Deer Lake State Park, FL

On our trip to Rosemary Beach, we had some time to kill before catching our flight home, so we make a quick visit to this little state park. 

We had just enough time to meander down the long boardwalk to the beach, with its beautiful views.  No crowds on a Monday morning!  What a gorgeous beach.  Below is a view of the actual Deer Lake in the park.  You can do a little bit of hiking on the north side of 30A, but otherwise the park is pretty small.  It makes for a nice little side trip from Rosemary Beach.

Rosemary Beach, FL

This place is amazing.  I grew up always going to the Atlantic coast, since it was only 30 minutes or so from our house.  I still love the Atlantic side of Florida, of course, but Rosemary Beach is gorgeous and completely different!

My cousin got married in November here, and it was a great excuse to explore Northwest Florida.  The beach sand was so soft and fine, and the seashells were much finer and seemed more delicate than what we'd see on our home beach!

Rosemary Beach is a planned community that feels like a European beach town.  It's only 30 minutes from the airport and we could connect through Atlanta for easy flights.  If they ever start having direct flights from MSP (hint, hint!), I know where I'll be spending my spring break now!  I'm guessing that most folks come from Birmingham/TN because the boutiques were selling sweatshirts that said "Home" with a picture of the state of Tennessee!

The wedding was on the beach and it was beautiful.  Thanks to my parents, we got to stay in a house with them and all my siblings and nephews so it really was great to all be together.  The only downside was that the AC broke in the house and the dishwasher leaked, but it was otherwise comfortable.  We could walk all around the town and to the beach very easily.

I got one run in down 30A early early pushing baby J in the single jogger because he didn't sleep very well on the trip.  30A has a nice wide bike path so it was easy to do a down/back run.  I'd love to go back here!

Weekend Getaway

A couple of weeks ago, we were so lucky to get a little weekend getaway to visit my parents and sisters in FL.  I flew by myself with the boys and they were super travelers.  My parents generously took us here.  There's just no place like the beach!

The happiest little baby on the beach.

 

Sister time!

#Floridalove

I brought some seashells home and put them by our front door.  A little touch of home in the Midwest.

Have a wonderful, restful Labor day weekend! 

Fort Matanzas National Monument

When we were down in Florida, we took the little boys on an adventure to Fort Matanzas.  A boat ride, a fort to climb all over and a shoreline to explore -- they were in heaven!  [And, they might have even learned a little something!]

This place is GREAT, especially for small kids.  My mom said she brought us here several times when we were little.  It's FREE!  So our crew of little dudes were pumped to ride the boat over and back and explore the fort.  We couldn't get enough tickets for us all to go, so I stayed at the Visitor Center with baby J, D and my brother in law.

The short nature trail/board walk is the perfect length for little legs and our little Idahoan was fascinated by all of the lizards.  If you are in the St. Augustine area and need a break from the beach or the crowds downtown, go here for a morning outing.  It's not far but it is the perfect amount of adventure and history.

America the Beautiful: Beach Edition

After we drove across the upper West, we flew down to Florida for the annual family week at the beach in Florida, aka "cousin camp" for our boys and my nephews.  Didn't I just say that Montana is the most beautiful place in the world?  Well, if you could combine it with the beaches of north Florida, then it would be simply perfect.

M had an epic time playing with his big cousins.  J spent most of his days snoozing and we all had a great time relaxing on the beautiful porch and visiting with our far-flung family.  Family time is such a blessing.

 

M and my 4 year old nephew E.  M is his shadow whenever we get together!

I have no idea how people get wiggly kids to line up and all look at the camera with a nice, normal smile.  This was the best we could do....=)

Our view of beautiful St. Augustine Beach!

4 of the 5 boys on the beach. 

D pushed the couches together to make a clean, soft spot for baby J to roll around in.  Of course, the bigger boys took it over for their dogpile.  Needless to say, it quickly became a little bit sandy....

Don't you love the kid-sized rockers that come with the house?!  We did!  We're already looking forward to our next beach trip!

The Beach

Well, we are back home from a wonderful trip home to Florida.  We were lucky enough to spend a week at St. Augustine Beach, and a few extra days with my parents.

It was a wonderful trip: mornings playing in the sand, surfing, boogie boarding and breaking up fights over the little toy boat. =)

M took wonderful, long naps, so I got to read The Fault in Our Stars and The Bell Jar.  I enjoyed them both, but was really glad to have finally read The Bell Jar.  I thought it was a fascinating, and sad, book.  Have you read it?  I would love to hear what anybody else thought of it.

Our running trail in my hometown.

I got 5 runs in total: stroller runs in the state park, a solo run on AIA, and a couple runs on the beach.  There is nothing better than an early morning run on the beach!

M with his partner in crime.

The best part was getting to see M enjoy playing with his cousins - he really enjoyed himself, and it made me so thankful for the gifts of this special time together.  As soon as he woke up, he was basically asking to wake up the cousins so he could play with them.

