and this happened...

sooo, yah, this happened last week...

or was it last month (because you know how the "re-entry" week post-vacation has a way of making those "vacation feels" fade super quick?!?!)  which makes it good timing for a picture post of wonderful snapshots that i wish to savour.  forever.  or for as long as my earthly days allow, at least! :)

so, not too many words this week.  however, my little "note to self item" (should i be looking back in twenty years) is that this might be the last vacation as a full crew of eight for awhile as Joelle looks ahead to post-secondary education.  that makes me more than a little bit sad.  sniff, sniff....i will not go into it here, not today.  so we were all (ok, mostly just me, and maybe Joelle a bit too...) super conscious of this in Florida last week.  it was a gift of time cherished, for sure.  i will miss her immensely next year.  she is funny and crazy and a great photographer with wayyyyyy more creativity than i (though that's not saying much) and she is in a much more content and comfortable place than i've seen her in recent years.  can't believe how time has flown since our cottage trips as only three~ Jeff, myself and our baby girl, trekking to Lake Muskoka as a family of  three...

great times had all around.  two very long and entertaining road trips (if either one of my older two daughters try to give you their version of my 2 am jaunt through the inner city of Detroit, it might be slightly exaggerated.  i wasn't "freaking out", just so you know....ahem) amazing sunshine and breezes, daily dolphin spottings (off our balconies! love love love....), beach strolls, pool dips, evening hot tub conversations and laughs, too much yummy food, reading an actual book (Kirabo by Kveta Rose~ thanks Beth, you know me well....) for more than five minutes uninterrupted, sleeping in with no agenda dictating the day....all such a blessing and gift.  very thankful even as i wade back into the day-to-day grind.

so, i said not many words....haha...you didn't really think i'd hold to that, did you? :)

road trip McDonald's visits~ more times than you really want to know.  kid's choice.  over and over again.  

who wouldn't want to be in the van for a total of 40 hours with these hooligans?!?! windows down, Atlanta traffic, Adele song blaring....good times.

six kids equals an instant "pool party", every night. 

and we all played some tennis. even enjoyed it in the full sun. 

AJ literally consumed an entire chocolate dessert pizza at the Hungry Howie's pizza buffet.  he was beyond delighted.  we are re-introducing green leafy veggies this week :), but in that moment, his pure pleasure was precious to see.  so nice to connect again with Jeff's parents there too, thanks B&C! 

lots of dolphins this year, huge highlight.

 

not the most crisp pic, but evening pool stunts were so fun, and rare to see all six playing harmoniously together.  had to post it.

wrestling in the pool, obviously! :) 

below, pool-hot tub-pool-hot tub-repeat...

below, watching the dolphin video footage Adam captured.

walking the pier.  Hudson being Hudson...no reason that was apparent to me.
clearly feeling pleased.

do we look relaxed?  i sooo love him...

dusk...such a pretty time to walk

a bit of a windy family pic. we always grab someone passing by and lay on them the difficult task of capturing eight reasonable expressions for the annual family Florida picture.  not super clear again, but it's what the Samsung S4 delivered. you get the idea....

we are refreshed and had a blast....sums up a great week!