Fall Break in Florida 2018

Over fall break, we went in search of warmer temperatures. We drove to North Carolina to spend a couple of days with Isaac and family. The kids had a great time playing and we enjoying exploring their neighborhood a bit.

Family yoga and dance party

After a couple days in NC, we headed down to New Smyrna Beach, Florida by way of South Carolina and Georgia.

We stopped in Savannah, Georgia for lunch and took a walk in Forsyth Park. It was GORGEOUS and of course we started talking about moving to the south. We're fair-weather movers.

We stopped at a fun 40s-style restaurant called Betty Bomber's. Jackson loves tiny things, so he was especially pumped about the tiny American flag on his hot dog.

On our last leg into Florida, Jackson insisted he wasn't sleepy and didn't need a nap. I suggested Brandon put on his favorite "Hardcore History" podcast that always puts me to sleep (super interesting, but something about the guy's voice gets me every time ). No joke - I turned around just a few minutes later to see Jackson cashed out. Hardcore History strikes again!

Brandon and Robbie found a great house on VRBO that we all stayed in. It came equipped with a pool and hot tub - Jackson was in heaven!

Bentley has a fetish for feet. :)

The first day, we headed to Smyrna Dunes Park. Brandon fished while Jackson and Noah built a sandcastle. Baby Nova got in the ocean for the first time and Bentley stayed in his stroller.

When we got back to the house, we played a bit longer in the pool - we were all tired that night!

Cute cousins!

Brandon fished overnight then came back and napped in the morning. That afternoon, Jackson went out with Elexis and Kris so Brandon and I grabbed some famous seafood at JB's Fish Camp and explored Canaveral National Seashore.

This spontaneous visit to Canaveral was the highlight of the trip for me - it was so beautiful and I loved a laidback afternoon with my favorite person.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but we ran into a bright green tree snake along the path. It was so stubborn - we tried to scare it out of the way, but it would just not budge. We both ended up having to jump over it and it jumped at both of us when we jumped over.

There were 5 boardwalks with beach access and we'd heard beach 5 was an unofficial nude beach, so we drove down there and realized it's pretty officially unofficial! We did walk out there but didn't really see anyone - there was someone down the beach that looked pretty bare. Some people just like to experience nature in its most raw form I guess!

On the way out we met these cute little travelers!

The gatekeeper at Canaveral recommended a cove nearby where manatees often hang out. So we checked it out and were rewarded with a few guys right by the street!

That evening we all went for a late beachside dinner at New Smyrna Beach.

Our last day in Florida, we went to Daytona Beach. The waves were much larger so we all had a lot of fun boogie boarding and body surfing. Jackson even got brave and went out into the water. We had so much fun!

Brandon is such a patient dad - he helped Jackson ride the boogie board until he started to get the hang of it. Give him a couple more years and he'll be out there surfing!

After we got home and showered, we decided to just go ahead and head home instead of waiting until the morning. We drove overnight and for Jackson and me who were asleep, it went very quickly! Brandon was a champ and drove all night, only letting me drive the last couple hours while he napped.

We love Florida!

Ashley's Baby Shower

My good friend Ashley Whitaker had a baby boy this fall - they named him Eli Anthony. Before his grand entrance, there was a baby shower! It was so much fun to see her and reconnect with friends from William McKinley Elementary days.

There were a few friends missing, but Abby Taylor, Lexie Walters, Megan (Callahan) Reyes, and Lauren (Vaughn) Kindt.

Family Visits

This fall, Isaac and Dominika and the kids moved to North Carolina so they took a detour on the way  from Utah to North Carolina and visited us in Indiana. We all went to my parents' ward where they blessed baby Elias. It was fun to be there for that and spend time with them the next few days. 

Jackson and Adelina had a fun time reconnecting and picking tomatoes from Grandpa's garden.

The weather was really nice so we took the dogs for a walk and played at the Schmitt playground.

Later in the week we went to Nalon's football game - they won! - and Jonah's soccer game - they also won!

This was the first time Alexander and Elias met - born about a week apart!

That weekend, Tessa was a bit overbooked so I came up to Fishers and took Campbell to her soccer game then went and picked Emerson up from her soccer game. It was a sports-filled week of aunt-ing!