beach trip -- friday and saturday

Friday--

On Friday morning, some of us went down to watch the sunrise. We weren't there quite as early as we should have been to see the sun peek over the horizon, but it was early enough to see a beautiful sky. We couldn't have asked for better weather that day. The forecast actually showed rain for Friday and I was really praying that it wouldn't rain. Thank God it didn't!

 

The dads went out early with their sons to go jogging...

Kenna in action...

Three of my beautiful nieces...

Matt and Layne -- this child loves Matt

Suzanna wrote "I like playing at the beach" and Ella wrote her name.

I first thought this was as person, but the artist said it was a giraffe.

Popular little girl!

Playing in the sand...

This little girl was dumping sand on herself.

Tj built this sandcastle. Matt and I did the wall around the castle. I have a finished product picture below. It became a popular castle and everyone that walked past stopped to look at it. A lot of people took pictures as well. The next morning, the castle was still standing and people were still taking pictures of it.

Abel and Brandon

The 1 year old!

Hannah and Livie

On Friday night, we all went to a nearby park, ate pizza and let the kids play. We then made a quick stop at McDonald's for ice cream and went back to the hotel. The hotel let us use the banquet room again that night so we hung out in there and played games. The hotel was great with us and were very helpful. The breakfast room was really big and they had a nice big breakfast. They also let us use the breakfast room for lunch on Friday afternoon. We cleaned the hotel out of chocolate chips cookies the two times they brought them out at night. They were good!

The kids loved having Uncle Joe around...

These two were together all weekend!

Saturday--

On Saturday morning, Susan did engagement pictures for Matt and I. The three of us had a lot of fun and St. Augustine was such a cool place to do them. I can't wait to see how they turned out. I know they'll be great thanks to my awesome sister who is an amazing photographer. 

We made a quick trip to the Fort before heading home.

  

I had a really good weekend and it was great to spend it with Matt and the rest of my family. I would've love to have the entire family there, but was happy to have the ones there and enjoy the time together. We've never done anything like this and I really want us to do this again one day as we all had an enjoyable time.

beach trip -- thursday

This past weekend, we surprised my parents with a couple days away with the family. I had given them a card the beginning of February and told them their children were giving them a couple days vacation in St. Augustine. What they didn't know was they weren't going to be the only ones there. I had told my parents a time that they needed to be at the hotel and most of my siblings were already there prior to that time. We were in a room that we had reserved for the evening and we had the hotel employ bring them in the room once they arrived. The looks on their faces was priceless!

We had the kids hiding under the tables and they all popped out when Mom and Dad came in. 

After the surprise we all went out to the beach to watch the shuttle...

Then we returned to the banquet room for a wonderful meal from Sonny's. After the meal, Mom and Dad shared the story of how they met and got married. We also let the kids ask questions and quite a few adults had questions as well. The kids questions were funny and the adults prompted some good conversation. I'm very thankful for the parents that the Lord has given me and for their 40 years together. They have been a wonderful example of a godly couple seeking to do God's will. I'm also thankful for all the children the Lord blessed them with and their willingness to raise all of us.