Florida

It's been 2 & a half weeks since we've been back from Florida so I guess it's time that I finally edit & post my pictures. I took lots of pictures while on vacation, so even though I chose some to show you, be prepared... This post contains A LOT of pictures!

So without further ado... The Hoosier Family Florida Vacation...

The view from the back porch at the Highlands House, our rental house

Santa Rosa beach

Alex was happy to out of the car (after a 9 hour drive) & at the beach!

Before leaving for Florida, I said all I really wanted to do was go to the beach! I didn't care about shopping or sightseeing, I just wanted to spend my whole vacation in the sand & the surf. And that's basically what I did! On Monday, we spent the morning at the beach, came back to the house for lunch, then once again headed back to the beach & didn't come home til dinner time! It was a perfect day!

Monday morning... Alex & Clark playing on the iPad on the porch, still in their pjs

Addy was ready to ride in the raft.

And here they go!

Boone, Brooke & Baby Charlie

Peyton, CiCi & Hannah

Molly & Clark having a water gun war

Nick

Me

Peyton & Chloe

Chloe playing in the sand

My little family playing in the waves

Petyon, Chloe & Alex playing in the raft on the porch. The kids LOVED these rafts!

Addy

Peyton (I love his hat!)

Alex

CiCi & PopPop

Peyton & Jeff playing football

Alex loves Hannah!

Chilling out!

Alex is one cool (& dirty) dude!

Thanks Aunt Molly for the M&Ms! They didn't last long, lol!

Playing with sparklers

The Gilthorpes

On Tuesday, we spent the morning at the beach. We played in the waves, rode in the raft & tried to build a sandcastle. After lunch, CiCi & SuSu jumped on the bikes while Kelci, Brooke & I walked & we headed over to a small shopping area across the street from the house. After our small excursion, we all went back to the beach until dinnertime.

Addy put on Jared's snorkeling gear. She was ready to go!

Relaxing in the raft (See, I told you the kids loved the rafts!)

Hannah riding a bike

Chloe loves the iPad!

Addy liked to stay just on the edge of the beach & get her feet wet but didn't really like to go out in the water.

Peyton

Hannah

Me

Starting to build a sandcastle

Hannah

I buried Alex & myself in the sand.

Peyton spelled his name with seaweed

CiCi & SuSu bicycling

The shopping area across the street from our house was called The Artists at Gulf Place.

Love this painting!

And this one! (I see a craft project in my future!!)

Cool sign. The words are cut from maps.

Love this too!

Brooke's, Kelci's & my feet & a really cool floor.

Sisters

Addy playing in the sand

This boy LOVED the water!

Addy

Building a sandcastle

"Push me Hannah!"

Nick

The kids had a lot of fun with the sparklers so we bought more & did them again!

On Wednesday, we made our way back to the beach. We buried Alex in the sand, made a sandcastle & played in the waves. Tropical Storm Debby was just starting to make her way into the Gulf & you could really tell by the current & size of the waves! After lunch, CiCi, SuSu, Brooke & Kelci & her family went to the small town of Seaside, just a couple of miles from where we were staying. Nick & I loaded the kids up & drove to meet them, but both our kids fell asleep in the car on the way. So instead, we turned around & went back to the house & relaxed while the kids napped. At sunset, we took a walk on the beach with the kids, Hannah & Kelci's family.

Buried in the sand AGAIN!

Alex

My little water bug

Hannah

SuSu

Kelci

Chloe

Good times at the beach!

Peyton's sandcastle

Ice cream with chocolate syrup in the bottom of the cone!! (Nick's secret recipe)

Cousins

Sunset at the beach

Addy, Alex & Nick

My family

Me & Nick

Smooches!!

Jeff & Kelci

I love this picture!

Walking on the beach at sunset

My family

My sweet girl & my sweet husband

And my sweet boy

Late night game of Back Alley Bridge - Nick & I lost by 2 points in the very last hand!!

Friday was check out, but we decided to leave on Thursday afternoon instead. So we spent Thursday morning playing at the beach. Alex, Hannah, & Peyton helped bury me in the sand & then I buried all of them. And then after lunch, it was time for us to say goodbye to our family & the beach & head home.

Jared

Alex & his beach ball

Peyton trying out the skim board that Jeff bought in Seaside.

Digging in the sand

Game time at the beach

I was completely buried in the sand, everything except for my head!

We were trying to make it look like my head was Hannah's head.

 Alex wanted to be a mermaid so I used seaweed to make him a mermaid tail.

Hannah buried in the sand

Peyton buried in the sand too!

As you can see, we had a fun 5 days in Florida! I wasn't ready to leave & can't wait to go back!