Family Reunion Take 1

This past weekend all of my mom's family (plus my Nana and brother--yay!!!) came up to visit. Lollie's one of 5, so when significant others and kiddos are included, it makes for a fun group!

Friday night everyone came over for a taco bar.  I feel like tacos are an easy way to feed a large number as well as take into consideration various dietary issues (beef? chicken? beans/rice? corn? flour?).  They are also dead easy to prepare and most of it was done in advance so there was little to do once everyone got there, except enjoy a cocktail!  If you're looking for an easy, tasty dip, I'd totally recommend this one!

It was still hot and muggy out and had just poured, adding to the sauna-like quality, so we decided to just hang inside.  All of my photos are horrible because I think my phone was dirty.  Boo.  

Saturday morning Uncle came over for pancakes after running 15 miles (whaaaa?!?). Midway through breakfast he hit the wall and went back to Lollie and Papa's condo and slept for 2 more hours.  The older girls decided to go shopping and hit up a few local shops as well as a few thrift stores for my teenage cousin.  Almost everyone found a little something--score!

Saturday night we all met at Lala and Papa's out on their condo's patio.  It was a beautiful night! J, Uncle and the girls went swimming and everyone else sat around chatting.

Papa was busy on the grill and once again, he did not disappoint!  His two sous chefs were eager to assist ;)

Anytime they get to spend with Uncle is a good time.  It was wonderful having him home to visit, even if it was for a short stay!

Never a shortage of love!

She may be 9.5, but I still love it when she sits on my lap ;)

On Sunday, since Uncle had the luxury of sleeping in, we decided to go to 11:00 service so he could go with us.  We of course had to take our traditional post-church walk around the block when we got home.  Then, after lunch, we smothered Uncle with hugs and kisses since he was going to be leaving.

It was a busy, whirl-wind kind of weekend, but so good to see everyone and catch-up!  Next week we're going to be busy visiting with J's side of the family, so we have another reunion coming up!

Amusement Park time

Last weekend we got to check something else off our Summer List--going to visit an amusement park!  This was the first time for the girls and J and I hadn't been since before we were married...more than 16 years ago!

In general, I would say this picture just about sums up our feelings regarding roller coaster parks:

I would be happy never to set foot in one again, but once there, J gives them a big ol' thumbs up!  He grew up living reeeally close to one and so has fond memories of going as a child and teenager.

This was us on the first ride we went on, right before it started.  Since we could do it as a family we decided to go for it.  Please note Mei Mei's happy face.  This was NOT the case once the ride started! It was basically a boat that made huge swings up and down, but when you're prone to motion sickness AND it's your first exposure to a ride, it wasn't a good combination.  #parentfail #thankyouDramamine

This was more her speed--the Classic Car ride.  We spent much of the time "dividing and conquering".  There were a bunch of rides Mei Mei couldn't do because she wasn't tall enough yet, so she and I got to hang out.  J likes the roller coasters and the Noodle was so excited to ride them with him, so they'd go ride one and then circle back around for us.

It was a scorcher that day!  Thankfully there was a section in the park that was geared towards smaller riders and Mei Mei loved those.  Can you tell in the picture above who's missing the thrill, speed and adventure of the big coasters?!  Ha!

 A necessary break in the action!

We're ready to hit the next attraction!

Bring it!!

One of the rides we went on as a family was an antique car that rode along a track.  The Noodle decided she wanted to be the driver.

This is what I foresee in our future...me

and J!

While J and the Noodle went on a few rides, Mei Mei and I went and watched a bluegrass band perform.  It was heavenly to sit down in the shade and just veg.out. for a few.

To get back to the entrance, J had the BRILLIANT idea to catch the train.  Thank goodness, because the littlest one in our group was really starting to flag.  I don't know if we would have made it ;)

One more stop to say hello to Snoopy and go on the ferris wheel.

For whatever reason, the numbers at the park were suuuper low that day.  So low, that for most rides, they only had to wait 5 minutes at most!  Many times they were able to walk right on and ride.

Ironically enough, we had to wait about 25 minutes to ride the Ferris wheel--the longest wait of the day.  Not sure why, but there you have it.

Once we finally got on, the views didn't disappoint!  The Lake, the Bay, the park--all of it!  It was a great way to end the day.

We had been given the tickets and part of the deal was that while the park opens late morning, we couldn't go until after 1:00.  We got there around 1:30 and left at 6:30 and let me tell you, it was the perfect amount of time for this newbie family!  After we left the park, we hit up a yummy, local pizza joint and then drove home.  Exhausted, hot and sticky--exactly what you'd expect from a fun day!

Beach Vacay 2016--All good things must come to an end!

So for the past few days, I've been setting down, for posterity's sake, our family vacation to the Panhandle of Florida.  We're pretty much beach bums the whole.entire.time. we're down there #noshame.

I mean, really, can you blame us?!?!  If we weren't doing the whole reading-kite flying-football tossing-hunting for critters thing then we were most likely doing one of the following:

or maybe this:

We ate some delish food and celebrated J's birthday,

and a vast number of sand structures were created.

We took time to snuggle

and take in the view. again.

Finally, we managed to clean ourselves up and attempted the famous "beach-at-sunset-family-photograph".  We started off okay,

 but then the camera started fogging up and in the end, we had to call it quits.

The next night was much better, even though it was starting to sprinkle.  Thankfully everyone was very cooperative and we were able to get done in 10 minutes and only got mildly soaked as we walked home.  Ha!

It was such a relaxing time and filled with so many sweet memories!  What a blessing that I get to call these 3 my own!