Vacation: Day 3, boat ride!

It was great to wake up this morning at our campground and know we didn't have to pack it up and drive again! The boys wanted to see Grandma immediately upon getting out of bed. It was great that we could watch the boys walk or ride the path to the "bus" so they had a little independence.  Grandma was so good to us - we definitely weren't roughing it! She had hot coffee for Tim and made us all yummy sausage biscuits for breakfast. 

Mid morning we headed to the dock to meet up with Tim's brother Rod and our nephews, Rodney and John. The plan was to head out on the boat and do some fishing. This was Eli & Cole's 1st real time fishing. The boat ride was nice and it was especially awesome to watch Eli & Cole interact with their cousins when we were hanging out. We don't get to see them often so it is great to watch their friendships and relationships develop. I took LOTS of pictures on the boat. It was just a fun time. We also saw dolphins near the boat and the shadow of a manatee. The boys loved the boat ride. 

We then spent the afternoon hanging out at camp, exploring and riding bikes before meeting up again for a yummy dinner at Grandma & Grandpa's. We had the fortune of meeting and having dinner with some of their RV buddies. It was a great day! 

 Building puzzles with Grandma in the morning

 Hey there Hollywood!

 Happy to be on the boat with their cousins.

 Daddy and Cole

 Tim and his brother, Rod - I think this is the best picture EVER of both of them. They're smiling. They had no idea I took the picture and I love it!

 Checking out the shrimp in the live bait well.

 John taught Eli and Cole a new number. 

The "new" number is between 6 and 7. According to him, it's "girf". The boys have been counting "5, 6, girf, 7". It's hilarious!

 Mommy and her sweet boating boys

 Daddy LOVES being on the water

 There were a few dolphins swimming and diving near our boat - it was super cool!

 Getting ready to fish

 Eli taking his turn

 Reeling in

 A bit later Eli & Daddy caught a fish.

 Daddy & Cole doing some fishing

 I used camera zoom to get a picture of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA. One day we'll take the boys there. Apparently this building is HUGE. The flag is, I was told, a football field long!

 I love these shots of the cousins hanging out and talking at the back of the boat. 

 Snack time!

 One of my favorite shots - John and Cole, little brothers have to stick together!

 Eli, John, Cole

 Cole was WIPED out from the boat ride and fishing. We had barely started back when he fell asleep. 

 The boys - Tim and his brother Rod, John and Rodney, Eli and Cole.

 Cousins - Eli and Cole, Rodney and John. 

 Campground dinner

Eli was one tired little boy!

Vacation: Day 2 - made it to Florida!!

Last night was a chilly night in Georgia! Good thing we had some warm pj's. We woke up to a brisk morning and some really cool fog over the lake. Since it's Friday, the boys enjoyed "pop-tart Friday" for breakfast and then we packed everything up to continue to Florida. This was an intermediate stop since it would have been too much of a push to go the entire way in one day. We're thankful we made the overnight stop as everyone was ready to get out of the car when we got here. 

The drive down I-95 to Florida wasn't too bad. We did have one traffic jam where a vehicle was flipped over but we managed to get through it in reasonable time (can't say that for all the folks behind us). We stopped at the Florida Visitor's Center and Cole was super excited to see that they were handing out fresh orange (my OJ lovin' boy). Eli & Cole both also had fun looking at all of the brochures and picking out ones of LegoLand. Late afternoon, we arrived at Manatee Hammock Campground where Grandma & Grandpa N were waiting for us. The boys were THRILLED to see them and to go to the "bus" - Grandma & Grandpa's RV. 

We got the camper and screen house set up - Grandpa helped make sure we had water and sewer hookups. Then Grandma made us a great dinner. We enjoyed hanging out and the campground is awesome. There is a variety of camping here - from tents to pop ups like us to full size RVs. We could stay here for a long time!! 

The boys are doing awesome in the camper and we're trying to keep a routine similar to home with reading before bed. We're all pretty much functioning with the sun which means, when the sun goes down, Mommy is ready to sleep too!!

 Gorgeous fog over the lake -

 I wish the camera would have captured it better. It was beautiful!

 Pop-Tart breakfast and activities from Mommy's box of fun. 

 Under the sea picture

 Cole created a dinosaur picture

 Family Photo - McIntosh Lake

 Greetings from FLORIDA!!

 I have no idea what they were doing but love that I captured this on camera. Brother love!

 Super cool bridge

 The construction nerd in me couldn't resist pictures.

 Chillin' at the rest area

 As we got close to Manatee Hammock, the boys started drawing pictures for Grandma.

 Cole drew a tornado rainbow

 and apparently it took all his energy!

 Happy to be out of the car and on his bike.

 Cole was ready to go.

 Exploring camp with Grandma

 Happy Daddy - all set up and resting.

 Mommy & Daddy enjoying camp life.

 The boys were excited to see that they had Angry Birds Space Race in the camper drawer of games and puzzles - a little Mommy surprise. :-)

I just had to take this picture. There are a lot of snowbirds at this campground and they really set up. They're here for many months and make it home.