~Fort Walton Beach Weekend~

Well, I imagine this was our last beach get-away, as it will be back-to-school time in about two-and-a-half weeks. Yesterday I took the kids school clothes shopping already!

Our family really had a nice time on this trip. We'd like to give Ken & Cheryl and the Weatherbee family a special thank-you for giving us some of their hotel points so that we could have a couple of free nights in our hotel. It was a different part of the beach that we've never explored, so it was a new adventure for us. Thank you so much for your generosity! And just a little note, if you notice the many pictures of Makensie and me, that's because on the day we got there, she and I went to the beach first thing without the guys. They wanted to hang out in the hotel and relax. And early the next morning, we went down to the beach again! So, I got a few more pictures of us girls than I did of the guys :)

4th of July and Saying Goodbye

For the 4th, Bobby's place of business closed early, so he got to come home and spend some family time with us. We had planned to grill and pull out the pool, but it rained, which is fine because we desperately needed it. So we decided to spend a quiet evening inside and it turned out to be more exciting than we thought it would! Later on in the day, the rain cleared out, and a few of our neighbors put on a fireworks display that we got to watch from our back door! The kids loved it, especially Makensie. After the rest of us got over it, she stayed right at the window watching the whole thing. She even pulled up a chair and stood on it to see better! It was a nice day :)

We had an unbelievable sunset after all that rain!

This morning, both of my babies "left me"! Matthew is staying a couple of nights at his grandparents' house, which isn't so bad b/c they only live about 25 minutes from here and I will be able to keep in touch with him. But my little girl left for Mississippi Church of God youth camp - her first summer camp! She will be a little over three hours away and I can't contact her till she gets back on Thursday. I wasn't going to let her go because I didn't think she was ready, but about two weeks ago I decided that she could. Bobby and I actually had said "no", but I thought about it more, we talked it over, and realized that she is ready...It's us as parents who aren't ready. I realize that both of them are growing up and as a parent, I have to look at this as a good thing. I guess it means I'm doing my job. I hope so, but it's extremely hard letting go...