oh florida, we love you

here are some pictures of the rest of our time in florida, which could easily rival our time at universal because nothing in the world is better than being with those you love (cheesy, but oh so true).

we met sweet little Olive for the first time and felt so lucky that we were able to be there for her blessing. she is seriously adorable and absolutely the sweetest little person.

jack was smitten and has asked if we can have another baby and maybe it will be a girl.

chris, grandma, and 'merica all turned another year older while we were visiting so of course we celebrated till we couldn't possibly celebrate any more!

the kids scored big in the candy department at the parade on 5th with cousin lou

bo and lari got some pops for the kids and we ended our night with a bang, like literally. we put on quite the fireworks display. it was magical

we had an awesome girls night out. mom treated us to dinner at DeRomo's that was superb.

it was fun getting to know alli's inlaws, bob and heather call, a bit better. amazing, amazing people!

so glad heather got to be with us for our girls night.

chicks! chicks! chicks!

everett, sophie, and ashton got baby chicks while we were there and let each of the cousins name one.

another highlight of the trip was visiting the zoo at the shell factory with all the cousins.

and since the shell factory was close to our favorite donut shop we had to make a quick stop and grab a few. bennet's, why do you have to be so tasty?

grandpa is so clever and adventurous. we love him and his crazy fun ideas. he came up with an epic dart gun battle complete with kings, queens, and dragons. 

we ended that adventure with a pantyhose tug o war. boy those suckers were tight!

grandma watched the kids so chris and i could go on a date. we tried Brooks burgers. its been voted one of the top 10 burgers in the country according to trip advisor. we didn't think it was anything too spectacular, although the blueberry & blue cheese milkshake was scrumptious.

but the best part of our trip, as always, was just hanging out. we love these guys so much

leaving the family was so hard this time around. ellie started crying the night before we left. she sobbed as we pulled out of the drive way and didn't stop until we passed venice... about 2 hours away. we miss florida and all of our dear ones there. it was a perfect two weeks. the only thing that would have mede it better was if our germany family was visiting too.

florida summer 2015 from Lisa Brower on Vimeo.

we made a couple stops on the way home, but nothing too exciting.  one of the quick stops we made was in tupelo, mississippi, which is where elvis was born. jack's 2nd grade teacher (who is now ellie's teacher) loves elvis, so he really wanted to stop here.

and just like that, our adventure was over.

 chris had to get back for work and i had to get ready for girls camp the following week. i was the assistant stake camp director this year.... so much fun.... so much work

Port Saint Joe

we started our drive on june 26th. the kids did fantastic on the drive. we let the big kids take turns sitting up in the front which they thought was a-w-e-some! and that way i could entertain owen in the back.

during one of our stops jack had his first taste of oysters with chris and thought they were a little chewy, but still pretty tasty. chris really enjoys them. ellie and i shared some grits and hush puppies. if we aren't careful, ellie is going to turn into a true southern belle soon!

on the 27th, we stopped for a day at Port Saint Joe. chris spent a few weeks in this little coastal town during a clinical rotation way back when and has been wanting to take us for a visit ever since. it was a beautiful little place. 

one thing that fort smith doesn't seem to understand is what makes a great pizza, so thats what we wanted to make sure we got plenty of on this trip. chris took us to Joe Mama's. it was delectable and their parmesan bruschetta was to die for!

we had some cheesecake and a chocolate pot de creme for dessert. charlie liked the whipped cream on top the best and then decided to give mama some kisses. love our big little man.

and of course we went to the beach at the first opportunity we could.

the waves were a plenty and the three older kids jumped and frolicked until the sun went down. mister o loved the salty water too and sucked on some salty shells.

this is chris and his sidekick, mini chris.

no trip to the beach with a babe is complete without sandy cheeks... 

both sets of cheeks ;)

we really enjoyed our day at port saint joe and chris and i dreamed up a plan to open up a little boutique hotel there some day. not that either of us has the drive or the know how to do that, but its fun to talk about nonetheless.

the next morning we went to the little branch outside of town for church and then headed down to orlando to begin celebrating mom's 60th and chris' 35th birthdays!