June/July 2010 Beach Vacation Day Three Cont. with Videos

Here are some fun videos of the kids enjoying the ocean for the first time. The little bitty blondie is my friend Allison's baby "K." The beached teenager in the videos is her son "G." and the long legged beauty is daughter "S." They are all awesome kids.

BTW - I do remember one thing on Vacation day 2 that was fun during the travel part . . .
When we stopped at a rest area in S. Ga, or N. Fl I can't remember, we met a family with a 12 year old adopted daughter from Korea. As we talked I realized her father had on a UK hat. Could it be he was from our home state? I mean my friend from Wisconsin wore a UK shirt in China - it is possible. So I asked . . . They are from right here in the L. area. The mom works at a middle school and knows two of our friends. It was real cool. We can't wait to meet up with them again.

Anyway . . .
What I have been anxious to share with you:

June/July 2010 Beach Vacation Day Three

I am not skipping vacation day 2 - it was total business. We drove through Georgia, Florida and into Tampa. We settled in and had dinner and got kids ready for bed. Of course there was joy in seeing my friend Allison and her family. Allison is a dear friend of 32-34 years. I lose count. She and her sister Laurie were my very first babies to baby sit for. It was more than that though - I made myself a part of their whole family - I adopted their mom as my "mom away from mom" and big sister and dear friend. I watched Allison and Laurie grow up and I learned from their mom how to feed, burp, diaper, bathe, and care for babies. She was a wonderful mom.

We remained friends and when I became a teen and Allison and Laurie were in grade school they moved to N.C. We stayed in touch but not intensely. However, when they came to visit family - I always got what I referred to as visitations. Eventually I went to NC for a 16th birthday party, a wedding and a birth of Allison's first baby. I went for Laurie's 21st birthday. They came here for Allison's 21st birthday the year before. Laurie lived with me for a few months. I was Allison's maid of honor - and years later, she was one of my Matron's of Honor. (yea, she got married first and began to have babies first. The great thing is . . . She has become one of my mentors - and helps me figure out this parenting thing.)

Anyway - so my vacation week was also a very joyful time of visiting a true long time and forever friend.

Vacation day 3: Beach day. Allison took us to an awesome and quiet little beach in St. Pete. We spent the greater part of the day there. It was awesome.

It is hard to see, but Paul is struggling at first with being put into the pool of sandy water.













Lacie is excited to finally be at the beach!












Lacie and Daddy braving the waves for the first time.






























Enjoying God's big sandbox!

June/July 2010 Beach Vacation Day One

I realize I have not updated for a month or more. For those who do follow us, I am sorry. Summer came with a bang and we have been traveling or having guests since Memorial weekend - or so it seems. I have some updating to do and much to come later: Lacie's graduation ceremony, our trip to Chicago (Plainfield) for Memorial Weekend to see my sister and family, our trip with friends to Ohio, visiting family in NKY, having a Korean teen guest for a week, Paul's trip to see Thomas the Train, Potty training ventures, Paul's speech updates and the list goes on. I will try and hit each topic soon.

For now, the topic is our "Beach Vacation" - one that has been much waited for and prayed for for months and months. Lacie asked for a beach vacation last year. Once we planned to visit our dear friends in Florida, we have prayed At Lacie's request, for June 26 (departure day) for about 2 months. Lacie has also prayed for her daddy's wrist which got broken about six weeks ago. Cute . . . Just last night she said, "our vacation is over and daddy's wrist is better. We have nothing to pray for." Dear daughter . . . we still have much to pray for.

So, we departed on June 26 and stopped west of Nashville to have breakfast with friends. Patricia and I have known each other since we were little girls. Our families went to church together and we spent many hours playing together. I have not seen her much over the years except for weddings, and in the past three years we have reunited again. It has been fun sharing our families with each other. We have picked up again like we were always friends. Picture of Patricia and family with our family - Vacation Day One.



Afterward, we went to Ruby Falls for a quick trip to look out mountain to see God's world from high up.



















So from Lookout Mountain, Lacie said, "Wow, we can even see our house from here!"










At the end of the day, we ended up at a hotel south of Atlanta. Both kids were very very hyper. But once their heads hit the pillow, they were out. This is the sweet sight we saw first thing on vacation day 2:

Stay tuned for more Vacation updates!