Destination Destin

My brother said it best: "My sister already said it well on her blog. 'My parents rented a nice 8 br house with a pool and hot tub. It was also right on a lake and right across the street from the beach. It was fun to see my parents and all of my siblings and for all 7 of the little cousins to get together. Aiden has 3 cousins that were born just within 2 months of him. Besides going to the beach and swimming in/relaxing by the pool, we did a little Easter Egg Hunt for all the kids, played on the playground, got pedicures, went to the Blue Angels air show, bowled, shopped at the outlets, ate way too much, played games every night, etc. Here is a picture overload:' "

On the road. Somewhere in Louisiana.

Charlotte

View from the balcony.

View from the other side of the balcony.

Candice.

Mother dear.

Dad - the one who pays for all our frivolities. Obviously it wears him out.

Teresa

No introduction needed.

Zoey.

Easter egg hunt.

The beach.

Blue Angels.

 Dad took some family pics for us. It was a cloudy windy day. I like this one. Sam's hair is awesome.

 All the cousins.

I wasn't joking about the picture overload. It was such a fun trip. I love my family. I'm grateful that my parents try so hard to get us all together.

After the car ride home, Dan and I need another vacation

Nine hours of this:

And only one hour of this:

Afton dancing

Don't worry, we haven't given her another pacifier. This was before we took hers away.

For my mom, mostly.

Lots of things in one post

First, our nephew Luke is doing much better. He is still in the ICU, but he gets better every day. He is able to move on his own, communicate, and do so many things. Now he just needs to start swallowing on his own and increase his muscle movement. Thank you all for your prayers on his behalf.

Afton turned 18 months a few weeks ago. She's 87% for weight (24.5 pounds or something), 82% for height (can't remember specifics), and 92% for head size. Of course. She isn't talking much, but has started to try more now that the pacifier is out of the picture. Speaking of, thanks to the pacifier's removal, her nap went from 3 hours down to about 1. But now that she's getting used to not having her pacifier, the naps are getting a little bit longer again. We love her.

 Before church bedhead.

Dan and I went on a date to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo again this year. If you'll recall, last year was hard to top. So we didn't. But we still had fun. We got great seats and loved the whole rodeo. We also stuffed our faces on the free food - burritos, nachos, sodas, skittles, m&m's, snickers, ice cream bars, etc. You know I stuffed my pockets, too.

 During the opening parade thing.

 This picture is for all of you who think I'm 100% supa glam all the time. As if there are any of you out there. Thanks, Dan, for capturing this side of me.

 Creeper in the back. I called him out on this one. I don't know why there's a weird shadow, either.

 His name is not Eli Young. It's Mike Young. I don't know who Eli is.

The band that night was the Eli Young bad. They were not very good. We also rode a fun carnival ride where I felt like I was getting tossed around like a rag doll and the guy next to me (not Dan - the guy on the other side) complained that he would be unable to father children. Nice. Dan thought it was just so-so. And he will still be able to father children. TMI?

Today I took the kids to the rodeo during the day. It was fun until the meltdowns. There always have to be meltdowns!

 On the shuttle.

In the petting zoo. Afton was fine with it until she came face-to-face with a goat. Then she flipped. Sam loved it, though.

 Eating lunch on a Texas bench.

I bought enough tickets for Sam to ride a few things. Here he is on a giant slide. I meant to put him on the smaller slide ride to the right, but I got confused. I'm surprised he did it!

I've taken a few more videos lately, so I'll put those up in the next few days, too.