Florida

Well, we headed to Florida on Friday, August 19th at 8 pm.  We did an all night drive.  It's really not that bad.  We decided to head out there because Troy's grandma was put into the ICU and we wanted to go see her.  It was nice because Troy was able to work the entire week while we were there, so he didn't have to take any vacation time, and he was able to go to the hospital and see her almost every night.  I think he went every night.  I got to go on Saturday evening when we got there and see her.  Unfortunately, the kids were not able to go see her.  We were hoping she was going to get out of ICU while we were there, but that didn't happen, and the kids couldn't go to the ICU.  In fact, she ended up being transported back to Georgia, which is what she wanted to do, 2 or 3 days after we left.  She ended up passing away a week after we left, on Sunday 4th. I'm so thankful that we were able to see her that week and able to say our good-byes.  When Pops passed away in January, Troy was able to go see him and say his good-byes, but I was on bed rest, so I wasn't able to go.  But, again, I'm thankful that I was able to see him in August before he got too sick.  While we were in Florida, we just tried to lay low and mostly be there with the family so they could see the babies, and hopefully put a few smiles on faces in some tough times.  We were able to get in a few fun things while we were there.  We're going back at Thanksgiving, that's the plan, and should be able to spend more time with everyone.  Here are a few pictures from the trip...ok, not just a few...a lot!    

Nini and Ellie walking outside the hospital

Nini, Poppy and Ellie feeding the fish at the hospital.

It was a beautiful hospital.

We got this pack-n-play when Ellie was a baby and it stays in Florida.

It's come in SO handy!

The twins used it so much while we were there.

Chloe sitting like a big girl! 

Our handsome baby boy

Sweet Chunky Girl  :)

Aunt Lauren holding Luke 

(and pebbles on her pillow)  :)

Nini with Luke and Chloe

While we were there, Lauren and her friend, Jessica,

made dinner for us one night. AWESOME!

Jessica and Ellie made dessert.

Banana pudding!  YUMMY

Finished product

The best part of cooking!

Why can't I have some too!

Jessica painted Ellie's toes while we were there.

Dark purple with sparkly gold stripes.

Ellie was in heaven!

Look at this girl swim!

She can swim so good now with nothing on.

I can't believe she's not even 3 1/2 and swimming like this.

Mommy and Ellie doing on of our favorite things...swimming!

Look at her go!

While we were there, we went to Downtown Disney for a few hours.

I had to get my usual shot of the lego family.

They moved it from the last time we were there, so it's a little different now.

We went and had lunch at T-REX. 

It's like a dinosaur version of Rain Forest Cafe.

It was so neat!  And, there were tons of kids, since it 

was in Downtown Disney, so I didn't worry about

mine being too loud!  :)

Ellie got her face painted for the first time while we were there.

She loved it!

I couldn't believe she sat still for the entire process, but she did.

She's a princess kitty.  She picked it out.

Ellie is really into Toy Story right now,

so she was so excited to see Buzz.

She actually told me yesterday that she wanted to 

be Buzz for Halloween.  We'll see what happens.

We saw this Nemo, and thought Luke looked a little like him.

Pretty funny, huh!

Both with those big bright eyes!

We left Troy's parents on Friday afternoon, and stayed 2 nights in Destin.

That was the first time we've done that.  If we stay overnight, we usually stay in Daphne, AL.

We loved staying in Destin!  We'll probably do that from now on.

It was so fun to stay one day at the beach and then drive home.

Here are the babies on the beach.

Daddy and Ellie working on building a sandcastle.

I don't think they were too successful.

The babies actually napped for an hour or so in these beds while we were there.

It was great!

Daddy and Ellie playing in the water.

That evening, we went for a walk on the beach at sunset.

It was so nice! 

Mommy, Chloe and Ellie

These are pics from the trip from my phone.

Daddy and Ellie swimming.

This is how the babies fell asleep after Downtown Disney!

Downtown Disney

I ran into the store to grab a few things for our stay in Destin,

and Troy took pics of the babies.

View from our room.