Florida Family Vacation pt. 2

We spent the second half of our vacation on Siesta Key Beach.  We decided to do that because we could still be close to family (my grandpa lives only about 5 minutes from there) and still enjoy the benefits of a beach house.  We stayed in a duplex with my parents and sister on one side and Ryan, the girls, and me on the other side. It worked out well because we also had a pool and we were only about 2 blocks off the beach.  Our trip included lots of the beach...

some swimming...

some magic tricks with Papa...

some eating....

and some family photos...

Florida Family Vacation pt. 1

There was much debate in my family this year about what to do for family vacation.  After throwing out a lot of ideas, we decided on a 2 part vacation.  We went to the Coco Key Resort in Orlando for 3 days and we went to Siesta Key Beach for 3 days.  It worked out perfectly, and it was a great vacation.

The girls and I went down a few days early and they got to go to VBS for a couple of days.  Well, Emma Catherine got to go 2 days, and poor Bailey only went 1 day because she got the stomach bug.  She also had to miss the family night with the water inflatables.  My mom volunteered to watch Bailey and I took Emma Catherine up to church.

On Saturday we celebrated my birthday and my dad's birthday with our family.  The girls were so excited because they each went down to my aunt's house and made a birthday sign for my dad and for me.

My dad was super excited about his flag shirt.  I guess since he is a history teacher, it fits him perfectly.

On Sunday we headed to CoCo Key resort.  It is just a regular hotel except that it has a water park outside and your stay there includes admission to the water park.

Emma Catherine loved all the water slides and was mad about the ones she wasn't tall enough to ride.  Bailey was another story.  It took her awhile to warm up to the water slides because of her already mentioned hatred of getting her face wet.  It took some convincing but eventually she went on the little slides a few of the bigger ones.

On Sunday night we got to go out to eat with one of my really good friends from high school.  Rebekah and Mike live in Orlando and I haven't gotten to see them in a long time.  Recently they had a new baby, Gracyn,  and we all got to meet her for the first time.

On Monday we spent the day at Sea World.  My parents had been promising Emma Catherine to take her to Sea World, so we planned the Orlando part of our trip around it.  I was worried (especially after all my Disney planning) that Sea World would be packed since it is summer, but it really wasn't that bad.  It was definitely hot but in the afternoon there was a light rain shower that cooled things off.

 On Tuesday we spent the morning at the water park, and then we headed back to Palmetto to do laundry and get ready to go to the beach.  It was a great 3 days in Orlando.

Gene Chizik

Today Gene Chizik came to town to sign copies of his new book, All In.  We were so excited to meet him and to read his book.  We knew he was coming to Hoover from 3 to 5 but on a whim, last night we stopped by Lifeway to get all the details for the book signing.  They mentioned that you had to get tickets for the event today at 10, which we hadn't known about.  We were so thankful that we stopped by and the girls and I got in line this morning for a ticket at 9:30.  We were number 8 in line, which again we were so thankful for because once Coach Chizik got there we didn't have to wait long at all.  The book signing was like a cattle call, with a lot of rules such as no personalizations, no posed pictures, and no memorabilia, but he would sign 4 books for each ticket.  We got to tell him thank you and War Eagle and he told us how cute and adorable the girls were.  He also asked them to give him a War Eagle, which they did.  Ryan and I both felt a little star-struck because we love him and Auburn so much.  I can't wait to read his book.  In fact, I'm starting tonight!