Beach time!

Early this month, we packed up and directed our caravan south to Panama City Beach, Florida. It was, as always, quite the adventure.

We headed out on Thursday, July 7th at around 5:30 in the morning. The kids were great. They read, played with toys, amused themselves with their Kindles, and napped. We stopped for lunch in Nashville and a Bob Evans and then continued our journey south.

We stopped in Montgomery for a chance to unfurl ourselves from sitting in the car and to spend the night before continuing the final leg to the shore.

Ice Cream in Alabama

The kids seemed to enjoy themselves at the Holiday Inn; they swam in the pool with Daddy and Pop-Pop and took advantage of their artistic side with the crayons and coloring books we brought along. While in the pool, Isaac met a little girl named Piper. She swam with our three and they seemed to get along fine. We headed up to the room and Grandma Ruthie asked Isaac about his new friend and what her name was.

He thought for a moment and said, "I don't know."

I helped him out by whispering, "Piper."

He gave me a strange look and said disbelievingly, "Diaper?"

No sweetie, not Diaper.

Back up in the room, Brooke even met a new friend. She talked to and danced with her reflection in the full-length mirror in the room. It was so cute.

At one point, Isaac rode with Pop-Pop, Nannie, and Grandma Ruthie and Brooke and Cee Cee rode with us. About an hour after we began driving with the two girls, Brooke called to me, "Mommy. Shhhhh! Cee Cee's asleep." Then, about an hour and a half later, she called, "Mommy. Cee Cee's awake!" She was monitoring the backseat and felt like updating me.

On the Thursday after we arrived, Eric took a group to Eglin Air Force Base in Destin. Isaac had a great time. I love this picture of him posing for the camera. He is such a cutie. I love this boy!

One of Brooke's favorite things to do on vacation was to go for a walk. She truly does love long walks on the beach. One evening, Mommy and B went for a stroll in the sand and she stopped to look up at the balconies where she spotted Uncle Mikey and Becca on our balcony and Nannie and Pop-Pop on their balcony. Here she is asking, "Where is Pop-Pop?" He stepped inside for a moment and she was not happy with that.

Isaac and Brooke out on our balcony looking at the ocean. Here is Isaac with crazy bed-head after his afternoon nap. Isaac wanted me to take his picture and then show it to him. He thought it was pretty funny.

Here is Brooke on her 2nd birthday! She is such an amazing, sassy, sweet, beautiful gift from God. She is truly amazing and I am blessed by her personality every single day. I can't imagine our lives without this awesome girl.