Family Time in Florida

Just as I had anticipated  - we had a wonderful time with our family in Florida!  We hadn't seen this side of the fam (James' aunt and uncle, cousin and her family) since they stopped by last summer on their way to North Carolina.  We hadn't traveled their way since Labor Day 2012.  Plus, they had not yet met their newest baby cousin, JB.

Someone loves attention

All the reason that we headed down south this Memorial Day weekend.  And we had another good reason to celebrate, too:  James' cousin, Andrew, graduated from High School!

The graduate!  

James is super close to these great kiddos (his cousin's children).  As you may recall, the oldest, Katelyn, lived with us last summer while she completed her college internship.  We're stoked that she is coming back to Atlanta in a few weeks for another summer internship in the ATL.

Evan, Andrew, Katelyn, and their Uncle James

The graduation ceremony on Thursday evening was lovely (or so I was told, since JB and I hung out at the hotel to avoid any potential meltdowns).

There was a nice dinner on Friday night down on the bay, but that night we tempted fate and took the little guy.  (I even cried a little during the slide show as I snuggled JB and thought 'in 18 short years, he will be graduating, waaaaaah'.)

James' cousin, Kim, Aunt Candy, and Mr. Serious

JB did great throughout the dinner, easily got into PJs, and enjoyed our stroll around the grounds.  I was hoping that he would peacefully drift off to sleep, but Homefries was not falling for that one.

Saturday was spent catching up with lots of friends and family, plus eating fantastic food around the pool.  Minus the drive down on Wednesday and the looooooooong drive back on Sunday, everything about the weekend was just plain FUN.  (And, the drives weren't that bad, I guess.)

Can I brag on my little guy for a bit.  All weekend he was super smiley, social, flexible, and happy.  He let anyone and everyone hold him, reached out for hugs, and managed to stay up late with little consequence.  By the tenth time someone said to me "wow, he's just the most easy going baby", I had to stop and say "wait, is this even our baby? "  :)

Since we don't see this crew that often, I had to document!  I'll leave you with a few (of a hundred) pictures I captured of all the fun.  I realize 75% of them include our munchkin, but he's a lot more willing to pose for pictures than the big kids or adults.

Future Gator

I love these next set of pictures.  Kim and JB had a blast splashing in the water, dipping their toes, and throwing the ball for Maddie, the Golden.  If these pictures had sound, you'd hear nothing but happy baby giggles.

Enda's radar went off - another dog was getting attention

Florida, where barefoot is okay

Love, love, love this family - can't wait to see them again soon!