The first beach we visited on our Florida trip was Ormond Beach. It’s sad to say, but this was the first time the girls were old enough to remember being at a “real” beach on the ocean. They loved it! They are so different though. Nina wanted to be in the waves right from the start. She loved playing in the water, trying to boogie board, riding the waves, etc. Lyla was happy just playing in the sand. She dug holes, collected shells, built little castles, etc. They both had an awesome time!
Last week we took off on our trip to Florida. Nina and Lyla were excited to fly on an airplane, and our trip down was very easy and uneventful. Once we got to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, the girls were excited to get in the pool and check everything out.
They even caught some snails and a lizard the next morning after we arrived.
Both girls loved Buck, the dog that Grandma and Grandpa are taking care of for awhile. It really made them anxious for their own puppy to arrive!
Saturday was the surprise party for Grandpa and quite the family reunion.
There were quite a few grandchildren present.
The party was held at the police lodge on Lake Conway, so the kids got to play in the water and take advantage of boat and tube rides. Grandpa definitely seemed surprised to see everyone when he arrived at the party, and the weather was beautiful for a day outdoors.
Every other Thursday night during the summer, our community has a free outdoor concert, and the bands are normally quite good. This past week’s concert was an 80’s tribute band, The Refex, and they were awesome. Nina and Lyla loved the music and danced all night long, and I caught a few pictures with my camera phone.
They did sit down for a few minutes during the intermission in order to share a milkshake. Since they had to share it, I think it was the fastest drank milkshake on record. There’s no taking one’s time when the other sister might just get one teeny more sip than you!!!
It was definitely a fun night!
It’s puppy mania around here right now. We just found out that the litter we’re getting our puppy from was born on the 4th of July. Nina and Lyla are super excited.
(This picture isn’t of our puppy, but it’s one that recently came from the breeder. We’re getting a Vizsla, so this is what she’ll look like.)
Lyla was the first one up this morning, so she was the first kid to get the news that the puppies were born. She is already thinking ahead. She was asking if we were going to get a boy or a girl puppy, but before I could answer, she remembered that we were getting a girl. Then she followed up with, “It has to be a girl because girls lay babies…” (ok, not really, but she gets the idea) “…and we need Cayenne to have babies so we can also keep one of her puppies.” (Again, not really going to happen – one puppy at a time.)
Nina woke up next and got the news and was so so excited. It’s going to be a long seven weeks while we wait for the puppy to be ready to leave the litter. For the past several months, Nina has been completely absorbed in a series of chapter books from Ellen Miles that’s called the Puppy Place Series. Since the spring, she has read 30 Puppy Place books. She actually just finished the last one in print this morning. If you click on the link above, she’s read every single book except for Mocha and Molly (which aren’t released in print yet). She definitely has had puppy on the brain and has been learning a lot about dogs in the process from all her reading.
So, it’s all very exciting for the kids now that they know their puppy is born and doing well.
Since the girls and I were back from Hartfield on the 4th, we joined up with Mark and our neighbors for a cookout to celebrate the holiday. Our neighborhood had done a large fireworks show a few days prior to the 4th, so we had some small fireworks for the kids, some great food, and a good time to hang out and enjoy the day.
It was a girls’ trip to Hartfield. Me and my girls arrived on Monday, and Shen and her girls arrived the same day. Mouse and Pops were already there, so Pops was the lone male in the bunch until Garland arrived on Wednesday. When we arrived on Monday afternoon, the weather was pretty cloudy, and it looked a little too suspect to get out on the boat, so Mouse offered to hang with the girls while Shen and I got in an exercise walk. When we returned, this is what we found – what happens when Mouse is left in charge (she was equally as muddy)!
On Tuesday, the weather was clear and sunny, so we got out on the boat before lunch. All the girls were so happy to be on the water and were ready for dancing on the boat, swimming, eating lunch out on the water, and trying out the Relaxation Station.
The Relaxation Station proved to be only slightly relaxing. With adults, it would be very relaxing. With kids, it’s kind of crazy! They were sliding off the side head first, splashing, climbing, etc. It may not have been exactly relaxing, but it definitely was fun!
We spent the next morning taking the girls fishing. We didn’t catch anything, and the only fish even remotely part of our experience were the Goldfish that were being consumed, but thankfully fun on the boat again followed fishing.
This time, tubing was the main attraction. The current in the water was a little too strong for swimming, so the girls took turns tubing for the afternoon and had a great time. Apparently, it was the day for crazy antics in the tube.
These girls are made for speed. They kept screaming, “Faster, Poppy!” and did a great job hanging on despite some choppy waters.
After watching the two “big girls” have their turns, Lyla was ready to go.
We knew we were in trouble when she started out like this…
After about two minutes of watching her go crazy in the tube, I put on my life vest and put down my camera – preparing at any point to jump over the side of the moving boat to go in after Lyla. She came so close to flying out of the tube on quite a few occasions. She was jumping, riding with no hands, riding backwards, and trying to get her feet in the air (all while going at top speed).
Amazingly, she didn’t fly out of the tube, and I didn’t have to jump in after her, but she had a great time!!
By the morning of the 4th, it was time for us to hit the road. We really enjoyed our time at the river house, but we were getting an early start back to spend the day with Mark and enjoy a cookout with our neighbors. As always, Hartfield was great for time with family and some more fun memories. I’m sure we’ll be back again soon!
