Separation Anxiety

Well friends, we are home and the reality is setting in... bummer.  We've had another long day of traveling and everyone is almost home where they need to be!  We truly had a wonderful time together and can't wait until the next time we see AMI.  I took just a few pictures today to wrap up the trip so here they are:

Shopping for a last few goodies at the outlet mall!

Here's a cool bridge that we went over on our way to the airport.

Last shot in the cool convertible.

Lucy and a few souvenirs!  

I hope you enjoyed reading and seeing our pictures from our vacation!  This week is back to reality with work for me and Jay begins his first rotation in family medicine!

Last Full Day (#6)

Tomorrow we leave our wonderful home on Anna Maria Island.  We're all very sad and not looking forward to going back to reality but we have had a WONDERFUL time.  Today was a great day and we felt like we made the most of it in every way!  We started out on the beach again and got a couple hours of sun and playing time.

Allison did all of our hair this morning - it looked really cute!

Boys on the beach!

Girls in the water! (Calmer waves today)

Dad found a blue crab!

After lunch we went back out to the beach and then hit the pool for a couple of hours.  Tonight we had reservations at The Sandbar Restaurant and took family pictures.  We had a great family vacation together!  I hope you can tell by the pictures and that you've enjoyed them as much as we have!

We're such a proud aunt and uncle.  We love these kids so much!

Bradley Family Picture (Al made those dresses by the way!)

Thorpe Family Picture (where's my hair??)

Sipping on daquiris and coladas while waiting for a table!

Family Picture at sunset

Dad and Mom - love them dearly! What a great picture

Oh!  Too cute not to post!

Allison, me, Leslie and Lisa

Sun going down over AMI

Uncle Jay is the greatest :)

We've been so blessed this week to be together on vacation.  We're really sad to be leaving tomorrow but we've built so many memories together and look forward to many more in the future!

Beach Bums - Day Five

Today was the longest day in the sun and on the beach and we are all much more tan (and burned in some places) than yesterday!  It was another great day in Florida and we are enjoying our time here more and more.  We definitely don't want to go back home just yet!

Here's our set up on the beach.  Just picturesque!

Stewart ended up falling asleep - so precious

Catching some rays at the tide!

The waves today were so big from the tropical storm! 

Lucy and Aunt Leslie "baking a cake" :)

Chris took Amelia out in the waves - she loved them so much and didn't even get scared when they splashed up in her face!

Tomorrow is our last full day on the island so we are looking forward to making the most of the sun and water!

Rainy Day #4

Today it rained most of the day so it was a little bit more of an inside day than normal.  After breakfast Dad and I went to the fresh market to get our seafood dinner for tonight.  Since it looked so stormy outside, I stayed in with Mom and Leslie and blogged yesterday's events.  The Bradleys and Jay came in from the beach and we all had a yummy lunch together.  After lunch the kiddos went down for a nap and Dad, Jay, Leslie, Lisa and I went to the Ellenton Premium Outlet mall.  It was probably one of the greatest outdoor malls we had ever been to and we had a great time!

Here is a pic from the observation deck on the top of our house

Scary cloud on our way to the mall

You can't really tell, but it poured immediately when we got there!

Lisa and I got a little bite at this cute chocolate shoppe called Kilwin's!

Fun day at the mall!

After we got back from the mall the rain had let up a little bit so we went out to play some shuffle board.  We made up the rules because we had never played before and it was a lot of fun!

I'm a little competitive, but it's all in good fun! :)

Lucy enjoyed playing, too!

After shuffle board I helped Dad at the grill.  We had bought some delicious stuff at the market earlier and we couldn't wait to eat it up!

The grill master

DELICIOUS!  Dad prepared the lobster tail perfectly.

All around the dinner table!

After dinner hot tubbing!

We rented another movie tonight and are really enjoying the family vacation so far!  Here's hoping for more sun tomorrow!

This Is The Life - Day 3

Sorry to make you wait so long for day three, but we had a busy day yesterday!  Yesterday morning we went straight to the beach while it wasn't so hot and everybody got to go - even little Stewart.  It was kind of overcast so it was a perfect morning for playing in the sand and also relaxing. 

Lucy and Amelia being twinsies, ready to go to the beach!

Stewart never slept - ha ha, too many distractions!

More Florida wildlife

Chris, Jay and Lucy digging the moat for our castle!

Great job everybody!

Finished product - I'd say that's quality work right there.

Jay and I made Lucy into a mermaid!  She loved it.

After the fun beach morning we headed in for lunch and rest time.  Jay and I went on a bike ride to the local shops.  We found some great stuff and had a great bike ride together!

Last night was Allison's night to cook dinner for everyone.  She made Terrific Turkey Enchiladas and they really were terrific!  Thanks for dinner, Allison!  Here's Mom and her in the kitchen:

Last night we went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 together (adults only)!  Mom and Dad had already seen it so they stayed behind to babysit the kiddos - thanks Nana and Popa! :)  Mom fishtail braided my hair after dinner and it looked so pretty.  Thanks Mom!

IT ALL ENDS!  We had a great time together!

P.S.  I posted a link for pictures of the house in my Day 1 post.  Click on the word "house" to check them out!