vacation.

We spent the weekend after the 4th at my parents' house in Alabama, which was wonderful and relaxing even though it was a very short visit. Then, last week we spent a whole week in Tampa with Nick's family, which was equally wonderful :)

The weekend in Alabama was great. We got to see my maternal grandparents, Aunt, Uncle, Cousins as well as my cousins and Aunt from my Dad's side. My mom and I spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen, making dinner on Friday for her family, making sides for dinner on Saturday for my Dad's family (since we got delicious ribs from a local BBQ guy) and whipping up some Coconut Toffee Blondies, Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding, and a couple of ice cream pies. You don't think we have a sweet tooth in this family, do you? ;)

Since it rained most of the weekend, we were inside a lot but we got to play with Alden plenty and we even had time to go up to the farm and run with the pups a little. It was a nice kind of busy, plenty of people to see but still some time to just sit on the couch and talk. The only bad part of the weekend was that I took maybe one photo the whole time :(

After a work-week at home, we packed up a million pounds of stuff and headed out to Tampa. We left on Saturday evening (hoping to take advantage of Alden's nighttime sleep) and got into Tampa around 3:30 am. It was an exceptionally long night and boy were we tired by the end of it! Alden did pretty great, though, and I feel much less anxious about traveling long distances now that we've got one major trip under our belts.

The next seven days were spent visiting with family, shopping, cooking and playing in the pool. My brother and sister-in-law, Kristoffer and Lea, came down the same week and we got to meet our niece, Adalynn, for the first time! It was so fun to see the babies together and we had a blast hanging out with them!

Some highlights:

in the Florida sunshine

with Far Far :)

cousins meeting for the first time! Adalynn at 8 months, Alden at 5 months

sisters with our littles :) 

sitting up for the first time!

two sweet families :) Us with Alden and Kristoffer and Lea with Adalynn

kicking like a pro!

the boys and the babies :)

warm and snuggly after a swim with Grandma

so funny! we'll tease them with this picture in a few years ;)

fascinated

checking out fish at the Florida Aquarium

the girls and our babies :)

snuggles :)

watching the fish in the big tank

with Daddy at the Florida Aquarium

a chair my size at IKEA

first time swimming! 

cousins :)

playing with Mama in the car

first time in my big boy stroller

hanging with Daddy at Mimi & PopPop's house in Alabama

playing at IKEA

Baby Crockett

with Uncle Austin

We had two wonderful trips and many sweet moments with lots of family! Can't wait to see everyone again :) 

much love, L&N