Destin! (long post)

Last month, we took a trip with my family to Destin, Florida for my dad's 70th birthday celebration.. It was so fun to see everyone and be altogether for a few days. My family has never done a big vacation like this and I'd like to think it was a success! We stayed at an Embassy Suites with breakfast served every morning, and just a short walk across an empty lot to the beach. It was perfect! Other than hanging out on the beach most days and having most meals together, all the (adult) boys went on a deep sea fishing trip one day, and the girls had a girls' shopping day at some nearby outlets. There are so many pics so I will just get right to them...

Prettiest beach I've been to! Literally white powdery sand, clear blue water. So awesome:

The boys enjoying their freshly caught fish for lunch at a restaurant after their fishing trip:

What our camp looked like most days:

Girl's day out (pedicures were actually earlier in the week, though):

"Ghost crab" hunting one evening with the cousins. Apparently pretty popular around these parts, at nighttime, these funny white crabs come running out of the sand and you try to spot them with flashlights and try to catch them.. It was so fun! and hilarious. Ivy was already in bed by this time; she was just so tired.. but it was quite the experience! The glow sticks were so we could keep track of where the kids were on the beach. Genius!

Walk on the beach... and Grandpa's decorated door (we decorated Millie's door too, they share the same birthday):

Family dinner at the good ol' Golden Corral. It was perfect for how many people we had, set up in their party room:

Grandpa's gift from the whole family, each letter was taken with each individual family's kids:

Love these snapshots from our family photo shoot:

Last day:

 

Father's Day

Just wanted to post a few photos I took on Father's day of these two. They really are two peas in a pod. I really think it's because she is more like Sam than like me, not just in her looks. Pretty sure she shares the same sense of humor as him, considering all I hear when they are together is a whole lot of laughing. I can make her laugh but Sam can get her rolling, and it doesn't even have to be from tickling. She just thinks he is hilarious (which he is, haha).. Sam really is such a great dad and I can't wait to see how hilarious he is when we have two!

 

And about the scrape on her nose, she decided to throw herself over the back of the couch and landed face first on the carpet. She'd been threatening to do it for a while so I'm almost glad it happened so she won't do it again haha.. Cousin Michael actually got a scrape in the same place just the next day so they were twins for a week or so lol:

Spring Voice Recital

Not sure if I've mentioned on the blog yet but I started teaching here in TN last fall and been loving every minuted of it. I've had 6 students this year and to show family and friends their progress, we decided to have a recital here at my house back in May. Two students were unable to perform that day so it ended up being short and sweet. I was very proud of each one of my students! Every one of them rocked their songs. :) And it was so nice to visit with everyone's families afterwards over refreshments. I'm definitely going to do a recital every spring (and maybe a fall one too) but probably not in my house again. It turned out perfect for the amount of people but I've already gained 4 more students this summer so I doubt we will be able to fit everyone next time. That's definitely a good thing, though. :) 

My house transformed (student Justin practicing beforehand).. we moved our furniture to our extra room and brought in folding chairs. Oh and thanks to Sam for accompanying everyone:

With all my students! L-R Trinity, Rachel, Hilarie, me, Sarah, Justin, and Jennifer:

A BIG thank you to Steve and Sarra who helped with preparations for the afternoon AND for watching Ivy for us. It was so awesome to have the extra help for getting everything ready. Thanks again Steve and Sarra!!