Florida Fun

We spent the last week of the summer in Florida, August 12th - 19th.  Matt had a conference in Destin and we got to tag along.  We left a little late on Friday so we took 2 days to drive the 14 hours.   We stopped half way there to stay the night in a hotel and we were setting up the arrangements for everyone to sleep.  Kylee did not appreciate the set up and was upset.  She let us know that she would be sleeping in the bathroom.  We thought she wasn't really serious and would give up and finally come get in bed.  We woke up during the night to find Kylee had made her bed of towels next to the toilet and had fallen asleep.

We got in to Destin Saturday afternoon and we were able to spend the late afternoon hours in the ocean. While hanging out on the beautiful white sand, clear water beach we saw 2 seperate weddings in the few hours that we were there.

We didn't have reservations for the hotel of the conference until Sunday, so we stayed somewhere else on Saturday night and then transferred to the other hotel after church. The hotel had a great room set up.  There were bunk beds just as you came in the door.  This where Kylee and Brayden slept.  There was a TV attached to the wall opposite the beds.  This made for a great place for all the kids to hang out and sneak in some TV watching.  The rest of the room included a king size bed and a queen pull out couch so that everyone had a bed without any kids in ours, a hotel rarity for our family.  The large and comfortable room had a great ocean view and was a fun place to hang out between our adventures.

Monday (designated a travel day) we got to enjoy Florida.  Matt rented a jet ski for a couple of hours and took turns taking the older 3 on a ride.

When the Conference started on Tuesday Matt had a pretty nice schedule each day, which meant plenty of family time. The kids and I slept in and then went to the pool to swim for a couple of hours while Matt was at his Conference.  A little past noon or 1 Matt would meet us and we would spend the rest of the day with him.  That meant a lot of beach time, swimming in the hotel pools, and exploring the Destin area.

Here are everyone's favorite memories for the week.

Kylee enjoyed all the swimming she got to do and meeting new friends (she is very good about introducing herself and finding people to play with). True to her love of critters she also enjoyed when Matt found "Jam" the jellyfish.

Brayden's favorite was riding on the jet ski.  A few weeks before our vacation he had a new interest in them and wanted to watch youtube videos about jet skis. 

Julia loved doing all the swimming at the beach and pool.  She got really good at swimming without her vest.  Her fantasies came true when Matt made Julia into a mermaid with a tail made out of sand.  Julia had fun going out in the ocean on the boogie board and going up and down on the waves.

 Blake's favorite was playing in the water. 

Mom - I enjoyed being on the beach in the evening hours, with most everyone cleared out and the sun going down with a beautiful sunset.

 Dad - the view from the balcony, relaxing on the beach as the sun went down, being able to take care of a TDY while enjoying time with my family at the same time

There was lots of swimming at the pool and hanging out at the beach.  So much that the kids, by the time we headed back on August 19th, were saying the beach and swimming were horrible.