We hadn't seen my dad and Pei in a while, and they had visited Arkansas the last two visits, so we planned a trip in June to go to Florida. Since my dad is only 2 hours away from Orlando, we booked our flight to arrive in Orlando and leave out of Tampa. This way we could see Jason's aunt and uncle, and buddy from college in Orlando.
We flew out of Tulsa and had no issues with the Allegiant flight to Orlando. We arrived around 1:30pm and headed straight to see Uncle Larry and Aunt Lynne. It is always so wonderful to see them, and we had such a nice time catching up.
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| Lynne walking the girls around outside, the girls were so curious about everything (especially the lizards) |
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| Addie trying to tickle Larry |
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| Lynne and Larry with the girls |
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| Really enjoyed our visit with them! |
After Lynne and Larry's house, we went a few miles down the road and caught up with Jason's buddy Eric from college. Eric is now a dad with a little girl, Olivia and a baby boy on the way. We caught up a bit at Eric's house then walked down the street to grab dinner.
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| So fun to see Eric as a dad! |
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| The girls loved playing with Olivia |
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| Jason and Eric with their girls |
We made it to New Port Richey late Wednesday night and headed to bed pretty quickly. The next morning we got up and headed out on dad's in-shore boat to take the girls fishing.
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| Pei worked on hair for the fishing trip |
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| Taylor & Addie helping Grandpa set the boat up for the trip |
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| Camryn helping Grandpa drive the boat |
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| This girl enjoyed life on a boat |
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| Living the life right there |
We only caught a few fish but we had a nice time.
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| Camryn wasn't in the best mood this day, so she sat up in the captain's chair most of the trip |
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| Caught a fish with Daddy |
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| Then caught a fish with Mommy |
After our fishing adventure, Joey and his girlfriend Laura made it into town. We hung out outside, fished off the dock, and took Dad's kayaks out in the canal.
My dad's birthday was on the 8th so we took him out to eat at a cool local place with great seafood.
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| Uncle Joe Joe getting eaten by the shark |
Then we headed back to the house and surprised dad with a birthday cake:
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| These 2 are hilarious when they sleep |
On Friday, we all went out on the boat and headed to a little island off the coast of New Port Richey. There was a huge sandbar right by where we parked the boat which was great for the kids to play on.
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| Heading out to the island |
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| Setting the anchor |
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| This spot was incredible! |
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| Our set up on the sand |
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| Camryn played with the sand toys for hours |
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| Did a little fishing |
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| It was like being in the Caribbean |
Jason walked around the island with the girls looking for seashells and found a starfish. We played with it for a while then released it back into the ocean.
Then dad grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for us for lunch:
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| The tube was our table |
On the way back home, Joey was brave enough to go tubing on the ocean. It was absolutely hilarious and so entertaining. He was flying all over the place!!!
Then we let the girls ride on the tube within the canal and the no wake zone area.
Joey ended up falling into the water with the help of a kick from Taylor, and really struggled to make it back to the boat. I think laying in the heat all day combined with his diabetes pushed him into a danger zone.
That evening we roasted s'mores and fished off dad's deck:
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| The girls REALLY enjoyed fishing |
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| caught a little catfish off the deck |
The guys went deep sea fishing on Saturday so I took the girls to their neighborhood pool:
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| enjoying lunch at the pool |
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| Cutting up the fish from their day |
Joey wasn't able to go fishing with them because he had gotten severely burned at the island the day before. Since this was the first summer that Joey has been on insulin, we think that it must make his skin extra sensitive because he put on sunscreen and got so burned where he couldn't even walk. He spent most of the day soaking in the bathtub.
We didn't leave until Sunday afternoon, so the girls went on a ride on Grandpa's tractor:
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| Taylor was really driving it |
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| I even got in on the action |
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| Hanging on the patio |
Then we had to say goodbye and head back to Arkansas:
We had a super fun time being together in Florida. It had been way too long since all of us had been together, and it was a wonderful trip. Thankful for that time we got to spend together!
