Redington Shores: Monday June 6th

YEAH!!! the beach...

this whole entire amazing vacation happened because of some great friends of our inviting us to go with them to a beach condo in Redington Shores Fl. the condo is owned by one of their family members and they give the family a free weeks stay each year! this year our friends invited us to join them!!! we have never been on a summer family vacation (due to camp and work schedules) and i have been wanting to so badly. when marcie had first mentioned it to me i was really trying to NOT get to excited. i casually asked dave about it and asked him to check the calendar. he looked up at my with a big smile and said "it looks like that week is free, lets do it!!" i was still very apprehensive since we had not checked for sure with his parents about camp groups and such.

well obviously things worked out all around this week and we were able to make a family vacation happen. we feel so blessed to have been able to see so much family on the way down to the beach and close they were to where we would be staying.

we arrived at the beach sunday evening just as the sun was setting. it was the most beautiful sunset! dave has a picture of it on his cell phone. i will try to get that from him and post it later.
monday morning we woke up to sunny blue skies and crystal clear blue water. this is the view from our balcony at the condo! not to shabby.
we got all suited up and covered in sunblock and hit the beach by 8:30 or 9 that morning.
the big girls loved playing in the shells
jori wasnt so fond of the water and sand that first day. i went to set her down next to her little friend who was just loving the water splashing up on her toes and playing in the sand and jori just lost it. poor girl. she sat in my lap for awhile down at the waters edge and then i brought her up to the blanket under the pier. she liked it up here much better.
jori and ella playing together
heading out for a swim in the ocean. the water was so calm and really shallow for a long way out. the kids loved getting in their floats and just floating out there.
brenna loved this big blue float. she carried it with her everywhere she went. i had to capture a picture of it.

we found lots of great sea life. garret is holding the claw of a blue crab here. we also saw a fisherman with a huge tarpon, we saw manatees twice (once so close they could have touched it) we saw shrimp up on the shore, crabs, lots of neat shells, pelicans and seagulls.
heading out for another swim while jori and i sit on the beach and watch them. she got a little better each time we sat her back down on the beach.


it almost looks like she is enjoying herself here :)
the wind and the water wore out the babies quickly. they took long great naps while we were gone.

the condo was a three bedroom, three bathroom place with a full kitchen. each bedroom had two queen size beds in it. we had plenty of room with our two families. we were a little concerned being so out numbered. 4 adults to 7 children, but everything went really smoothly.

the condo also had a pool, we spent about half the day on the beach and half the day at the pool. both girls were close to learning how to swim, but raelyn was super close. it took one day of her being in the water and by the end of the first day she was a FISH!

it is amazing how quickly she progressed once she was confident. dave and i LOVED watching this milestone take place. such proud daddy and mommy!

monday night we went to a restaurant called Frenchy's. MANY people had recommended it so we had to try it out. it was super kid friendly and casual which was perfect for our big group. there was a man there making balloon hats. this guys was AMAZING! he would ask the kids what they wanted and just make it! he made our table a t-rex dino, a long neck dino, an octopus, a yellow jacket and a mermaid. those pics are on daves phone too. before i do my next post i will need to make sure i get all his pics so i can include them too.

we had such a great time.... and that was just the first day at the beach.

thankful for:

the baughmans inviting us

god working out the timing for us to be able to go

white sandy beaches

clear blue water

watching my daughter learn how to swim

blue polka dotted floats

baby girl bathing suits

seeing the ocean life that god created

watching the kids have the time of their lives

a wonderful FREE place to stay for the week

blue crabs and pretty shells

babies that took good naps

sitting on the balcony with a glass of wine

getting sun on my white tn skin

saying yes more than no

a great husband that made it all happen