Family Pictures 2014

Since we took our vacation on the beach this year, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for some great pictures.  Our regular photographer didn't come along, so I roped Kristina into taking our pictures.  She did such a good job and got some great shots of everybody.  Here are a few of my favorites!  The first few I edited, but then I realized God gave us a beautiful background, so I'll just leave it natural. :)

 We have a wall with just black and white photos of the kids and family that I change each year.  These are the close ups of my 5 year olds!

 

Gulf Shores, Alabama

We took a vacation to Gulf Shores last week.  We decided to drive the (supposedly) 14 hours and thankfully we split it into 2 days because it took closer to 18 with all the traffic!  The kids did great in the car.  At 5, they are old enough to entertain themselves with toys, coloring, I Spy, DVDs, and our newly purchased Nexus 7 tablet.  Mom and Dad rented a beach house and we spent a lot of time at the beach and pool.  We also got to go dolphin watching, ride go karts, shop at the outlets, and see some gators!  Kristina was gracious enough to take our family pictures on the beach at sunset this year, but I want to do some editing so those will come in a later post.  I love how they turned out!  We even got some smiles out of Landon! ;)  Overall we had a great time and didn't even get too sunburned.  Here are some pictures from our trip.

Day 1: Beach

Landon racing the waves.

Matt enjoyed surf fishing.  He caught several fish for dinner one night!

What a little diva :)

 Day 2: Dolphin Watching on a "Glass Bottom Boat"

The pirate ship floating next to our dolphin boat

We saw two different pods of dolphins but it was really hard to get a good picture.  They are fast!

Both kids enjoyed the ride and seeing the dolphins but were ready to be done by the end! ;)

Day 3: Outlet Shopping and Alligator Farm

Emerson, of course, wanted to hold all the creatures.

Surprisingly, Landon was excited to hold a snake!

Day 4: Back to the beach and family photos

We all enjoyed our seafood meal at King Neptunes

Drink on the beach at sunset!  AHHH!

 Day 5: Lambert's Cafe and The Track

 Lambert's was quite a experience.  We'd tried to go earlier in the week, but there was a 2 hour wait!  So we decided to get there at 10 am, right when they opened, for lunch!  They serve more food than you could ever eat with free "pass arounds" and literally throw hot rolls to you.
Then we went to The Track and played mini golf, drove go karts and bumper boats.

Landon's first ever hole in one!

 

Emerson was so serious driving her car.

Landon was trying to race past everyone to get first place.

On our way back home, we stopped to see Nate for the weekend.  We drove 10 1/2 hours from the bottom of Alabama to the bottom of Indiana.  We had a nice time visiting and hanging out.  I wasn't feeling the greatest, so I didn't get any pictures, but we always have a nice time!  The kids loved swimming and playing on the playground.  Matt and Nate got to play some disc golf too.

We had a great time on our 10 day trip, but I think everyone was glad to be home.

Swimming and Fourth of July

This last week, we were without electricity for 2 1/2 days.  A storm blew through (with some tornadoes touching down!) and knocked a tree down which fell on our power lines and brought them down to the ground.  After camping for the weekend, we were looking forward to coming home to use our own toilets and watch tv, but that didn't happen until Thursday night!
We took advantage of our neighbors pool, which the kids loved!  They are getting more brave each time they are in the water and can't wait until their swimming lessons at the end of July!

 We always love our 4th celebration at the Frye's!  We had ribs, shrimp, and lots of yummy side dishes!  Jared, Jenn, and Gabriel surprised Jess and came up for the celebration as well.  We had to leave before the fireworks were over because Steven, Kristina, Matt and I went to Lake Huron National Forest to hike/backpack/camp and we left at 5 am.

The babies playing in the shade.

 And I had to throw in the last picture just because these kids crack me up.  They were a cowgirl and sheriff hunting down the bad guys one day.  I LOVE being home with them and seeing their imaginations at work!

Camping at Chain O'Lakes

We had a great weekend camping at Chain O' Lakes the last weekend in June.  The Davis' and Frye's camped in campers and we used our tent.  I enjoy camping, but I'm kinda over the whole tent thing.  I'm not a great sleeper to begin with, but when you add the birds chirping and the hard ground, it makes it pretty tough.  Other than the sleeping conditions, it was a great time!

All the kids did great!  If Emerson wasn't riding bikes or playing with the kids, she wanted to hold a baby.  Kenna had a new interest in her brothers too! :)

Smore's Time

 

Look how cute these boys are!!

Unfortunately, the afternoon we decided to swim, a storm blew through and the kids only got to swim for a few minutes.  The kiddos didn't seem to mind though!  Steven and Kristina brought Bo to hang out on Saturday, but their visit was cut short with the rain.