What beach trip is complete without mini-golf?

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a wonderful beach vacation!

Special Moments From Our Beach Week

10 year old nephew handing me a piece of paper in church on which he had drawn a picture for m that said "I love M"

Surfing!!

2 and 3 yo cousins swinging in the hammock together, singing their abc's at the top of their lungs

A beach run with my iron-sister

4 grandsons watching TV in Grammie D and Granddad's bed in the morning

A family walk to the ice cream shop, after which M, on a sugar high, smeared rocks and dirt all over his face with glee

Eating some delicious fish, caught by my 10 year old nephew on his first deep-sea fishing trip

A Quick Trip to Tampa

M & I went to Florida last weekend to attend my Aunt's Surprise 70th Birthday party.  It was a lot of fun, she was surprised and didn't have a heart attack from the surprise, so it was a success.

My dancer man, dancing away to my cousins' bluegrass band!

It was easier for us to fly into Jacksonville, so we did that and drove down to Tampa with my parents.  Plus, we got to spend a few extra days with Grammie D and Granddad (M calls him "Dad-Dad") so it worked out well for all.  It was about a 3 hour drive from my parents' house to Tampa, driving through central Florida.  There's not much to see en route but it is an easy drive.

We spent the weekend mostly at our hotel and at my aunt's house, which is in a nice neighborhood not too far from the airport and close to everything.  I hadn't been there in 10 years, and it is funny how everything seemed much smaller than how I had remembered it.

When we would visit them as kids, her neighborhood was the big, fancy neighborhood with big houses, a huge golf course and lots of sun because there were hardly any trees.  As silly as it sounds, I loved that they had sidewalks!  We didn't have a sidewalk along the dirt road that led to our house in the country - it's the little things!  =)  But now the trees were all bigger, and the homes seemed normal sized, and the golf course even looked a little worn (or "well-loved" maybe?)!  It is still a beautiful neighborhood - just a matured neighborhood now I guess!

M LOVED riding in my Uncle's RV - the truck/motor vehicle obsession continues!

My sister and I actually lived in Tampa with my aunt in 2004.  I had an internship with a federal judge and my sister was working in the city too.  I loved running in her neighborhood (the sidewalks!)  and I even did a triathlon downtown that was a lot of fun.  There are some really beautiful neighborhoods in Tampa and I loved that you could see the water just about everywhere - I remember sitting in our office in the courthouse and you could see the bay out the windows - beautiful!

I still think Tampa is a beautiful city.  It was 80 degrees when we were there - yes, in January!!  So that is definitely one downside.  It is plenty hot, but lovely with lots of things to do - professional sports, arts & culture stuff, shopping, and the beach is close by.  I think it would be fun to go back one day and do one of the Gasperilla races - we did it many years ago, so I'd love to do it again sometime!

One funny note about our trip - we had the same flight crew all the way from Spokane to Jax - the flight attendants were fantastic (as they nearly always are on Southwest!).  They were all men (calling themselves the "male revue") and they made such a nice effort to help me entertain M on the 2 hour first flight, and then 3 hour second flight!  One of the flight attendants even carried him off the plan and through the terminal for me!  They were super nice.  We love flying Southwest, and no, they are not paying me to say that!

Have a great week, and happy MLK day!

Florida = Family

M and I flew to Florida for almost two weeks this summer.  We missed D like crazy, but it was a wonderful time to get to visit with our Florida family!

The sounds of crashing waves reminded him too much of his sleep sheep - he fell asleep in my arms!

I just love the beach.  It is the perfect family vacation!  We got to spend a whole week at the beach with my parents, my siblings and their families.  It was wonderful cousin time for the little guys and we ended the week celebrating my sisters' 30th birthdays.  M loved playing in the sand and along the shoreline and watching his bigger cousins play in the water.  We had great story time with the littles, walked to get ice cream, and I got to go on runs with my sisters.  I am so thankful for this time together and all of the memories that we made! 

We had 11 people in our group (and that is not even the whole family!) and we even managed to eat out a couple of times with NO meltdowns!  We had a good routine of exercise time, morning beach time, lunch, naptime/reading time for the adults/lego time for the big kids, afternoon beach/play time and then dinner time.  We also all became addicted to American Ninja Warrior and Duck Dynasty.  I loved getting to spend this time with my parents, siblings and nephews, and will never forget what a wonderful week it was.

See You Later, Summer! We Love You!

We've been having so much fun that I've completely neglected this blog!  Is there anyone out there reading this?  (Crickets.....=))

We have been so VERY blessed this summer.  Two glorious weeks in Florida, one wonderful week in Minnesota, and a whole load of fun at home this summer. 

We relaxed this weekend since both D and I are recovering from colds/sickness and it was a bit of a drizzly day today.  We're thankful to have D home for a 3 day weekend, and hope you had a great one too! 

Photos and recaps of all of our travels to come, but just wanted to stop in and say HI!  How was your summer?  How did you spend your Labor Day?