GA/FL FUN and also the longest post...ever!

A few weeks ago, the kids and I hit the road...just the 4 of us, and headed to Georgia. We had a date with our family and the beach (my second home). We had a great time and the kids had a blast with their cousins...we just don't get to see them all enough!

***Disclaimer*** Please disregard the sun burnt faces and the horrible sunscreen lines. Apparently, I do not know how to apply it properly!

There always needs to be a silly picture in the middle of trying to get good ones

Gamma made the crab shirts for everyone...but, you should know that there were never any crabby kids while on vacation...hahaha!!!

Amazing how sand and toys can keep one busy for a while, a long while!

Don't you do this with your cherries?!

These two are super duper special to me!!!

We got up early one morning to go see the sunrise...actually G and I were going to go and somehow the kids were awake at 6:15 and they joined us, it was all good; turned out to be a great family moment!

This is what I call picture perfect!

Do you know what these are? My Granny had a tree with this fruit in her yard when I was growing up; I have great memories of pickin' the figs and eatin' em! It has been years since I've seen a fig tree, or even had one to eat. I was pretty happy to find one near our beach house...I took advantage of the tree :)

We ate at Clark's Fishcamp near Jacksonville; cool atmosphere with every kind of stuffed animal you can imagine...and some good, fried seafood (that's what I miss here in Illinois...seafood, just sayin)

Just a note, a silly little note: somehow, these white shorts did not make it back home with me. I think I left them at the beach house, I am still sad about it...they had quickly become my faves...

You know what the best part of taking pictures, on the beach, with 6 children is?? Trying to get them to all look at the camera, at the same time and not play in the sand...who knew it would be such a chore! Sadly, this is the best out of many...

After being at the beach for a week, we headed to Grandma's house. We all had so much fun together and of course, we had some fresh peach ice cream...um, um, good!

Look what Jordan lost while at Grandma's house...his two front teeth, both of them within 24 hours...love his little snaggle tooth self!!

Grandma and her grandbabies!!

Greg and Jon

Until next summer...

Summer Vacation

We tried really hard not to leave any states out on this vacation! We had planned most of this prior to finding out about Greg's surgery; so we jammed a whole lotta fun into two weeks. We had some super fun times with our family and made some good memories...I'm ready to go again!

We started out by going to DeSoto State Park in Alabama for a family reunion. We stayed in a cabin, within the park with my parents, along with my sister and her kids. The reunion is held annually, by my mom's side of the family. It was great to see family and always nice to explore a new place. Our favorite spot was the falls, the kids thought it was cool, and they had fun walking around in the water, fully clothed and all!

After AL, we headed to Reynolds GA, where Greg's mom lives. We enjoyed our visit with her and stayed busy while there, seeing family and friends and and having some fun outings too!

This is Ms. Bonnie's chocolate pie, seriously, there is nothing better than this pie. It's her mother's recipe and she makes it for us every time we visit! We like to have a piece once the kids are in bed, oh, it's soooo yummy!

Greg grew up surrounded by pecan trees and peach orchards, both are Southern delectables! Not too far from Bonnie's is Lane's; it started as a peach packing shed, but over the years has turned into quite an attraction. They have a cafe, a gift shop and most importantly, some of THE BEST home-made peach and strawberry ice cream...my mouth is watering now!

We left Bonnie's and headed to my parents in Valdosta, GA. Greg and I were only there for one night, we left the kids and headed to FL for a little time away! Sadly, I have not one single picture, but we sure did enjoy some down time and time together.

My parents met us in FL where we then spent a week at St. Augustine Beach. My sister and her kids were there along with my aunt and cousin. We all shared in cooking and cleaning, it was a blast! We played games at night and lazed around in the morning. I just love, love the beach...I think my kids do, too! Some days, we were on the beach for 7 or so hours; the kids rocked at boogie boarding and played in the sand hour after hour. Can I go back, now please?

What can be funner than being buried in the sand?

My sister and I had a date with Daddy; it was so nice to be together, without the kiddos!

After we left the beach, we went back to my parents house for a couple of days before hitting the road...we had a 15 hour journey ahead of us. My mom came back with me; Greg had already flown back to IL to take care of a few things before surgery.

Sweet cousins in their smocked dresses Gamma made them!

We met up with Ms. Bonnie and Jon (Greg's brother) on our way back to IL. We ate at ChickFilA and the kids played. We hadn't seen the kids in 3 years, so it was nice to be together for a little while :)

That is a short version of our vacation. We really did have fun and spent some good times with family, which is what's important to us!