I’m not gonna lie. If you are not part of my family, this blog post may be, um, a bit long for you.
The reason for a lengthy post is really just selfish: I want to be able to recall our short but sweet family times together during this season of life. We live twelve hours apart and only get to see each other a few times a year, so we cram in as much fun as we can…which, recently, has resulted in more photos than I know what to do with. Oh, well…I’d much rather over-document our lives – if there is such a thing – than to under-document. Plus, the former is so much fun for me.
So, grab a cup of coffee or three and sit tight; and share part one of the 2009 lashbrook family summer vacation with us!
The night before we left for Fort Lauderdale, my sister (affectionately known as Pixie in my family) brought us a wonderful treat: Rainier Cherries. One of the best foods I’ve ever put into my mouth. Alana loved them so much that she gobbled up just under half the container the morning that we left. We hit the road with a baby FULL of cherries. Happy girl. For a little while, at least.
It was the most difficult road trip we’ve made with Alana to date. She was so frustrated that she had to stay in her car seat and managed to skip her nap, crying all the while, just to find herself even more upset and exhausted. Not our favorite day ever. But getting there on Friday night made it all so very worthwhile.
Saturday morning, Alana was greeted with two baskets of heavenly summer goodies! She used almost everything throughout the week and we left it all at my parents home for the next time! Thank you so much to Nana for the thoughtfulness!
Tons of fun things for the pool – which we enjoyed every single day!
After going to church on Saturday night (I love having that option!) mom and dad treated us to an amazing breakfast buffett at Aruba on the beach on Sunday morning!
Shopping at a beach storefront…
Playing with Nana’s beads…
Playing with puzzles for the first time!
Reading, reading, reading…
Fun Florida toys (with a mouthful of something!)
Nana and Papa’s pool! My mom does a fantastic job of keeping it up, even though she works so hard throughout the week! We took full advantage by going out to play every morning for an hour so that Alana wouldn’t get too much sun. She ended up with a really nice little tan, actually!
(sidenote: I thought that this was the cutest baby bathing suit I’ve ever seen. I found it at Baby Gap…those people know how to make amazing baby clothes)
So cute!
I can’t help but take pictures of Alana…and this is one of my favs from the week:
Completely entertained with a hose and a bucket of water!
Another favorite:
Hilarious…my brother’s old water guns finding their use once again…
Hanging out at Nana and Papa’s house, which, actually, is much more fun than her own. New toys, new books, and best of all, multiple family members to love on her and shower her with attention!
Her incessant umbrella obsession…
More pool time!
(and another perfect Baby Gap bathing suit)
Raft time with Nana!
ooohhh I love those cheeks…
Watching lizards…
More lizard watching…
Alana’s very own ball pit!
Alana got a kick out of dumping water on Shawn’s head and then hitting him on the head with the bucket in an effort to empty any remaining water drops
:):)
Toy store fun…
All kinds of fun things:
One of the cutest toys I’ve ever seen was this miniature shopping cart! It was real metal, strong and sturdy, exactly like grocery store carts, but smaller! Adorable!!! Alana loved it.
The only problem was that she actually started to shop! I had to put everything back, but Nana bought her the Gecko:):)
Nana!
Uncle Shawn (“Non”), freshly back from an amazing missions trip to El Salvador, and we are SO proud of him. Alana adores him and we love him so much!
SUCH a good uncle!!!
My sweet pea!
My mom is a great piano player, and Alana is showing quite the potential! At the very least she is an incredible entertainer!
Mom took us girls to the Jet Runway Cafe at the Executive airport just around the corner from their house, and it was SO much fun! Not only was the food and service incredible, but we thoroughly enjoyed watching planes arrive and depart the runway!
Watching planes…
Thank you to my lovely sister for this photo of Alana and I watching the planes!
The restaurant owner, Mike, actually allowed us to hop outside for a quick self-portrait…
And then offered to take a photo for us! Thank you so much for the awesome dining experience and for the photo, Mike! We will definitely be back!
Okay, I know it’s hard to believe that there could possibly be follow-up blogs to this post, but there are! Stay tuned for parts two and three from me, and part four from Rich at some point in the next month. We had a family mini session at the beach one evening and he plans to edit and blog the photos! I can’t wait to see them!
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