Staycation 2016

For the past couple of years, we've taken family vacations to Florida in the fall. October is, in my opinion, the perfect time to visit Florida. It's still warm enough to enjoy the beach and pool without being swelteringly hot, there aren't crowds like in the summer, and the bugs aren't as bad.

But this year Josh's sister, who lives in Orlando, is pregnant with their first baby and due in December. So we rearranged our plans a bit and decided to take a staycation to Josh's parents' house now and a big family trip to Orlando in January to visit them and their new sweet baby.

Mammie & Pappy's house is kind of a kid paradise. They have a pool, several different kinds of swings, a sand box, a trampoline, a 4-wheeler, chickens, a fishing pond just down the road, a treasure trove of old toys, and sometimes Uncle James's backhoe is parked out back. What more could we ask for?

Jude swam in a shirt and hat all week because when you're in and out of the pool as much as this dude is, sometimes protective clothing is just the best way to go. The girls have spent much of the week playing like they are Olympic swimmers. I taught them all of the swimming strokes and they have swam many laps back and forth in the pool. They also played water polo, worked on their synchronized diving (read: jumping) skills, and narrowly beaten an imaginary Chinese team in rowing. 

I'm so proud of how far they have all come with their swimming in the past two years, when they were all terrified of the water (Jude because of a traumatic attempt at swimming lessons and the others from lack of opportunity to swim). The girls and Jude swim without floaties and JJ has graduated from his puddle jumper to floaties. The girls and JJ love jumping in, and the girls both swim underwater and rarely hold their noses. Man Cub loved hanging out on the deck watching everybody play, and he also enjoyed being held in the water or floating on a raft with a grown-up.

 

My mom has been down to see us a couple of times, and we spent one whole day at my parents' house an hour away. My niece was visiting from out of state, and so she, my sister, my nephew, and my dad's parents all came up to hang out with us, too. It was so fun! 

That's Dad with all of his grandkids! We are so thankful for this week that we've had here and for Josh's parents' hospitality. Time spent with our families is always so precious to me, and I love every chance we get for our kids to deepen their relationships with our parents and grandparents. I don't ever take for granted that someone will be here the next time we visit, and I try to treasure it up (usually in pictures, because that's my way of treasuring up memories) as much as I can while I can.