Team Reed was Daytona bound once again!
Not gonna lie, the drive is daunting (it usually takes us 10+ hours, crossing through 4 states), and this year even more so, at 28 weeks pregnant!
But, as with every year, it's worth it.
Our first morning there was Sunday, and Josh found us a great local church to go visit. Before we left, I decided to go for it and see if I could get a picture of the kiddos. It's no small feat to get one of all four looking and smiling!!
Success!!
One for Nen, too.
We had an unexpected visitor that came in Sunday afternoon and stayed through late Wednesday night...her name was Debby. A tropical storm that parked in the Gulf of Mexico and did not line up at all with our visions of a glorious week spent soaking up sunshine on the beach. Booooo.
Thankfully, there is so much to see and do down there. So Debby didn't put (too much of) a damper on us! We still went out on the beach every day but Wednesday, but not for long. The rest of the time we spent seeing some of the sights in the Daytona area.
Like this cool chocolate factory in downtown Daytona that gives free tours.
Seriously?! Solid chocolate.
The ladies who started it all...back in the day...
But who needs chocolate when you have this sweetness?
She is edible.
Free samples at the end of the tour...yes, please!
I tried a chocolate covered potato chip...mostly to satisfy my curiosity.
It was surprisingly good!
Couldn't leave without some homemade fudge...
chocolate on top, peanut butter on the bottom.
Stop it.
Took a little stroll through downtown Daytona...
Stopped in a local coffee shop. And it just tastes better in a pretty cup : )
While we waited for Debby to move on out, we had plenty of time to relax.
Mollie spent many hours taking care of her babies.
I think my kids watched enough TV/commercials to last them a whole year. TV is never a thought at home because we haven't had it for the last four years (and haven't really missed it, either). So it was funny to hear them telling us about the different commercials they'd seen...like "Hey Mom! You should buy Mollie some Huggies Hawaiian diapers because they'll make a donation to a charity when you do." Or how about the one for some crazy drink that 'promises' to make you thin (seriously, their slogan was 'Life is better thin'...what in the world!?!)...my Kate leans over and says "Hey, maybe you can drink that after the baby is born to help your stomach go back down." HA!!
All great opportunities to teach them to evaluate what the world is telling them and teaching them to find the lie...
But, in the midst of all that craziness, we sure did enjoy watching Euro 2012, and Wimbledon, and some of the Olympic trials.
I love manatees, so had to snap a quick shot of this mailbox.
Wouldn't that make you happy to get your mail everyday?!
We went to the Marine Science Center just down the road in Ponce Inlet.
Petting the sting rays
Lionfish. Would not want to run into this guy swimming out in the ocean!
Seahorses
I also love turtles!! See the little baby? So cute!!
Uhh, not cute. Creepy actually.
A moray eel...reminded me of Ursula and her dudes from Little Mermaid.
"Yook Mommy, a fishhh!"
Carter-man was the only one brave enough to touch the snake.
Mollie opted not to pet the sting rays.
The lighthouse at Ponce Inlet.
By day 4, we were ready for Debby to go away.
Yuck.
But...we had fun celebrating an early birthday for Hudson!
Thanks, Nen!!
And thank you LORD!!
Thursday morning, the beach looked amazing...and we soaked up every minute of it!
(Probably too much...we all wound up a little toasty by the end of the day) : /
"The spacious firmament on high, With all the blue ethereal sky, And spangled heavens, a shining frame, Their great Original proclaim. Th'unwearied sun from day to day Does his Creator's power display; And publishes to every land The work of an Almighty hand."
Pause.
Little bit needs to regroup.
And Daddy was more than happy to oblige!
Sweet sand car that Daddy sculpted. My creative guy : )
Straight sassy. And so stinkin' adorable.
Both of them : )
Love my girls!!
Ahhhhh.....it was worth the wait...
our last two days down there, the weather could not have been more perfect.
No trip to Daytona would be complete without putt-putt at Pirate's Island across the street. Nen and Josh took the oldest three our last night there.
(They are just to the right of the waterfall...Kate is in bright yellow and Hudson is in bright orange. Sure made it easy to spot them from the balcony of the condo!!)
And Hudson and Carter both got legit hole-in-ones!
Another great vacation, thanks to Nen and Pa!
Sure did miss having Pa down there this year!!
But it was a sweet gift to have a week's worth of time with Nen...
1 comment:
love this post! what fun!
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