recharging our batteries

this post is really a compilation of random photos from our trip that i wanted to share. they are mostly from our time hanging out in the condo, though kristie took the first picture when we stopped to eat lunch on the way to st. augustine. while i fed amelia and brian was ordering our food, kristie took the big kids to a grassy area next to the parking lot to run out some energy. i watched ethan and karina stoop down to observe some bugs, and i was sitting in the van thinking, "oh i wish i could take a picture of them!" right at that moment, kristie ran to her car to grab her camera... she read my mind! :)

so "recharging our batteries" is not really that accurate of a title for the next two pictures... it's more like "running down our batteries"! as soon as we arrived at the condo, the kids were giddy. they were so happy to be out of the car and so happy to finally be in st. augustine! since we were on vacation, we let them jump on the beds... they were in hog heaven!


i love the kids' smiles in this next picture. it's not the highest quality picture, but oh, just look at those ear to ear grins! we get so many pathetic "cheeeeese... mom-will-you-just-hurry-and-take-the-picture" smiles these days, so this one is definitely a keeper!


how sweet is my niece looking out this window? i tried to get caroline to do the same pose, but that wasn't gonna happen...


so this next picture is pretty funny. see these two containers? they're both full of sugar. kristie brought some decaf coffee for us to enjoy (with our moose tracks ice cream!) at night after the kids went to bed.... so she brought sugar. and i brought sugar. guess which container was mine?! (i also packed way too many clothes for us.) a girl can never be too prepared for coffee!


after the kids' bath one evening, we were hanging out in kristie's room and she was "poofing" them with this water gun thing we had for the pool. the kids got the biggest kick out of waiting for the poof of air to hit them... ethan looks so funny to me in this first one...


can you believe i caught the "poof" on camera!? we have laughed over and over at this picture... crazy hair!!


and this next shot is going to be printed, framed, and displayed. we have tried over and over and over to get good pictures of caroline and karina together, and since they've learned to crawl, it just really doesn't happen. they have their own agenda, and while they may be obey and stand still for a picture, we have never really been able to get them both to smile at the same time. i'm sure that's a component of murphy's law. so when i captured this moment, i squealed a squeal of victory!


and since we were letting them jump on the beds, we also let them eat spaghetti in the living room while they watched a movie. :) isn't that what vacation is for!?