2014 Vacation: Time with Family

While snorkeling with dolphins might have been my favorite vacation experience, the best part of the week was hanging out with my family. 

In my entire life my family has never really been on a vacation, though we have traveled quite a bit together. When I was growing up, we always drove to Canada in the summers to visit our extended family. 

As a grown up we have gone on a few family reunion trips – this meant meeting at a cabin or hotel somewhere between Searcy, Arkansas and North Bay, Ontario. But my parents and siblings and I have never taken a trip with just the 5 of us (now 10 with spouses and kids). 

Anyways, it was nice to relax on the beach, to try to catch a glimpse of the dolphins in the gulf, to walk down to the pier and to visit and cook together. 

I love watching Jack with his cousins. He misses them since they moved to Florida and asks about them almost every day, so it was nice to have a fall weekend to meet up. We won't be together again until Christmas, so I soaked in the moments while I could.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from our trip:
"Keep your hands, feet and forks to yourself." – Angela to kids.

"No wonder dad was always like, 'be quiet!' when we were kids." – Mark about the kids running around pellmell.

 

 
"We're going to the ocean." – Jack as he and Levi calmly walk down the steps to the sand dune, by themselves.

"Where's the pirate?" – Jack when the captain of our boat got in the water to snorkel.

"I don't think I can fix it." – Izzy about a dead dragonfly.

"Grandpa is in big trouble." – Levi, I think Levi was actually getting in trouble about something and telling on his grandpa.

"The ocean tastes like salt and pepper." – Jack

"What's da-jing?" – Angela and Mark about word "DJ-ing" during a game of charades.

Jack and Izzy's words for hush puppies:

Hush Brownies (Izzy)
Hush Buddies (Jack)

 

"Wow look at these huge foot prints... Oh they must be dads." – Mom when we were walking to the pier.

"I thought they were buoys." – Mark about the cannon ball jellyfish.

"Go Cinnamon Roles!" - Izzy trying to say Seminoles.

Quote and photo (below) from my sister's Instagram: "Cousins chillaxing in their raft. Sometimes they play guns or swords, sometimes they fight and sometimes they share; and sometimes they just sit together quietly. I suppose that's how it will always be."
 

The last night of our trip at dinner, Izzy asked everyone what their favorite beach memory was. When I told her mine was drinking my coffee and watching the dolphins in the morning, she told me, "No, that's not your favorite memory!" 

 

Here are Everyone's Best Memories:
Izzy - "Being buried in the sand like a mermaid by Uncle Mark."
 

Angela and Robert - "Walking down to the pier."
 

Levi - didn't give an answer, but this little guy loved digging and swimming. 

Mark - "Booggie boarding with izzy."
 

Cheree - "Drinking coffee on the porch and watching the dolphins every morning."
 

Jack - "Being a giraffe."
 

Daniel - "Resting."
 

Mom - "The beach."

Dad said "arriving safely," but I wanted to include "sitting on the beach at night, watching the Milky Way and telling us where all of the constellations were."

We had such a wonderful trip and it was a special treat to spend part of our vacation with my family.

2014 Florida Vacation Recap: Trip Overview // Restaurant Reviews  
Biking St. Joseph's Peninsula // Snorkeling with Dolphins // Time with Family