Ormond Beach, Florida Vacation

Last week we went on a family vacation to Ormond Beach, Florida.  We were blessed with great sunny weather all week long and a wonderful time being together as a family.  We had a great time at the beach and a very special surprise day trip for the girls. :0)

Saturday, June 17th: Finally, finally after leaving at 7am we finally got to the beach at 2pm. I don't know who was more ready to get out of the car, the girls or us. :0) We stayed at Ormond Beach but it's right next door to Daytona, so since we couldn't get in our room yet, we drove down the beach and let the girls run around for a bit.

Finally in Florida!

Driving down the beach, this was a new experience for the girls.

Freedom!!!

Madalyn found a dollar in the ocean.

The view from our room.

Sunday, June 18th: Happy Father's Day! We spent the day on the beach and at the pool relaxing.

Snack Time!

Alexis is ready for the pool. 

Back on the beach for the afternoon.

Monday, June 19th: Another great day on the beach and in the pool!

The ice cream truck came at least twice a day down the beach. So this afternoon we got some ice cream.

Alexis's ice cream melted faster than she could eat it.

Tuesday, June 20th: Our day trip surprise for the girls...a trip to Disney World to the Magic Kingdom!

(These pictures will be posted in a separate post.)

Wednesday, Jun 21st: Happy 9th Anniversary to Us!  We rested and recovered from our all day trip to Disney World and then went out for some ice cream.

Thursday, June 22nd: We spent the day around the beach and pool. We went out to eat for dinner to celebrate our anniversary and got some more ice cream. :0)

We had lunch on the beach. 

Madalyn overcame a huge fear this week...for the past two years, she has been terrified to go under the water and put her face in. She overcame that and was swimming all over the pool by the end of the week.  She has even taken off her life jacket and decided she didn't need it anymore either. She is very proud of herself and we are very proud of her too.

Ponce de Leon Lighthouse, it's the tallest lighthouse in Florida and the second tallest in the United States.

It was finger-licking good :0)

Friday, June 23rd: Our last full day. We went on a dolphin tour that morning and then spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach and at the pool.

The girls got to drive the boat some.

We found dolphins! It's hard to get a picture of them though because you don't know when or where they will come up.

We got off the boat to look for sand dollars. We didn't find any.

Those are our condos to the left of the tent.

There was a cake shop there that had won Cake Wars in 2016, so I picked up a few cupcakes. I love to watch that show on Food Network.

Yum! Key Lime cupcake, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcake, Chocolate Ganache Cupcake, and Red Velvet Cupcake...the Red Velvet was the best!

It was a great week, as you can see someone was worn out by Friday night.

We had a wonderful week!

New Fashion Trend

Before school got out but the last few teacher workdays, the girls were staying with Kevin's mom. She took this picture of Alexis...she didn't see Alexis get these but later noticed she was wearing them...oven mitts on her feet!

Lake Weekend

We went to the lake this weekend and it was so nice to get away. I always feel like it's not summer until I get to go to the lake. However, the water was still quiet chilly but that didn't stop Madalyn from enjoying it.

Alexis's favorite part...eating her "nack" on the boat. :0)

Alexis and her GG, she loves her GG!

We had our lunch on the boat

We went for a boat ride and found an island with a swing.

Of course Alexis had to try too but she was almost too small for the tire swing.

I think Madalyn looks cute with her teeth missing. : 0)

On the way home...let's just say they had a BIG weekend!

Fun at the Park

Two weekends ago the girls and I had some errands to run. After we did our errands, we went by Chic-Fil-A and got lunch and had a picnic in the park. Then the girls played some on the playground.

Alexis loved this slide! I lost count with how many times she went down it.

Madalyn's Last Week of Kindergarten

The kids got out of school May 26th...Madalyn had a big week for her last week in kindergarten. :0)

The kindergarten doesn't have a graduation ceremony but her class had their own special promotion day.

They had a party after graduation...if you notice Madalyn's top tooth is almost ready to fall out...that actually happened the next day. :0)

Ms. Manigault (her teacher) and Madalyn

As I mentioned the next day that tooth came out with a little help from a first grade teacher that is known for her teeth pulling ability. ;0)

Madalyn was sick with either a sick virus or flu when they had class pictures made. So I took a group picture before school got out but there are a few students missing.

Mrs. Pruitt (her teacher's aide) and Madalyn

Madalyn with her friend Tanner.

Then we Madalyn had a class picnic day with muffins for moms. We were on the play ground when Madalyn and a friend were playing and Madalyn got hit in the mouth and out came the other top tooth. It was loose but not quite ready to come yet, but oh well.. Let's just say the tooth fairy has been visiting our house some lately.

Last day of Kindergarten...what a fast and busy year it was! Lots went on this year but all in all it was a good year for Madalyn in school. But we are glad summer break is here now.

New Play House

The girls and I went to Greenville Mother's Day weekend and when we came home we had a surprise....Kevin had pretty much finished the girls' new playhouse and swing set.  He had been working on it off and on for about two months when he could find the time.  The tornado tore up the other one, plus we had gotten it from someone and the wood was rotting, so Kevin decided to build a new swing set but added a playhouse too. We still have  few minor touches to add, like Madalyn wants a windowsill flower box :0) on the front window and a few more swings to hang up.  He did most of the work all by himself. My dad helped some and his dad helped some and I helped some but it was mostly Kevin.  I thought he did a great job. And he didn't use a kit either, he drew this up and planned it himself.