Our Three Week Vacay!

We just got back from a three week vacation to Missouri, West Virginia, and Destin, Florida! We had a great time!

In Missouri, we always stay with my Aunt. Blade loves it there, and he was very sorry to leave. Truthfully, he was very mad about it. 

My Aunt has a guest house separate from her home. I LOVE this setup. (If I ever build another home, I will do it like that.) It gives us privacy and personal space. We can visit with her and my Gramma without being in anyone's hair. It's so nice for the boys too, because it allows us to have our own routine.

We went out to eat a few times, and basically just hung out while Derek was on his big turkey hunt.

 Our next stop was West Virginia. After driving through the night, we were very tired, but so excited to see everyone! Right off the bat, the family came over to Dad's. It was really nice to have the whole family together.

Since we were staying at Dad's house, we got to do our before bed tradition, which is me hanging out in the girls' room and reading Encyclopedia Brown. I especially remember the last night we were able to do it. It was SO hot upstairs, and we were all roasting! We finally found a box fan in the loft and put it in the window. The cold air felt SO good coming in, and we all sat around while I read to them. The boys got hot and came in and joined us.

My sister, Leah, loves photography. I have to say, she takes better photos than most grown people I know. When she's around, I can pretty much say, "Goodbye" to my zoom lense. Here are a few that she took.

  

It's also really cool that she has our sister-in-love to give her pointers.

Alyssa also has a blog, check it out here.

stitchedwardrobe.wordpress.com

After West Virginia, we came home for two days before leaving again to go to Destin.

Blade got really attached to our "Beach home" and didn't want to leave. He still talks about it every now and then. I guess we'll have to go back. :) My sister and her kids met up with us there. I was surprised how well the kids got along. They only had one major fight! They loved the beach. My nephew was obsessed with catching "Sea creatures" and he and Derek spent many hours looking for crabs and "Diggers."

I pulled a muscle in my back on Mother's Day, and was in the most pain I've ever been in. Blade got an ear infection on that trip and then well all came down with a cold! It didn't really stop us though, we still tried to enjoy our trip as much as possible!

All in all, it was an eventful, but really fun trip!