All Blacks: Destin!!

A few of weeks ago we headed down to Destin, FL to spend the weekend at the Summer Beach Project. The staff asked Shane to come and do some counseling stuff for a few days, so the girls and me joined him. The girls were crazy excited about going to the beach. We didn't arrive the first day until about 7:30 pm but the girls begged to go to the beach right when we got there instead of waiting until the next day. I figured if they wanted to get in the water they could just do so with their clothes on since I would have to bathe them anyways. Well, of course, they refused to get in without having their "suits" on :).........

SO....we ran back to the room and put their swimsuits on :)

SO pretty.....made we remember all the MANY summers we spent on the beach for Summer Beach Project....good memories :)

Daring the waves to try to get her....

Trying to outrun them....

They both loved the beach...but Jocie REALLY loved it....

Gabbie trying really hard to get the sand off of her hands....to no avail....

OK....so we stayed at the hotel that the beach project was at and it definitely was nicer than the lovely hotels that we always stayed at during our years....however, some things just don't change.... here is a pic of our AC in our room....yes, that is correct...their is an ice sculpture on it...and nice placement of the air filter..ha! It froze up about an hour or so after we had been there so needless to say, we didn't have much of an AC during our stay. Surprisely, the room stayed decently cool with a big fan we borrowed from a friend. I mean, this really brought back some memories from the years at project :) HILARIOUS!

Seriously??!?

She cracks me up :)

OK....so we know how not-so-great Jocie did the last week of swim lessons. I really thought it was all a waste of time and money. Well, the first morning in Destin we took the girls to the pool...they put on their new goggles...and they got in the water and both swam like fish!!! WHAT?!?!?! Yep, that's right people. They both could swim. We were shocked.

Jocie and her PINK goggles :)

Gabbie and her BLUE goggles :)

Gabbie showing off her under-water skills...

Jocie was the most amazing since she wouldn't get near the pool the last week of lessons...

They LOVED going "BIG UNDER" with daddy :)

Gabbie sporting her new Dora sunhat...

Dinner with the fabulous Hawarah fam! SOOOOO great to see them and their cute kiddos...

Playing after dinner....

Justin and Evan

Little Reese....aka Little Leah :)

Sweet Kiley....looking just a BIT like her daddy :)

Icecream!!

The shopping center we were at had a splash pad. We had not intended on the girls playing in it....Guess they had other plans... :)

Gabbie thinking she could stop the water from shooting up by putting her foot on top of the hole....

Not so much..... :)

Little Miss "Passionate About Everything"....

They KIND OF enjoyed themselves...

And they even convinced Kiley and Reese to join the fun :)

The three amigos....in the words of the great Country Chris..."Food, Fun, and Fellowship"....these 3 know how to do all three well...especially the food part :)

It was SOOOOO great to get to hang out with close friends that we haven't seen in a long time. It just makes me want more of it! We miss you guys SO much!!

Oh Leah....you are hilarious!

Jenny and her two daughters hosted a "girl's party". All the little girls on project came over to their room and got their make-up and nails done and then had cookies. HOW FUN!!! All the little chicas had a blast!

Jenny "painting" Jocie's eyes....