Oh Florida, how we miss you...

We packed light, earned enough flight miles for five free (ahem, I mean earned) airline tickets (squeezing in Tess for free right before her 2nd birthday!), and headed off on one exciting adventure...

Our complex schedule for the week? Wake up, get bagels, and head down to the pool (brushing your teeth, completely optional)...

We squeezed in a beautiful, successful day at the beach... (successful = no one freaked out this year because there was sand down their pants)

Lunch every day... by the pool, of course!

Then up to the room for naptime, where everyone (including adults!) napped, while Jack read hundreds of pages out of his books. :)

Repeat adventures for some, and first-time adventures for others.

Much needed family time, and never a rush to get anywhere...

A night at Rainforest Cafe for the kids, and date nights for us...

And get this: sunshine, pools, beaches, and lots of extra attention make for much more well-behaved children.

Amazing, huh?

And on lazy vacation days, we did things like paint the girl's toenails for the first time. Bet you can't guess whose idea that was?

Oh Florida, how we miss you...

** In case you missed it (my dates got jumbled up from my wacky out-of-order posting), read more about what made our trip a success here.

Happy Father's Day

It's Father's Day, and I get the gift of being married to this guy. If you could only live in this house for a day, you would know what I'm talking about. He never stops.

Happy Father's Day to one incredible Daddy. You are one of the most serving, sacrificial people I know. Thank you for loving us the way you do!

One day...

...everybody will want to take a family picture just as much as I do.

I just know it.

The Secret to Success

Before we talk Florida, I must let you in on a little secret. We conned these guys into going with us! Hali and Cameron have been a part of our family for over three years now. They began babysitting for us when Chase was a baby and they had just begun their time at Purdue. Since then, we've watched them go from dating, to engaged, to married last summer. And our relationship with them has sweetened from just babysitters... to friends. When they got married, I thought for sure they'd be ready to get on with their hard earned "adult" life. For some crazy reason, though, they keep sticking around. And it's definitely a package deal (it's neat to see certain kids bond in a special way with one or the other). They love our kids, each other, and God. And proof of how much our kids love them? We've offered to take a boy or two with us to small group (as a special treat) before when they've babysat, and we get turned down every time. No one wants to miss out on the fun at home! So they ventured to Florida with us, and probably learned more than they ever wanted to know about our family. :) We lived in swimsuits and bathed much too irregularly. We hardly picked up after ourselves. We slept in pretty close quarters. We shared lotions and a bathroom.

But it worked beautifully. We had four extra hands at the pool to help monitor the older swimmers, and help hang with the little ones. Tyler and I had date nights a few evenings while Hali and Cameron stayed back at the condo with the kids. These guys changed diapers, rubbed on sunscreen, and cleaned up dishes more times than I can count (come to think of it, I never loaded the dishwasher once the whole week!), all without us ever mentioning a word. And they were a joy to be with - such fun, and such servants.

We would put the kids to bed at night, and if Tyler and I weren't on a date, we would gather in Hali and Cameron's side of the suite for snacks and cards. We've already played one round of Hand and Foot since we've been home, until wee hours of the morning. I definitely see this trend continuing. Lots of laughs, sarcasm, healthy competition, and great conversation going on.

Yep, definitely friends.

Thanks, Stouts, for the many ways you have - and continue - to bless our family!

Just peeking in...

...to say that I have NO time to blog today. It's a crazy VBS / baseball week around here. But I promise to get Florida pictures up soon. Until then, here's me and Tess on the beach. Bummer that she wasn't looking. But I'm posting the picture in honor of my mom (who, incidently, doesn't read my blog - remember?), who had the exact same pair of sunglasses in the 70's, only in brown. Sweet.

She's still crazy hip, by the way.

Be back soon. That is, unless I don't survive five nights straight of energetic VBS preschoolers. :)

We're back!

We're home from an incredible week in Florida. And I'm not just saying that. It was one of our best vacations ever.

And we needed it.

Vacations are good investments for a lot of reasons. I should write about that sometime. You don't have to go to Florida. You could go to, say, Spring Mill State Park (good memories). Or fishing. Or camp in your back yard. Or picnic in the park.

But you ought to invest in something.

Because you might just need to get away. Have fewer distractions. Simplify.

And fall in love - in fresh, new ways - with your family all over again.

More pictures, and memories, to come!

Ready... set....

Our bags are packed, and our family of six (plus the coolest babysitter couple in the world!!) is ready to hop on an airplane tomorrow to Florida. We're on our last two days of antibiotics, and even though we had our doubts, everyone seems to be entering some sort of a relatively healthy state (thanks for praying!).

The boys are super psyched, and Trey is even coming out of his depression from the thought of missing his baseball tournament this weekend. They each packed a backpack of treasures to take, and I had to veto weapons more than once. I have packed, and repacked, and even had dreams about what to pack. All I know is this: if I have the meds, ear plugs, and Chase's rubber snakey, then we're good to go. We can get everything else at Wal-Mart.

Now, here's to hoping that this rotten girl will find something to keep her occupied on the flight.

Yeah right.