A Trip to See The Ocean

It is always an exciting moment

when you arrive at the beach and

catch your first glimpse of

the ocean.

What a privilege it was
to get to show it to Cole for his 1st time!!

 We were SO HAPPY to be there!!
LONGBOAT KEY, FLORIDA
We expected it to be a LONG trip--
since it was our first road trip as a
family of 5....but somehow we turned
a 9 hour trip into a 13 hour one!!!

 On our way down we got to stop in
Tampa to see our cousins!!
Here we are with Ragan and Eme.

 Cousin Gatlin with Cole

 Faith, Milla and Cole on the beach
***Longboat Key is a special beach to
Brandon because he grew up coming to
visit his Grandpa ("Big Daddy") there.

 SISTERS on the beach

 SISTERS in the dunes

 Our walk to the beach

 view from the condo

 Eskimo kiss

 Had to take a picture...
we were all 5 at the beach at the same
time!!....didn't happen a lot...
at this stage we did a lot of
shifts to accommodate naps and feedings.
Still worked out great!

Girls LOVED the pool at the
Longboat Key Club...
lots of interesting things--saw 3 girls
bring mermaid outfit/tails to swim in and
met a friend from England that in her
adorable accent said "do you want to
see me swim under water"--
Milla kept impersonating her!

Cole appreciated the umbrella and the breeze

 Even better than laying out to get a suntan
was getting to rest in the shade with this guy!

 Brandon fishing with Milla and Faith!

 First Catch!

 Pig Tail Cutie

 The theme songs of the trip came from
"Teen Beach Movie"!!!....Milla and Faith
love that movie and we listened to the
soundtrack the WHOLE trip (I am
starting to love the songs too!!)---they kept
pretending to surf like they do on the movie!

Faith surfing

 Milla at the flip flop shop

 Cole at a shop that is really neat in
Armand Circle called "Shore"

 Faith climbing on a statue

 Milla and I spending nap time at the pool

FAMILY PICTURE

Milla, Brandon and Faith

Faith, Milla and Cole

 Windy Day on the Beach...
I love Faith's face in this picture!!!
They loved singing "Let It Go" this day and
acting out all the scenes from Frozen...
So much more dramatic in the wind and
with the waves crashing as a storm was
rolling in.

 A really good soup that Brandon made...
Shrimp/Coconut/Cilantro soup

 Faith in the Grass

 Milla in the Grass--
they have the best grass there...
it is so thick and dense--
feels awesome on bare feet

Tired after the trip back home...
happy to be out of the car
and huggin' on their daddy
on Father's Day Eve

On Father's Day we
got to CELEBRATE Brandon
and the INCREDIBLE Dad he is!
(so thankful for our Dads too)

Cozy Group Pictue

 When we got home Chanler & Graham
came to visit while they were in town
from Charlotte

 Group Shot

 COLE CLOSE UP!!

Sweet Thing!!

Cole is already 3 months old.
At his 2 month Check Up he
weighed 13# 8oz and  was 24 inches
He Doubled his birth weight!!
Growing Boy!!

 
We got to have a baby shower for
Becky to celebrate her BABY GIRL
on the way !!!!

There was an ice cream bar with
lots of toppings because Becky
is a chocolate lover!

 Becky and Me

 Grant, Lily and Baby Grant came to visit!

 Milla doing a shoulder stand at our
neighborhood pool

Mimi and Papa Ray visiting

A Cute on of COLE
from today!!!