Annual Florida Vacation

Our annual trip to The Villages, Florida this month was just as fun as ever. For some reason, I was terrible about taking pictures this time around so I don't have a great record of our trip. But we had a great time despite missing Collin.

Here are some trip highlights. Jeff's youngest brother Justin is now engaged to be married and we were thrilled to meet his fiance, Christina. They are happily planning their January wedding on the beach in St. Augustine, FL. We are so excited about their big day! Christina is an incredible singer and we were able to see her perform several times with some local bands in The Villages. We were all blown away by her amazing voice! It was also great seeing Jeff's brother Chris and his girlfriend Sandy. And Jeff's Dad celebrated a big milestone birthday during our visit: his 70th! We had a fun, relaxing trip and we look forward to seeing everyone again in January for the big wedding. Here are some pics from our trip.

Family photo minus Collin. We missed him on the trip.

Enjoying some time coloring. 

Kaitlynn's favorite part of the trip: playing with the doggies!

One of many golf cart rides.

Kaitlynn really bonded with Grandpa Jerry this trip.

Justin and his beautiful fiance, Christina.

Kevin in a usual position...lounging around!

Jeff's grandma, Grandma Arlene. She turned 90 this year!

Coloring with Grandpa.

Jeff's brother Chris and his girlfriend Sandy.

Jeff and Justin did the dishes one night with Chris looking on.

Guys headed out for a golf game.

Kevin can sleep in the strangest positions.

Christina and Justin with Kaitlynn.

Kevin closeup.

Christina singing at a local restaurant. She's so talented!

Jerry was surprised with a seductive song for his 70th birthday! haha

Kevin, Chris, and Jeff

Kaitlynn got some love during a dance with her sweet grandparents.

Stroll by the lake.

Love this pic of Jeff and his Dad and Kaitlynn. Lots of love for that baby girl!

Another one of Christina singing.

Sweet Daddy moment.

Golf cart ride.

And another one.

Love their sweet smiles.

Jeff enjoyed some scooter time.

I taught Connor how to play Uno and we played a LOT during the trip! He's GOOD!

Grandpa joined the game with Kaitlynn.

We finally got to meet Jeff's cousin Robin and her sweet family from Michigan. Kaitlynn and Robin's daughter Ainsley were instant friends!

Coloring together.

Kaitlynn helped Grandpa blow out the candles for his 70th birthday!

Feeding Gucci some birthday cake.

Golf cart ride with Ainsley.

Sweet girls! (Connor is going through a rabbit ear phase.)

Another shot of Grandma Arlene.

Grandpa Jerry and his 3 boys. Actually standing in the right order!

Jeff and Chris, only 10 months apart in age.

We drove to Orlando on one of the days during our trip to visit the Orlando Wet 'n Wild water park. Justin and Christina joined us for a super fun day. At one point during the day, Connor went to ride one of the bigger kid slides with Kevin, Justin, and Christina. We didn't see them again for a couple of hours and I was starting to worry. I asked Jeff, "You don't think they would let Connor ride something that's too scary for him, do you?" And Jeff said, "Nah, at least Christina won't let them."

So imagine our surprise a while later when Connor strolls up with a big grin and tells Jeff he rode the scariest slide in the entire water park! It's one of those super steep slides, and you get into a rocket capsule, cross your arms and feet, and then the bottom drops from your feet and you plunge to your death down the slide. My jaw dropped when I found out Connor rode that one, and then my jaw came unhinged when he said it was his favorite ride of the day. I went back to the slide with Connor and took this video of him on the rocket slide. He and Kevin ended up riding those slides over and over all afternoon.

Arriving at the waterpark (in the background).

Entering the wave pool. (They made the little kids wear life vests at this park.)

Enjoying a picnic lunch.

Fun day!

Justin and Christina.

These two spent most of the day together, and loved it!

Striking a pose.

These two bonded over the scary slides.

Ice cream treats while we waited out a short-lived thunderstorm.

Messy face #1.

And messy face #2.

At the end of the day, we stopped at the world's most unique McDonalds.

It was like a Chuck E Cheese inside, super cool.

 Back in The Villages, Kaitlynn bonded with Shots the pitbull. She is such a sweet dog!

My favorite time of the trip: spa day with Cheryl!

Family pic before dinner one night.

Jeff's dream golf carts: Prowlers!