Florida Fun!

Our Florida week has already come and gone and I'm in denial about it! We've been looking forward to it for months.

We were on the same flight as our Denver fam and the boys were looking forward to that so much. The big kids were totally entertained the whole flight with a Shel Silverstein book and some snacks. 

We stayed with Rachel and Spencer's family that week and had so much fun with them. The beach is just my favorite beach in the world and the boys were so happy with the beach/pool/eat/repeat routine of every day that week. 

Diana's family's condo came with a bike with a little trailer behind it and Ethan would often swing by our place and pick Westin up for dinners at Grandma and Grandpa's house, which I thought was so cute. And the boys were always keeping their eyes out for a little alligator that lived in the pond between our condos. We caught a few glimpses of it, but the real fun was in feeding the turtles all our lettuce scraps and peach peels. They went wild for them! Feeding animals always turns into trying to get the goods to the smallest little baby while avoiding the huge mean one. Circle of life.

This was the last Florida trip for Grandpa's sailboat and I'm so glad the boys got to get out on the water with him. Camden really really loved it. 

The big cousins babysat on Friday night and all the adults went out for seafood. That was a nice night together, and much quieter than all the other dinners that week :) 

Saturday we were able to meet up with Emily's family when they were kind enough to make the drive to Panama City to have lunch with us. I just love her so much and really loved seeing Jordan and the kids, too! The kids were all looking so big at their own table while we ate with the crazy youngest children beside them :) I love that our Florida time finally overlapped.

Such a wonderful week that we've been looking forward to for so long. I'm sad it's behind us now.

Party started at the airport!
The boys were so excited to fly on the same flight as the Denver cousins.

That airport train ride, always loved.

These boys were happily entertained by Shel Silverstein and snacks the whole flight!

Nursery with this guy.
The couple who was in there had a little 2-year-old younger than their grandkids that they'd adopted. People are amazing.

The most beautiful beach.

We sliced peaches for a couple hours to make this Peach Sensation dessert for the whole crew,
and we keep making it on repeat this summer. 

We grilled 16 pounds(!) of chicken, and made pesto pasta with a summer salad and watermelon.
The Daetwylers make such yummy food all week!

Spot the little alligator!

That's a summer guy right there.

All the grandkids with Grandma and Grandpa

A week all together pretending we live in the same neighborhood. Such a happy time.

These boys had the best time this week.

Beach boys.

Lots of sand crab finding.

Such cute, quick little guys!

This frog JUMPED ON MY LEG while I was walking to Shelley's to make pies one night.
I thought it was a moth, which I also wouldn't have liked, but didn't expect this!

Jack found a big crab and the boys totally loved it

Tiniest little frog

A dinner out the last night with the sweet older cousins watching all the little ones.
I wish we were all together more!

Our babysitters sending their bedtime success pic :)
I love these girls.

A fun early 50th celebration for these two.

A late night beach walk and sit with Michael.
We've been to this beach during dating days, newlywed days, new parent days, and family full of boys days.

Asher loves babies so much and was always wanting to hold cute Brooklyn.

These kids! They're so much bigger than they should be in my mind!
I loved getting this crew back together.

Fresno friends reunited.

Provo friends reunited :)
I'm so happy life has crossed my path with Emily's multiple times. She is just the best,
and I'm so grateful for her!

Look at her cute family!
We loved meeting up with them for lunch before flying home.

The Best Fourth

We had a week full of swim, preschool play dates, mystery shop dates with the kids, and making lots of packing lists.

On Wednesday we stayed out late on the street with all our neighbors. The kids are having so much fun running around together this summer.  I asked our neighbor who's worked as a police officer here for 25 years where he'd recommend watching the fireworks. He said, "You know what, put your chairs in my car right now. Then drive downtown tomorrow and call me when you get to the police barrier."

So he set up our chairs hours before the show right along the water, and then coned off a parking spot for us behind the barricades at the fire station, right by where they launch the fireworks. It was incredibly kind of him and we had an absolute blast having such a smooth Fourth with our kids. This was our first time braving the fireworks and we were totally spoiled.

I loved holding Camden on my lap and watching the fireworks, and listening to Asher just burst with excitement every single time one flew into the sky. Westin and Bennett sat in their chairs by us with glow sticks and wide eyes. And I just thought, these are going to be my favorite Fourth of July nights. It won't be long before they want to be with their friends for fireworks and barbecues. But right now, we're all together, and I just love their magic ages so much. They all love some of the same things right now and it's just so fun to show them the world. 

I'm so grateful to raise these boys in a free and safe country. We're so lucky.

Slowing down with this little guy is one of my favorite parts of every day.

The boys each got to choose a free book at the library for part of the Summer Reading Program they've been doing, and Asher saw this one and immediately wanted it. "Daddy work!"

The soccer watching continues.
As does the family room penalty kick challenges.

Waiting for brothers to be done with swim.
Luna is such a good girl.

Our neighbor is retiring after 25 years as a police officer.
The boys just love his undercover car on our street, so they were sad to learn it was going away.
He was kind to show them the lights one more time, hand out stickers, and let Westin say,
"Mom, I need ice cream!" over the car speaker system haha.

So many kids on our street! We've had 5 kids 8 and under move in the last two months,
plus the crew that was already running around. The summer nights are hopping.

Face paint at our ward pancake breakfast.
Eliza gave them red and white and blue stripes which, you know, looks just like the French flag :)

He loved his balloon puppy so much.

A sword and a belt. Camden was ready for anything.

Last year we ran to the parade after our ward breakfast and it was great.
We did it again this year and two families joined us,
and the kids had so much fun watching together.

Asher is all about all the big vehicles.

Our Fourth crew! We barbecued with them plus some other families later in the day as well.
So grateful for good friends.

Besties.

Our friend brought a rocket launcher and some rocket supplies to the barbecue and the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. Camden was the champions rocket guy.

The night before, when we were out with all our neighbors, I asked our neighbor where he'd recommend watching the fireworks.
He said, "You know what, put your chairs in my car right now. Then drive downtown tomorrow and call me when you get to the police barrier."
So he set up our chairs hours before the show right along the water, and then coned off a parking spot for us behind the barricades at the fire station, right by where they launch the fireworks. It was incredibly kind of him and we had an absolute blast having such a smooth Fourth with our kids. This was our first time braving the fireworks and we were totally spoiled.

We had a glow stick breakage situation,
Westin didn't think it was very funny when we joked it might be his origin story
and give him super glowing powers.
To be fair, his eye was stinging quite a bit... but he told me he'd probably laugh later.

My fireworks buddy. He LOVED them,
and really loved when red and green fireworks would go off together and he'd yell,
"Christmas Eve!"
This kid.

Asher was ECSTATIC and loud and animated through 90% of the show, counting all the fireworks (incorrectly) and labeling their colors (incorrectly) loudly and happily. Two year olds, man. 
The best. The worst. The best.

Our sweet neighbors. They were so nice to save us a spot for the show.
He was emotional during his last night as a police officer. He has been in charge of event security for years and years, and this fireworks show was the end of a long career.
Such good people.