Ballet Recital and FL trip!!

Sooo busy! Every weekend is booked solid for us through about the middle of July. We started summer off with a crazy busy weekend: Sophia's last day of school was Wednesday the 4th, then she had ballet practice Saturday the 7th, dress rehearsal Sunday morning the 8th, Recital Sunday evening, her first soccer practice Monday morning the 9th, and then we flew off to FL later that afternoon! Whew! What a way to start a summer that is already looking/feeling crazy.

 

Sophia and I were up at 7am on Sunday to get her ready for her dress rehearsal, and then Travis took her to rehearsal while I stayed home to pack for FL.

Travis was nice enough to take the camera to dress rehearsal, since we weren't allowed to take pictures/videos during the recital. :)

Kaia with her Grandpa Ralph, waiting for the recital to start. It was so nice of Carmen and Ralph to come down Sunday evening for the recital! I sure wish they didn't have these recitals on a work night. :( Actually, ballet is okay with Sophia, but not her favorite, so I'm kind of hoping we're done with it. :) We'll see what she thinks when it comes up again next year!

And here we are in FL! The first night we stayed with my mom's old grade school friend, Pam. We didn't get to their house until about 11, and then we all stayed up talking and hanging out until almost 2am! They let the girls pull out all of their grandchildren's toys and make a huge mess... they were the sweetest, most wonderful hosts!

Sophia was up bright and early, and was in the pool by 9am.

Sophia and her Grammy in Pam's pool. Such a lovely way to start our "girls only" vacay!

Kaia used their adjacent hot tub as a kiddie pool (it wasn't heated at the moment); it worked out really well!

Me, Pam, Mom, and Sophia!

Later on mom's other childhood friend, Gwen, joined us. It was so fun listening to their stories! It's amazing how many people they used to get on one bike! ;)

Old besties :)

Not the nicest facial expressions, but I love the matching rompers Travis bought the girls for this trip!

We finally said our goodbyes and headed over to my Aunt Cheri's. More pool time!

Kaia and Sophia playing Aunt Cheri's piano.

Aaaand... the BEACH! This was the view from the door of our beach condo (Wed night).

Looking east-ish from outside the beach condo door (on the 8th floor)

Our first evening at New Smyrna Beach was just lovely.

Kaia's first time touching ocean water! She hated it. She never went into the ocean the whole time... she was terrified of the waves! That's okay though, because she warmed up to the sand, and I didn't have to worry so much about her.

Sophia, on the other hand, has been drawn to the ocean from the first moment she was on the beach at 9 mo old, and is still drawn to it like a magnet.

Love these sunset pics of Sophia with her Grammy. They definitely have a special bond! Just like I had with my mom's mom.

Thurs morning!

Soooo tired, but Sophia insisted on getting all of us up!

Horribly unflattering "selfie" of me (you won't see this one on FB!), but I can share it here with good friends. :)

Kaia and Sophia had a little quiet time on the balcony while mom and I got coffee ready!

Then we indulged Sophia and headed to the beach!

BEAUTIFUL morning.

I could forgo breakfast, brushing my teeth, makeup, etc. to get to the beach with Sophia right away, but there is no way I can do ANYTHING without a cup of coffee. :)

Mom took these pics when they went back to the condo for breakfast, and I went for a wonderful 4 mile run down the beach all by myself.

Grammy and Sophia "selfie!"

Kaia has a handbag fetish.

Mom took this pic of me running! I have been working on shortening my stride (less joint impact), but now I can see it's still pretty long! To be fair this was the end of my run and I was amping it up.

Back in the water! Nice late morning dip in the pool with my girls.

The pool overlooked the beach, which always feels so neat.

Sisters in the sand!

Another one of mom's old friends, Betty, joined us at the beach! I think this pic is the CUTEST!

Betty was so good with my girls! Even Kaia warmed right up to her!

The beach was pretty exhausting for poor little Kai. :)

Egret!

Footprints made by me and my daughters :)

Haha... with Grammy, anything goes! Sophia had a blast dressing up her Grammy.

On Friday morning some really rainy weather came in, which helped us decide to leave the beach and head to Grandpa's inland home.

Sophia chilling out on Grandpa's porch.

Grandma Carole (not my biological grandmother, but "great grandma" to my girls!) had some fun toys waiting! Sophia really enjoyed the bubble blaster.

On Saturday we headed over to the splash park in downtown Tavares. Sophia loved it! Kaia wasn't sure about all the water randomly raining down on her.

   

Grandpa and Grandma Carole watching from a safe distance :)

After they had enough of the splash park we headed to the adjacent wooden park. It's a lot like Kids Space!

We were rained out of the Tavares downtown parks. After lunch and nap we headed to a park that was just down the road, and just as fun!

The last full day in FL was Sunday. We enjoyed a wonderful church service.

After church we returned to Grandpa's home for a combined 80th bday celebration/Aunt Cheri's 60th/Father's Day.

Grandpa with his great grandchildren. :)

Grandpa and Aunt Cheri!

We had a champagne toast and Sophia was excited to have her own glass of bubbly. :)

Cake-cutting!

Grandpa relaxing with Snowball.

3 out of 5 siblings! Uncle Scott, Aunt Cheri, and mom.

Grandpa with his kiddos!

Aaaaand lots of group pics, of course!

Me and my girls with Grandma Carole and Grandpa.

A final pic of my aunt Cheri and Uncle Ted. And the next morning we headed back home! It was so fun to see my family in FL. It flew by way too fast! Looking forward to mom and dad visiting us in MN in a couple months!