Messing around with pictures...

Back from Vacation!

Well, we survived our annual summer vacation! This year we flew to Hollywood Beach, Florida for the week. We have a friend who has a condo down there that we used. We had an amazing time!! We spent a couple of days on Hollywood Beach, a day at Ft. Lauderdale Beach, and then took 1 day to drive down to The Keys. We started out the day by snorkeling off of Key Largo. There is an awesome live coral reef off the Keys, so it was great snorkeling. Other than the corals, we saw tons of fish, including Sergeant Majors, Tangs, Groupers, Baracudas, Moray Eels, and even a Nurse Shark!! There were tons of other fish that I can't even remember right now. We were pleased, all 3 girls got in the water and snorkeled perfectly. No freaking out, no screams when the fish got close to them, nothing. We couldn't have asked for a better time!! After snorkeling, we continued our drive across the Keys. It is so beautiful down there, words and pictures just don't do it justice. We ended up in Key West, where we took tons of pictures and ventured around the island. We ate dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, and of course had a few drinks and some Key Lime Pie! After a long day on the Keys, we drove back across and up the coast to Hollywood. The next day (which was our last full day) we were all exhausted, so after sleeping in, we just hung out at the beach by our condo.

Here are some random things we learned/observed:

~ Tayler decided she wants to live in Hollywood Beach
~ Restaurants in that area do NOT serve Dr. Pepper
~ Tayler realized she could never live there due to the above
~ Kati took a different bathing suit for every day - and never wore the same one twice
~ The 2nd morning, we all discovered the brilliance in Kati's plan - as we all put on our wet cold bathing suits from the day before
~ We discovered we were no longer in Texas - as the common courtesy went out the window. It was horrible to drive there!
~ People in that area have entirely too much money. Big yachts are as common as truckss here.
~ While swimming in the ocean and looking down the coastline - the Miami Vice theme song will pop into your head.
~ The sun is VERY bright as it's rising over the ocean - and glaring into your windows.
~ Sisters will still argue - even in paradise
~ Laying on the beach with no sunscreen on WILL result in a massive sunburn (just ask Tayler). Mom's have no sympathy for said sunburn when they continually told you to put sunscreen on and you did not.
~ Swallowing too much salt water will result in an upset stomach/nausea.
~ It is possible to sleepwalk through an airport, while getting on a plane, during takeoff, during the entire flight, and while deboarding at your destination (again...just ask Tayler).


That is all I can think of right now - although I know there is much more!!

Anyway, here is a link to our pictures. I know there are a lot, sorry about that.

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=2c2f33e25031e0919a16dcf07a6807f9&sid=0AcOGrJu1aMmL3Q

As promised - boat pictures

Yes...we are still alive.

Sorry it's been awhile, things have been crazy here. I guess that is the norm these days though. Today was the last day of school, so the girls are all excited for the summer!!

The drill team tryouts went well. Kati made the squad, and Tayler was asked to be the manager. So they will both be involved in drill team next school year. It has already begun though, and Bryan and I both realize our lives will never be the same.

Tayler and Kati at tryouts

And yes...I know. My brother Aaron pointed out: they have too much makeup on (it is done the way it was supposed to be for tryouts), and they both need a tan (it wasn't summer yet...give them time).



Other than that, we have been having fun on our new boat. I do have better pictures, but haven't rescued them from the camera yet. I will post soon though.

Next week is our family vacation. This year we are flying to Hollywood Beach, Florida. We are really looking forward to exploring somewhere we have never been. We will also be driving down to the Florida Keys for a day. We will stop in Key Largo in the morning for a snorkeling trip out to the living reef, and then continue on all the way to Key West. It will be a long day trip, but well worth it!!

We will have a ton of pictures from vacation when we return. I will try and post them as soon as I can.