Making memories

One night at the beach, we had the chance to take some family photos. It was such a beautiful night!

The whole family

John Parker chilling out

Kate and Dottie 

Uncle Dave and Aunt Lisa 

Kids must so confused when you let them get nice clothes dirty during photo shoots :)

Dottie and Ditto 

Momma and her girl

My dad and brother. Two great men!

My not-so-little brother

Dottie and John Parker

A stunning sunset 

Ana Maria Island

The wedding was great, but this picture of John Parker pretty much sums up how tired we all were. Luckily, we headed to the beach for a few days of fun in the sun!

We stayed in Ana Maria Island, near Bradenton. It was a beautiful little inn right across the street from the beach. Our rooms opened right onto the pool deck and one of our units had a great balcony where we could watch the sun set. It was beautiful. 

Our rooms.

On our first day there, Uncle Dave and Aunt Lisa chartered a boat for us to all take out together. I was a little apprehensive about taking the kids on the boat all day, but they did so great. We had an unforgettable day. We cruised around for most of the day.

We stopped for a while to fish and play in the water.

John Parker took a great nap.

And we pulled up to dock at a great restaurant for lunch. It was such a fun day. 

On the second day, we played most of the day on the beach. Kate has been apprehensive in the past about playing in the water, but she loved it. She played with Aunt Lisa for the longest time and loved splashing in the waves. 

John Parker took another long nap. Something about the water just knocks this kid out. 

He woke up in time to get some quality play time in. 

He spent some time hanging with Uncle Dave when we headed inside. 

Sweet Summertime

So as to not lose my sanity, there are a few promises I've had to make to myself. One is to never apologize for how long it takes me to update this blog. Life's been busy with lots of fun and good times, so I'll try to update over a few posts. I'm taking a little bit of time off this summer and it's been so great to spend extra time with the kids and Fred. We started the summer off with a fun trip to Florida. The last time we went was Christmas and we all had a stomach bug. We didn't get to see many people. This time was so much better.

We started with a visit to our dear friends in Tallahassee. This is Fred's best childhood friend and he and his sweet wife have two little girls. The kids had fun playing together and we all had a great time visiting.

We headed on to Central Florida for Uncle Earl's wedding. What a happy day!