 

On the last morning, I decided to take the nice camera down to the beach, grab a few pics, and then get it back to the sand-free air-conditioning.  Grandma and Grandpa with the kiddos.

Luckily the kids enjoyed the beach a lot more this year.  

They weren't afraid of the water...to a certain degree.

Ava showing off some of her new skills...

And they all LOVED playing in the sand!  Especially Gavin and London.

 (Dan was on a conference call for work)

Grandma and Grandpa maybe taking a break from the little ones?

Ashton and Ava were the most adventurous when it came to the water.  They never went out deep (thankfully) but they enjoyed the waves.

Gavin spent 90% of his time on the beach building "mountains of sand".

Ella probably still preferred the pool, but she was a good sport as long as we had drinks and snacks.

Welcome to 'Ava's Spa'.  She built this relaxing chair and invited her guests to come in and enjoy a seaweed wrap and/or a foot scrub.  My feet had never felt softer.

Ava got the hang of boogie boarding pretty quick again and while she didn't dislike it, she wasn't in love with it.

She was glad she could say she did it, but she would quickly hand the board back to Ashton who LOVED boogie boarding.

Ella had a different opinion.... She tried it the first day and swore it off after a pretty big wipe out.  Dan managed to talk her into trying it again later in the week and she managed one or two successful rides, and quickly retired.

 Florida was a success. We made it down and back with no major problems, made some new memories, and even got a little sun kissed in the process.

It didn't take us long to get back into the groove with a birthday party the day after we got back.  Gymnastics and t-ball quickly followed and then all came to a halt when Ava woke up on Wednesday  with a fever.  Thankfully, whatever it was didn't last long and by Saturday we were able to take the kids to the Muny to see The Wizard of Oz.  It was a little hot, but I think the kids enjoyed the show.

 Now if we could just get the weather to cooperate and stay a little cooler, I'd like to make it to the Zoo, the forecast doesn't look promising.  Regardless of the weather, we do have a celebration quickly approaching.  Stay tuned...someone is turning 7!!!