Our Family Vacation to Florida

the title, because everyone kept saying

'when am I gonna get to be in THE BOOK'

the exact spot in new orleans that I received the infamous phone call from my boss saying
'all you need is a big chief tablet and a box of crayons!'

REALLY needing some coffee when we hit mobile!

wow, craziness going into destin...the usual saturday thing for the rental folks!

daughter shel's drawing of breakfast (mimi's 'homemade' oatmeal)


shel's 'pet'

mimi tossin' in some 'sssrimp' into her homemade gumbo...
with rudy, caitlyn and aidan lookin' on!

and yes, he marched to the beach...across scenic hwy 30-a...in a kilt, to play the bagpipe on the beach at sunset..........it was pretty cool!

our good friend ronnie, a fireman, AND bagpipe genius!

hope my 'snoodyville' sign doesn't offend anyone...seaside beach was AMAZING...but it just didn't seem too friendly...with the exception of the bookstore....hopefully it was the crowds of 'other vacationers' :) that gave it the unfriendly vibe and NOT the locals of seaside

...because it was TOO COOL!

this pic is a bit out of order...but it's of rudy, trying to pack it all back up!

the sugar shak @ rosemary beach....think I could live there for sure!

well, you have to be blood kin to hear 'the story'...that, or either

go on a family trip with us! ha! and, brandon is the only one that can tell it....

AND pawpaw has to be present...because he likes it more and more

each time he hears it!

brandon got a splinter....andrew got it out...wooo! (it was tiny, tho)

a day trip to the AMAZING naval museum in pensecola!!!


let's just say one day isn't enough to see this incredible place, seriously!


my best friend and love of my life for 24 years!

james, literally asked shel to open the door while we went into the tunnel

in mobile bay to 'see what it sounded like'...and when she did, she heard someone

way ahead of us hollering, 'wooo, hooo!'

note to self, you CAN drive the length of bourbon street, hmmm, interesting.

ended up driving the LENGTH of bourbon street....

all because we wanted some coffee and a beignet! thankfully,

it was only 4 in the afternoon...but we still had to make rudy close her eyes

numerous times!

a traffic jam because of a GATOR in the road as we went thru

baton rouge!!!!!

flipped pic of rudy sayin' goodbye to florida :(

ike, the cat...INCREDIBLY happy to see us (shelby)