Florida Vacation

Meredith and I just got back from a seven day trip to Florida to visit Grandma Sue, celebrate Meg & Brad's recent marriage, play and rest. We had a wonderful trip and really enjoyed spending time with our family.

On our first full day in Florida, Meredith helped Grandma Sue make chocolate chip cookies. Grandma loves to make cookies with the grandkids and this was Meredith's first time baking with her.

Meredith loved playing with her cousins, Marley and Nyle. It has been over two years since we had seen them. Marley and Meredith spent hours at the kitchen table coloring and playing with play doh throughout the trip.

Meredith is still our little fish. With her handy lifejacket on she can swim around the pool all by herself and keep up with Marley and Nyle. Meredith is all about her independence these days, so she was thrilled to be able to swim by herself too.

On Friday, we all pitched in to put together the flower arrangements for Meg & Brad's reception. We all made our own unique arrangements, including Marley.

Saturday night was Meg & Brad's reception at the clubhouse. Everyone looked beautiful and had a great time. Here are some family pictures that we took prior to the party.

At the party we were able to meet all of Grandma Sue's very nice friends, eat good food and have a few drinks. After several speeches and many tears, Wally stood in for Dave to dance with Meg.

The kids had a great time at the party as well. They made a new friend, shared their toys, danced, drank Shirley Temples, ate cake and watched a movie.

Brad and Nyle spent some time hanging out and keeping an eye out for "the creepy guy."

Mer spent a lot of time in the pool. On most days she swam twice a day with her cousins. Brady still isn't as fond of the pool and stuck to the top stair. Mer particularly enjoyed riding on Uncle Brad's back while he swam around the pool.

On Monday we drove down to Naples to visit with Mer's new friend Jake at his grandparents house. It was a beautiful day and the kids enjoyed playing in the backyard and kicking their feet in the pool.

On Tuesday we said good-bye to the warm Florida weather to return to our home in wintery Kansas City. We returned rested and filled up by all of the quality time spent with our family.