First Annual Family Picnic

We headed to a fabulous little town called Green Cove Springs this past Saturday, where we met up with Eric's Dad, his brothers, Daniel, Jake, Parker, and Dawson, his sister Lynzie, and allllll the spouses and kids/cousins.  We had the most beautiful weather in one of my new favorite places in the state of Florida.  This spot was the perfect place for us to gather to celebrate the life of Eric's stepMom, Robin, and some birthdays for my sister-in-law, Christina and nephew, Dean.  We were gearing up and getting excited for our nephew, Corbyn's first annual Care Walk the next day! (More on that tomorrow)

Whitney couldnt wait to get out of the car when she realized her cousins were waiting to play!

Lynzie and I CONSTANTLY get comments about Callie and Whitney looking alike, like sisters, etc.  We EAT. IT. UP! I would never have particularly cared if Whitney looked NOTHING like ANY of our family, but I always think its fun when people mention how much she resembles Eric, and now Callie. :)

Whitney and Callie took control of some of the balls used for one of the tailfate games, and were off and running!

Daddy and Uncle Daniel remained calm :)

And the girls nicely returned their fancy toys.

And these two...aaaaahhhh, these two.  Corbyn and Whitney are about 9 months apart and destined to be close friends as well as cousins.  Whitney just ADORES Corbyn! She would follow him to the ends of the earth :) It was so fun listening to them discuss the Toy Story characters on their cups as I snapped these pics.  They were in their own little world, clearly impressed that the other was as obsessed with Woody and Buzz as they are.

And of course they got a few good "CHEERS!" in, too!

Seriously..she loooooves him :)

They found a rope beneath a tree.....so of course they had to find something to do with it...

....so they took it for a walk. haha

LOVE them!

Dawson got some yummy baby cuddles from his littlest niece, Callie.

While Parker got some facetime with the biggest niece, Whitney. :)

....who very quickly roped Uncle Parker into taking her to the playground :)

What? Yall dont tie up small children at YOUR family gatherings? 

Doesnt this just warm your heart?? Two littlest girls in the family, loving their time together :)

Getting Whitney to take her hands out of her mouth and look into the camera is quite difficult lately.  As SOON as she sees that there will be a family picture attempt, her hands go in her mouth.  She doesnt have hands in her mouth at all the rest of her life...but when the camera wants to see her smiley face....fingers in face.

I love these pics of Lynzie and Callie.  Some of Robin's ashes were spread in the stream that leads to this lake, so it makes me feel like Lynzie's mom is there with her daughter and granddaughter.  (Dont cry, Lynz.  Its a happy pic :))

Robin wouldve LOVED this day.  Everything about it.  She was there.

Totally there. 

(ok, no more tears...)

Aunt Crystal and Callie :)

This is one of the coolest places Ive been in Florida because it has the only spring-fed swimming pool Ive ever seen.  This is the natural spring (50 feet deep, i think..?)

(yes, I totally pictured her plunging head-first into the bottomless spring....shudddddder)

You cant see how deep it is, but there were stalagtites/stalagmites growing and the water was sooo clear!

And it feeds through that grate and into that swimming pool, and then out a water fall on the other end of the pool! SOOO cool!

Aunt Tina and Uncle Jake came from Texas for this special weekend.  We were al so excited to see Christina's baby bump growing!! Whitney and I are convinced she is carrying a Baby Lila in there, but most folks seem to think its Baby Sawyer.  We'll be THRILLED either way, and cant wait to meet our newest family member this Fall!

The Boys

Dawson, Dean, Gary/Dad/Papa, Eric, Parker, Kyle, Daniel, Jake, Corbyn, Joe

The Fam

The man who makes it all happen :) LOVE YOU, GARY/DAD/PAPA!!

The Bass Boys and their kids :)

Dean, Daniel with Whitney, Kyle, and Eric

Aunt Tina and Whitney :)

The fabulous birthday cake :)

We really had such an awesome day.  The kids were so well-behaved (the "tied-to-a-tree" thing was totally a joke!), and we all got to catch up a little and enjoy the fabulous weather and company.  We were already talking about the next time we picnic there :) I absolutely LOVE and appareciate great family days like this and look foward to many more through the years!