Our Big Summer Vacation Week 1 - Florida (with friends)

For our first week in Florida we were lucky enough to be joined by our friend the Kang's and a bunch of their friends.  Every bed in our new Florida house was put to good use, as was the pool (multiple times a day).  We all had a great time between beaches, mini golf, shell finding, great food and just hanging out in the pool.  Lily was in absolute heaven having so many kids (all older) to play with.  A definite power game of monopoly (she came in second place), an awesome banana boat ride at the beach and some challenging mini golf kept her extra entertained.  She amazingly still went to bed without complaint much earlier than her friends.  And as a result she was much less tired than the rest of them seemed to be each morning.

We are now looking forward to week 2 in Florida.

Sarah, Lily and Mya

Gary, Kevin, Sarah, Lily & Mya

Banana boat riders

Some beach lounging

Mya, Chris, Sarah, Lily, Gary, Kevin & Bryant

Cannon ballers (Sarah, Chris & Lily)

 Digging holes in the sand

Baltimore

The very last weekend before school let out for summer, we of course had both our local houses rented (MD & DE) which meant heading to a hotel excursion for the weekend.  Don't feel bad for us.  These excursions have turned out to be great fun.  And its like getting paid to go on vacation.  This particular weekend we stayed near Arundel Mills, MD (part way between DC & Baltimore) at a hotel that turned out to be super fun.  They had free cotton candy for Lily and free chocolates for Chris and I.  That Saturday we had a great time attending our friend Simone's birthday party and hanging out for a BBQ later.  Then Sunday we decided to spend the day in Baltimore before dropping Chris at the airport to depart for Seattle.  We had a great time in Baltimore and enjoyed being tourists.

Memorial Day Weekend Festivities

Bounce houses, water balloons, electric jeeps with bunny wagons, king of the hill, kayaks, trips to the wave pool, bay beach and just general fun and get togethers around the house with our most awesome friends.  What more could a family ask for.

Sam, Chloe, Simone, Lily and Dahlia (with Dahlia enjoying the first water balloon)

Lily pulling her four friends in the wagon

Lily, Sam, Chloe and Simone

The wagon pulling made easier with Sam's jeep and bunjy cords

King of the hill!

Lily and Dahlia kayaking

Simone, Lily and Dahlia kayaking at the bay beach

Even the bay beach got a lot of love this holiday weekend

Simone and Lily catching up

The gangs all here!  From left to right:  Simone, Lily, Madeline, Sam, Dahlia & Chloe

Lily is always happy with her friends around

Rehoboth Beach

We were joined at the beach house this Memorial Day weekend with our friends from Virginia.  Simone, Dahlia and their parents Elizabeth and Mike.  They truly were the most amazing guests.  Mike used to judge BBQ competitions and was an excellent and helpful cook in our kitchen.  However, we started the weekend off with a trip to Rehoboth Beach where the girls enjoyed pizza on the beach, wave chasing, sand castle building and some super fun friend time.

Ladies in Blue

Like mother like daughter in so many ways.  O.K. maybe its because I still help pick out Lily's clothes that we often seem dressed alike.  This blue day was definitely obvious.  But boy, did she ever look cute.