Tour of Florida

Steve and I took a 2 week trip around Florida in February.  Our first stop was Panama City.  The sand was a beautiful white and a joy to sit on and enjoy the sunsets.

We stopped next in St Augustine.  Loved the historical area. Lots of great shops and restaurants.  We spent one evening with my cousin Mary and her husband Mark.  We took a fun trolley tour around the area.

Apparently I took no pictures while we were in Daytona Beach so here we are in Miami.  This is a view of the downtown area from a boat tour we were on.

They told us this was the house that Viagra built!

One afternoon we rented jet skis and drove around the island of Marathon down in the keys.  You can't tell from this photo but we are standing pretty far out in the gulf.

Mangrove trees.  They apparently make islands.

Beautiful evening.  Sitting outside eating at a restaurant.

Relaxing!

These guys were everywhere.

So were these guys!

Strangler fig.

As you can tell this is the Southernmost Point in the US.

Tried to take a picture of the 7 mile bridge to get to Key West.

Catherine is 10!

Before I put Catherine's birthday photos up I am adding a couple that I haven't shown you yet. After Christmas Aunt Jena and Olivia made cookies.  But first Aunt Jena  put their hair up in cute buns.  It sure is nice having an Aunt that likes to cook and give fashion tips at the same time!

We had an ice storm and the next day joined Chris and Olivia for a hike on the Katy Trail.

I cannot believe that Catherine is 10!  Time sure does fly by.  She is such a sweet girl.  Here she is letting Edie help her open her gifts.

The last couple of years we have taken her out to eat.  This year she picked burgers.  We had a fun time taking selfies.

After dinner we went across the street and got ice cream.  She ate half of hers and generously took the rest home and shared with her siblings.  I told you she is pretty great!

Steve's 60th Birthday

I can't believe I'm married to a 60 year old!  (Elaine, I can't believe you have a 60 year old son!)

Lots of party pictures.

Edie's 2nd Birthday & Thanksgiving

Edies' birthday was the day before Thanksgiving this year so we had her party after the turkey.  She thought the whole day was for her!  I love to see men in the kitchen.

Echo Bluff State Park

We took the RV and headed to Missouri's newest state park in October.  Very beautiful area and great park!  Here is Round Springs.  The blue color of the water was awesome.

It wouldn't be much of a trip without finding a geocache!

Beautiful scenery.

This would be a great place to come in the summer with the creek running right behind the campground.

The have a lodge that serves 3 meals a day, hotel rooms and cabins.

They also have wild horses in the area and we saw them one evening.

The bluffs.

Last but not least.  Ate a great dessert as we sat out on the patio overlooking the bluffs.

Zoo 2016

It's hard to take photos when you have 7 kiddos and only 2 adults watching them and the zoo is packed! So I'm happy that a few of the pictures came out ok!

So far behind

I'm so far behind in blogging!  Here are some pictures from our trip in September to Cape Cod with Mike and his family.  Catherine's Grandpa is still a lot bigger than her so he can pick her up and swing her around still!

Hiking at Fort Hill in Eastham.

 

Hiding from Mom.

Taking a tumble in the mud.

Heated pools are great!

Sitting in front of the fire after swimming.

A view of our condo.

Walking to Dormans to go boating.

Preparing the boats.

The 2nd boat preparing to shove off.

While they boated Steve and I hiked.

I took the kids to Chatham one day to  look for seals.

In the distance to the far right, you can see lots and lots of seals.

Hiking in Brewster.

Mud flats.