Long Time, No Blog!

Wow! Almost 3 weeks since my last post! Last week we were at the beach enjoying some gloriously internet-free family time and making great memories.  The two weeks before that? I couldnt tell ya why I didnt post here. We had some fun with our nephews before they started school again, had a yummy dinner at Cinderella's Castle for a bestie's bday (pics soon), but nothing new to report, and no major events to share, I suppose? Or maybe I just needed a break from blogging for a bit.
If you are my friend on Face.book, you have already seen some pics of our week spent at the beach.  I am loving my new phone and the camera/upload capabilities, but we did take some pretty cute pics with our regular camera, too.
All-in-all, it was a WONDERFUL time with great weather and fun visits from my parents,  Eric's Dad and Stepmom (Robin's out of the hospital and making big progress with physical therapy!!), and several friends and playmates for Whitney. Good food, warm water, and watching our daughter light up with ear-to-ear smiles everyday? Now thats a great recipe for a wonderful family vacation :)

Wave Jumping with Gramps!

            

Kisses in our jammies :)

First evening beverages on the porch. CHEERS!

Eric set the camera up on the counter, about 20 feet away. Not bad for the automatic timer! Whitney was laughing at Daddy SPRINTING towards us :)

Waiting for dinner at Aunt Catfish

Lovin' the curls!

One morning, we went down the beach a bit to visit the gardens where Eric and I got married a little over 5 years ago.  It was HOTTT, but so fun to walk down memory lane and watch Whitney enjoy the flowers and shade :)

Sitting in the spot where her Mommy and Daddy said "I do!"

Another great automatic-timer shot :) Great job, Eric!!

We had our whole family line up on this bridge on our wedding day.  It is (and will likely always be) the only picture with ALL of our family members in one spot.  It was so fun trying to snap a decent self-timer pic of our little family in the same spot :)

LOVE them.  Whitney and I both loved having Daddy's undivided attention all week.  No internet, just family :)

Walkin to the dinosaur sculptures.

Kisses for the stone dino!

CHEEEESE!

I LOVE that he is the BEST Daddy to this little girl! She adores him, and he is head over heels for her :)

And how could ya NOT love her!?

How could we not enjoy every second with her!?

"C'MON, GUYS! Let's get down to the BEACH!!"

Beach Bummin' it

We tried. eh. Maybe next time.

Whitney would say "DADDDYYYY!" and then point to the water. She loved when he took her way out to the big waves crashing on them!

Her own bucket of ocean :)

A few attempts at family pics, thanks to my mom and dad!

Ummm, yeah. This was seriously the "best" one we could get.  It was sooo windy that evening!

yikes.

One of the few non-smiley pics, but I think she looks so grown up and pretty here :)

THERE'S our little girl :)

Ready for dinner at the Daily Grind!

The Daytona Beach boardwalk/pier

The ferris wheel that, quite frankly, looks so old and rundown, I cant imagine ever attempting it.

We stopped to get some ice cream and smoothies on the boardwalk.  Whitney looves when we share!

I love that baby face!! I can still see glimpses of her baby chubby cheeks in this pic :)

Her newest obsession: whole foods. meaning: DO NOT, under any circumstances, cut this child's food for her anymore. She ONLY wants to eat things whole.  Even if it means biting off more than she can chew...and scaring mommy and daddy.

Whitney is a really good eater. But this week at the beach, all we heard was "CAKES!!" over and over. She was lovin' some pancakes! She wanted pancakes at every.single.meal. Lucky for her, she has the world's greatest daddy who would happily pour more batter and make a batch for her :)

He. is. the. BEST. (Probably contemplating the 556 emails he returned to at work today.. :( )

See what I mean? the best.

That's it! The end.

We cant wait to go back next year and spend another week at the beach. My parents are out at the condo for the next 3 weeks, so we will get to go back (tomorrow, in fact!) occasionally through Labor Day. A HUGE "Thank You!" to Mac and Gramps (my parents) for hooking us up with the fabulous condo for the week.  The price was right, the weather was amazing, the location was perfect, and we really appreciate them allowing us to "steal" a week out of their own vacation time there :)  But what a special week we got to share, just the three of us with the company and visits of those we love and enjoy spending time with. I think Eric and I played Monopoly Deal for about 2 hours a day, just laughing and enjoying each other's company without the madness and drama and business that life stirs up. A-mazing.