Pool

Pool buddies!

View from our hotel balcony. Look familiar?!

Sad day ... we had to check out of the Oceanique condo, but, we moved just a few doors down to a hotel. Same beautiful beach, pool, restaurant - very cool. Only 3 days of paradise left and then back to reality. Thanks again, Grandma and Grandpa Gibson for the timeshare!

JUMP

We had an impressive windstorm last night. Knocked our patio table over, spilling our seashell collection onto the folks below us, so sorry. Today, the blustery wind continues, so we are enjoying some tv and reckless jumping on the couch pillows. The girls are very talented if this ever becomes an Olympic sport of some sort. BIG smiles.

Turkey Day

Sharks, Mommy!

Merry-Go-Round.

Slide.

We drove an hour to Orlando for our second FREE visit to SeaWorld. Shamu and the gang where there, along with everyone vacationing in the area - who knew! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Sunset

We took a pre-dinner stroll on the beach. Such an amazing sunset with oranges and pinks. We are Thankful for this vacation!

Turkey Creek

The trail to The Boardwalk.

Turtles!

This place should really be renamed Turtle Creek. We took a short drive to an area that usually has manatees, turtles, fish and alligators. We trekked through the jungle/woods and saw quite a few squirrels, a butterfly, a gecko and a ton of turtles. No manatees and alas, no alligators. The turtles were incredibly friendly and followed us from one view point to another.

Back to Da Beach

Another day of beachcombing and seashell hunting.

Beachy Keen

Shell paradise.

Another day at the beach, sigh. Don't hate us because we are totally relaxed and on vacation. Ok, go ahead and hate us : )

Beach Time

Em and Liv wanted to wear their swimming goggles to "keep the wind out".

Goofballs.

View from our condo. Priceless.

We spent the afternoon with our friends The Braniffs! Shelly and Justin welcomed their daughter, Claire, 9 weeks ago and we last saw big brother Nathan in February. The girls loved playing with their buddy (Nathan is 3). We went on a nature hike, ate pizza and got to play with all of the cool boy toys. Then, we loaded up the car and headed to the beach. There was a bit of drizzle as we checked into the condo, but the girls were SO excited to see the ocean. We played on the deck and then went exploring on the beach. We can already tell this is going to be a fun week. Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa G. for letting us use the time share!

Sea World

Merry Christmas! Yes, a full WEEK before Thanksgiving.

Emma was not so into this splash ride.

Day 1 of our Florida vacation, SeaWorld! We spent the day with Shamu and the gang. They have a spectacular dolphin show, we touched sting rays, saw baby dolphins and Emma got soaked on the Atlantis ride. Such an awesome time!

Aquarium

Yes, that is a stingray swimming over our heads.

Olivia, Caylen (posing) and Emma.

The motley crew: Caylen, Emma, Lucy, Olivia and Halley.

Mermaid tattoos!

The hyped-up gang on our way out.

The Holleman's graciously invited us to the Denver Aquarium this morning. 5 girls under 5 and two Mommies = fun/stress. Girls had so much fun exploring the exhibits (our first time!). They had tons of land animals mixed in, crazy-huge sharks, stingrays and even a Mermaid show. Thank you Heather, you made our day!

Zoo Day

Shhh, bears are sleeping.

CHEESE.

Gorillas.

Local schools must have been closed today, because everyone and their Mother was at the zoo this morning. We actually had to wait 10 minutes in line to get in - crazy! The sun was shining so it made for a beautiful day to be exploring outdoors.

Caramel

Just beautiful.

Emma's print in the white, Olivia in the gold.

Sneak peek.

For Emma and Olivia's Thanksgiving gift to friends and school mates, I decided to try and make homemade caramel corn. The first batch was attempted today, and I am happy to say it turned out marvelously. I popped the kernels on the stove, prepared the caramel topping, added everything into a brown grocery bag, shook it up and voila! Delicious caramel popcorn. My official treat testers (Em and Liv) approved and begged for more. Into the handprinted bags and deliveries will begin. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!