Visitors

Later on on Saturday June 16th we were thrilled to have our first visitors here in Fort Lauderdale. My parents & my brother Hyrum & his family arrived in the late afternoon. First thing we did was go out to eat at Azteca Mexican restaurant. Gavin was SOOO excited to see his cousins, Sophie & Norah! 

Sophie holding Gavin on her lap.

 Playing under the table. These 3 kept crawling under the table & playing in their 'hut'. I would normally have been grossed out & not let Gavin, but they were playing so cute with each other & were out of our hair. So we were able to actually talk over dinner & catch up. After dinner we brought them over to show them our home & for them to see Laura's place as well. They didn't stay long as their girls were tuckered out from traveling.

Sunday was Father's Day. I knew we would be leaving to join my family pretty early in the morning so I had to get everything out for Doug the night before. He was pretty surprised that I had remembered it was Father's Day. I guess because he had completely forgot. :)

 The cute tie banner that I had made a long time ago. Glad I remembered where it was so I could hang it up!
I always have a hard time coming up with a gift for Doug. Especially on such a tight budget. Thankfully now that we have children, it makes it a little easier to be crafty, cheesy & just say it was from the boys. :)
I do however, think that this however turned out really cute & Doug agreed.

 I made him a Super Hero Dad Kit. All I can say is thank you Pinterest!

We had breakfast with my family & then we decided to make it a beach day. We went to Lauderdale by the Sea.

 Grandpa & Grandma enjoying some shade & sun.

 My brother Hyrum & his little girl Sohie collecting little sardines. She found so many & was so excited about it too! Yuck!

 Liam was having a rough time trying to take his nap in the wagon.

 Norah & Gavin playing in the sand.

 Norah & Aunt Anne

 The kids had a blast playing with Grandpa. He kept burying the toys & making them dig for them. I think they could have done this all day long.

 For lunch we walked to this burger joint called Burger-Fi. It was yummy!

I loved how they branded their buns. And check out those onion rings. Mmmm, good! 

Monday we went on an inner coastal boat tour. It was so nice to sit & relax & get to check out all the ridiculously HUGE mansions & yachts. 

 The kiddos getting distracted & playing with bugs.

 

Waiting to get on the boat

Hyrum & Anne

Me & Laura

The gang boarding the cruise. I love how my brother is on his phone. Sadly with technology these days you really don't ever escape work. :(

Sophie & Gavin were having so much fun looking over the side of the boat trying to find fish.

The captain was really funny & did a great job keeping the tour entertaining. He said that this was the yacht club for all the spoiled rotten kids of the millionaires that live in these mansions. :) ha ha!

This is Al Pacino's house

And this house is owned by the Oscar Meyer guy.

Meema & Bumpa with Gavin

It was crazy how much money is on the water! We were all dropping our jaws at some of the $$$ that these people spend on homes & boats. And apparently like 90% of these homes are vacant 95% of the time. Gheesh!

My parents rented a house in down town Fort Lauderdale so that became 'home base' for the next few days. It was nice being able to leave our home during the day, but then return to put our boys to sleep in their own beds at night. The house had a pool & it was a great way to end our days splashing away & cooling off.

Little Liam loves the water. He just sat & floated around happy as can be. He was even more thrilled when Grandpa put his goggles on him. Cracks me up!

We had had blue cupcakes on Father's Day & as I was about to eat one, looking at the bright frosting I couldn't help but think how fun it would be to smash in Hyro's face. I even told him my desire to do so & all he did was provoke me to do so by saying "See what happens if you do....". After a little hesitation & me quickly thinking of all that he could possibly do to me (I am the youngest remember, years & years of being picked on, teased by him), I couldn't resist. I had to move fast in fear that yes, my big brother was in fact still my big brother. :) He attempted at getting me back, but as you can see from the picture I think I prevailed. 

 We were laughing SO hard & having fun! Thank goodness he was a good sport & held back because he really could have done a lot worse to me. I think he looks like a smurf!

The squirt guns were a big hit with the kids. Okay, and the dads!

Anne relaxing & getting in some reading. It was so nice to just hang out & be lazy. That is my favorite part of any vacation. Oh, and the food & goodies.

 Home made fudge

Hyrum, Anne & their girls had to get back to Virginia because he had to work. It was SO much fun getting to see them & have them come visit us down here.

The only thing that could have made this visit more complete would have been to have my brother Jason & his family be able to come too. With their recent move & work they were not able to make it. :( Sometimes I really hate that we're all grown up & living far away from each other. Thankfully they are gracious enough to offer up their home in Atlanta (the middle of VA & FL) come November for all of us siblings to get together for Thanksgiving. We are already looking forward to it too!