We spent the week of July 4th at the beach and had the best time with friends and family! The past two years the Dorsey's and Grundmeyer's have been down at the beach for the 4th of July and we have so enjoyed celebrating with them. I am pretty sure that Ella Kate has a little crush on Luke :)
We spent the 4th going back and forth playing at the beach and the pool! We had a big group dinner with the Dorsey's and Grundmeyer's and feasted on boiled shrimp, Green Jacket Salad (Gigi's special recipe), twice baked potatoes, and key lime pie. And to top it off another family that we had befriended at the pool invited the entire condo complex to enjoy ice cream sundaes before the fireworks in the condo's hospitality suite :) It was a great night and I hope that we will continue our tradition of going to PCB for the 4th as we have the past two years. There is nothing more beautiful than sitting on the sand watching fireworks light up the sky over the ocean.
Gigi and David helping the little ones with sparklers :)
Ella Kate with her sparkler.
Family picture before heading down to the beach to enjoy the fireworks.
The Grundmeyer Family :)
The Dorsey Family :)
I love how sweet little Kate has her arm around John in this picture.
Group shot of the kids before heading to watch the fireworks. Love all these sweet kids.
(L to R Kate, Lauren, John, Ella Kate, Luke, and Evan)
We had ear plugs in our pockets just in case John got scared but ohh no this little boy clapped and yelled "BOOM" with each firework. He loved it!!!
Gigi, Lauren, and Ella Kate enjoying the fireworks.
Nana and Baby John.
Next up Pirate Ship time!! This was our first time trying out the Pirate Ship and we will for sure be back. It was a 2 hour boat ride on an enormous Pirate Ship boat and the crew put on a show from start to finish. It was all about the kids and their interaction. They got to Mop the Deck, Sword Fight, Water Gun Fight, Tattoos, Treasure Hunt, and more. I think Ella Kate's favorite was the water gun fight (well getting to shoot Dave and I) and John's was definitely the sword fight. John tried to sword fight with all the big kids. Pretty funny :)
Family Shot before boarding the Pirate Ship. Dave really liked the pirate ship and as you can see from this picture he and Ella Kate were fighting over who got to wear the hook.
Evan, Luke, and Ella Kate waiting to hop aboard the Ship. Argggg.
Nana about to join the pirates.
Love those sweet chubby legs.
John and Nana enjoying the ride.
Sweet Happy Boy! John's most repeated word of the trip was "Boat".
Fun in the Sand. Ella Kate is just like her Mommy and Daddy in her thinking that the pool is fun but nothing even compares to the beach and ocean! She loves the ocean and jumping waves. Makes me so proud! There is nothing better to me than playing in the ocean.
Ella Kate and Daddy riding the waves.
John loved the sand. At the start of the trip he loved the sand but was not crazy about the ocean. But by the end of the trip he was jumping waves with Ella Kate like it was old habit.
Our little man.
Ella Kate and Dave both in the boat. :) A little later Ella Kate and John both rode in the boat raft while Dave and I jumped waves with them. This almost gave Mom a heart attack and she told me afterwards that she was going to report us for child endangerment. HaHa. My mom does not share the love of the ocean that Dave and I do :)
Sweet John loving pestering his Daddy :)
My boys!
These two love there Daddy!
Family beach pic!
When at the beach Dave loves to dig holes and Ella Kate and John love to play in them :)
Another attempt at a family picture! It is hard to get 2 kids looking at the camera and smiling.
One of our night time activities was riding race cars! A favorite beach memory for me; and Ella Kate and John both loved it! We had a race girls vs. boys and then Ella Kate and her Daddy rode again while John screamed from the sidelines "I wanna drive". We only bought him one race b/c we were afraid he would be scared to death since it was an adult race track that would allow him to ride. Ohh noo our little dare devil boy loved it!!! He had a smile on his face the whole time and Dave was flooring it :) Love that little man. Ella Kate screamed "Kerchow" the whole time we were racing and a highlight for her and I was passing Daddy and John.
Daddy and Ella Kate waiting in line for their 2nd ride.
So excited and ready to race!
Saturday, July 7th was my 32nd birthday and we spent the day out on a boat fishing and swimming in the ocean. One of my favorite things to do at the beach. It was a great birthday!
Dave and his first fish of the day!
My first fish of the day! Dave would never admit quite how good a "honey hole" I found but after we boarded the boat and everyone settled in he told me to drive and pointed in a general direction and said my goal was to look for a fairly shallow grassy area to fish. Well I happened upon a great spot and we caught lots of small but fun to catch fish. It was perfect for the kids b/c while they were not huge we were constantly catching which kept them entertained.
Our driver! What I should have gotten a picture of was her asleep at the wheel. She was "driving" the boat sitting in Dave's lap and we looked over and she was sound asleep. Sweet princess. She is a Daddy's girl and loves the boat and fishing.
She must have asked Dave 5 times why we were not keeping the fish we caught and eating them for dinner. Dave was smiling ear to ear.
Fishing can be exhausting! While they were napping we drove around and dreamed about lots we would love to buy and build a beach house on. I could totally live at the beach.
Me and my babies enjoying the boat. Notice Ella Kate's hands. She was telling her Daddy that she was going to catch a fish that big.
Lunch near Captain Anderson's watching the fishing boats unload.
Ella Kate spent the night in Nana's condo most nights which was a special treat! She loved coloring on Nana's balcony in the mornings!
.JPG)
