Family Vacation 2010

We got to spend a week at Indian Rocks Beach, Florida for our vacation this year. The water was amazing, the weather was perfect, and our condo was wonderful! We all loved the water. Ella learned to swim, and Abby learned to jump in the deep end. They were so fun to watch :)

Isaac loved the ocean and the waves.

Caleb loved the ocean but preferred the pool. He is a fish!

We got them a skim board and had fun trying it out (in spite of the 2 sprained ankles and 3 smashed toes that it caused)

Isaac always had to have his goggles on! He finally realized, with a lot of convincing (2 days before we had to leave) that the floaties will hold him up in the deep water too. After he figured that out he would jump right in the deep end and even go under.

This was the view from our balcony. Almost every morning we would see dolphins up near the shore. We even got to see a manatee a couple different times.

Carl caught all kinds of fish. He has a throw net that he used to catch all his bait. He caught several kinds of bait fish and crabs and stingrays in his net.

With his bait fish he caught a couple sharks, some lady fish,

a yellow tailed jack, sea bass, and this mackerel!

The boys on our way to the LightHouse Donut Shop

We walked there to get donuts several mornings

Donuts are Ella's favorite

Dinner at Crabby Bill's - Our favorite seafood restaurant in Indian Rocks

The seafood is caught fresh from the Gulf

And is delicious!

The kids all worked together to build a sandcastle

They convinced Isaac to make his further away

They used wet sand

to build a "drip" castle

Burying Isaac in the sand ( to keep him away from their sandcastle) He loved it!

Ta-dah!

I am so thankful for my family

and the time

we got to spend together

the beautiful vacation we had

and the wonderful memories we made.

On our way home Carl surprised the kids with a stop in the Smoky Mountains. We spent the night in Cherokee, N.C. and stopped in Gatlinburg the next day.

The BEST pancakes ever

The girls outside the candy shoppe watching taffy being made

The "Village" of Gatlinburg

Gatlinburg was beautiful and the flowers there were amazing! It was so nice to break the long trip up.

And now we're home. Settling into summer. Hope your weekend is fantastic!