Family . Florida . Futbol

Family time: I am not willing to say it's a thing of the past, it is just a thing that is difficult to find in our schedule without planning for it. So we planned and it happened. 

Some of the choices we make are steered by finances but over the years I have found that those very choices that some may feel are less than best, such as driving half way across the nation rather than flying, are the things that draw our family close. We left our home in Omaha, NE on December 26th and 3:30am bound for Ponce Inlet, FL. The trip was great. To be honest, I was a little crabby to start out, I don't even remember why. At the time I probably thought it was Chris' fault...that may or may not be the case. Once we arrived at the beach we were ready for some serious R & R. The first two pictures I have posted below look a little foggy. It was actually VERY FOGGY! The natives called it "sea fog" and they had never seen it so bad. We were all elated to see the sun the next morning.

Florida
2016

Running through the seagulls

Running through the seagulls was a thing for Emma, there were multiple attemps to get good pictures. That's ok, it's the memories that are most important.

Game night

First Morning on the Balcony

Our friend's condo is located on the 7th floor right off the beach, no more than 100 yards from the waters edge. Mornings on the balcony with my coffee and bible study made that 22 hour drive totally worth it!

River walk at Daytona Beach

Ponce Inlet is a quiet private area. But if we wanted crowded beaches and all the hub-bub of tourist we just drove 5 miles north to Daytona Beach. We saw all kinds of people there, it was another form of education for my girls.

One of the families in the condo had developed amazing sand castle skills. Next time we go, I know what tools to take. Since we couldn't really compete we started out in the beginners category of sand art. No, there wasn't a legitimate contest, just one in my mind (and probably Reagan's too). Above is our sand turtle. We love him. He even made it through high tide. Day two we built some pretty cool castles but by the time we got back outside after lunch some boys had already come by and destroyed them...not pictures.

One of the castles not built by us...it's not even their best one.

Sun Rise Morning #2

Thank you God for making something so amazing that even I want to wake up early to see.

Right before we walked out the door on our last day at the beach I had to get one more picture. As you will see below it took two snapshots to capture both our family and the ocean. 

We look good in this but can't see the ocean

Ocean looks good but can't see us

After 3 days of beach, sea food and lounging around we made our way into Orlando for Reagan's Disney Showcase and National League games.  More on that later.