Cousin's Trip to Florida

Ever since school let out, Jack has been asking when we were going to visit Izzy and Levi (his cousins), so last week, my kids and I made a quick trip to see my sister and her family in Florida.

My brother and two of my cousins from Nashville decided to tag along, and we had a fantastic time! 

I decided we should drive at night to shorten the trip, and leaving after dinner really made a difference in travel time. Jack kept us entertained, with his chattering and constantly asking, "When will we get there?" 

My standard answer is, "We will get there when we get there." To which Jack replies, "That is not a real answer, how many miles is it?" This conversation was repeated about every 20 minutes, until he fell asleep.

We arrived about 2am and thankfully the kids transferred to their beds without any issues (I already had them in their jammies). And we all slept in until 8am. I was a tired mommy, but the kids were excited to see their cousins.

Thursday we spent the day playing and being lazy and then swimming at a neighbors house. Izzy and Levi were brave and learned how to chicken fight (sorry Angela, you may regret them learning this game later!) and Jack was brave and tried a water slide. He was proud of himself for doing it but it kind of scared him.

That night we got half-priced ice cream from Sonic (yay National Ice Cream Day!) and stayed up to watch Zootopia.

Friday morning we got up and packed for a day at the beach. We moved carseats around so that Jack and Levi could ride together and then drove over to St. George Island for the day (about a two hour drive).

The weather was perfect and since it was a Friday, the beach wasn't too crowded. The big kids had a blast jumping in the waves and building sand castles. 

Isaac was content to just hang out in the tent, eating snacks and watching seagulls. That boy will go along with any activity as long as he has a snack.

We packed up our stuff and headed to The Blue Parrot for lunch (it was less than 10 minutes away from where we were swimming) and Jack fell asleep on the way. He was just so tired. 

After a delicious seafood dinner, we headed to get ice cream at Aunt Ebby's before making our way home. We visited this same beach and ice cream shop last year so I guess it's becoming a tradition.

Saturday was another low-key day for us. Everyone but me and Isaac went to the movies in the afternoon (they saw Finding Dory) and that night my brother got the kids to do a little talent show. 

This is such a typical Mark thing and we love that he is carrying it on with a new generation of kids.

Izzy was our emcee, Levi demonstrated cup stacking skills, Jack told jokes, and Isaac practiced walking for us. Mark and Izzy also sang. It was a great show. 

After the "Amasing Tallint Show" the kids jumped on the trampoline and then lit sparklers. It was hot and sticky, but such a great way to end our trip together.

I come from a fairly large extended family – my mom is one of five siblings, my siblings and I are a part of 16 cousins and between all of these cousins, we have an additional 12 kids. 

We kind of joke that there is a northern Lock Flock and a southern Lock Flock. My siblings, cousins from Nashville and our parents and families make up the southern extension of this group. 

This was the first time we have gotten together, just the southern cousins and our kids. While we missed our parents (and Daniel), we had a really good visit, though it is kind of strange that we are all adults now! The last time my cousins, Andrew and Moriah, took a road trip with me was about 10 years ago and they were still kids!

Can't wait til next time!

 The cousins "Amasing Tallint Show" in Tallahassee