Photoshoot with my Boys

Florida Sunrise

Finally...

My vacation can finally begin :) The ocean!!! This is truly what Florida is to me! I was in heaven from the time we crossed the bridge to Daytona Beach and those blue waters came into view. I really breathe easier here - it is so relaxing and calming for me -and I think my boys absolutely agree with me! All 3 had a fantabulous time!!!

A rainy 4th of July

It rained most of the day on the 4th - but we tried to keep the kiddos occupied! We ran around outside under the covered driveway of the hotel.

We made them pose for silly pictures! Some of Great Meena's Great-Grandkids! L-R: Riley (the youngest), Kayla (3), Braden (the oldest), Blake (the second youngest), and Keegan (2.5)

And big cousin Aaron pulled up some fireworks on the Ipad so the kids could watch :) We weren't able to see any real fireworks, but caught a couple different shows on tv - ha!

The real reason we went to Florida :)

So...although we really just needed to get away and have an awesome family vacation - we did have a reason for traveling to Florida! My cousin Kristina finally convinced Skip to marry her :) It was a beautiful wedding and I think everyone had a great time! Congrats to you both and thank you for letting us share in your beautiful day!

Meena and PopPop with all their grandchildren (at least until November!)

Beautiful!

Braden loved the 'sparkling cider' toast!


Great Meena with Kayla and Riley


Braden and Keegan still all smiles after a long day!

Pool Time with Shamu :)

DisneyWorld!!!

DisneyWorld
Oh how fun this day was! We left Blake with Meena, PopPop and Keegan for the day and enjoyed some one-on-one time with Braden! (along with others in the family!!) It was very hot and humid, but the lines were not long at all and everyone had a great time - until we 'lost' Braden for 15 minutes. It truly was the worst 15 minutes of my life - but it all turned out well. Thank you Disney for your amazing security and quick system! I am very thankful that a few weeks ago Braden attended SafetyTown in our town which is a program they put on for soon-to-be Kindergartners - he did the right thing and I was very proud of him! Pretty sure someone had a hand on him at all times after that and I honestly thought about purchasing a 'leash harness' thingy for him ;) But other than that it was a LONG fun day! Love making memories like that!

Kayla was all ready to go!

Braden picked Space Mountain as his VERY FIRST ride ever. He made the height requirement by just a smidge (and they measured him 3 times at different spots before he could ride!) Here he is with Kaitlyn before getting on - he said it was really fun, but a little scary!

Crazy Driver!

Enjoying "It's a Small World"

Hitching a ride from Daddy!

Cold ice cream on a HOT day! He ate Mickey's ears off first!

Loving the Tea Cups - these were the 4 brave enough to do it - and they really got it going fast!

After we left DisneyWorld we headed to Downtown Disney to see 'LegoLand' (as Braden called it) otherwise known as the Lego Store. Every since my parents and brothers went here a few years ago and he saw pictures of the legos - this is what he wanted to do in Florida. So after a very long day (thank you everyone for making my son happy) we went to see it and it made the day complete for him! The legos were pretty amazing!
And there was a princess store so Kaitlyn finally got her picture taken with a princess :)
All tuckered out on the ride home! Over 12 hours on the go! Notice the tight grip on his new legos that he scored at the store!