Florida Vacation Part 1...

The kids and I had the opportunity to go to Florida for two weeks, Jason for 8 days. It was wonderful to get away for the extended time and spend time with all our family.

We flew into Fort Myers to spend the first 5 days with my family and then  Jason flew in and we drove to the other coast, Palm Beach Gardens, to spend 5 days with Jason's family at the beach. The last 2 days we were back in Fort Myers with my sister, Mitch and the girls.

The first part of our trip I was so focused on starting my 30 day photo challenge and getting the pictures I needed for each day that I didn't take many "family" photos.  I was happy to get these few with PaPa & MeMe and the cousins.

PaPa had Brayden come to his workshop to work on a special project. Brayden had a great time. The next day he was asking PaPa if they could make a toy airplane next.  The finished project was a picture box with a place in the middle for putting his treasures.

While the boys were at the workshop MeMe took us out shopping. Sarah was in heaven at "Charming Charlie's" with her spending money.

The bird candle that Sarah is holding was a gift she got for PaPa & MeMe while she was on her missions trip to North Carolina. When she saw it she said she immediately thought of "Quiet Rest", PaPa & MeMe's cabin in North Carolina.

PaPa & MeMe also had the cousins get their picture taken together,


The last two days we got a chance to spend a little more time with the Hutchcrafts. They took us to Gatorama in hopes of seeing some baby gators hatch. Unfortunately, there weren't enough eggs ready for our kids to hold one in their hands personally, but we got to watch a few hatch in others hands.

Our kids took their turn at wrangling some baby gators. They were complete naturals at gator wrangling, thankfully all these gators had their mouths taped shut.

Claire took charge of handling the smaller ones. 

We also got a chance to watch crocodiles and alligators at feeding time.

Then we had our feeding time and a chance to try some gator tail. The girls were a little unsure, but tried it together to help each other out.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Not fans.

On Monday we took a daintier turn and Michelle treated us all to a visit to the tea room, 5 girls and 1 not so dainty boy. The food was amazing, the company was delightful and the tea delicious. However, we learned Brayden is not a fan of tea.

Afterwards we had the opportunity to visit where Grace and Claire go to school. I loved being able to see where my two nieces go to school. When Michelle shares with me all their different activities I can now visual it in my mind. I am so proud of both of them, they are beautiful girls. I only wish we lived closer to be able to share in each others lives.