Family Trip to Florida
We went in March, after a super-busy,
super stressful time at our home.
It was superb. I tell you
spending time with the kids and husband
with no other responsibilities makes me
very happy. Gene asked if I could choose,
would I want to live like that forever, just
lazily getting up in the morning with
nothing to think about but where to go
swimming next, and what kind of food to eat.
I think I hesitated a little long for his liking,
than I said that it’s not a realistic lifestyle for one,
and two I can imagine it would
get unfulfilling eventually. But for
one week out of the year?
Momma Mia!
A week of Mac n Cheese every night – is this what heaven is like?
Every husbands dream vacation includes family pictures!
Then there is the 20 hour drive home…No judging allowed
unless you’ve survived a trip like that yourself.
Speaking of Momma Mia!
in April flew down to Florida with 5 of my good pals.
The cool part was that our husbands got their
heads together and sent us away. They even said
things like: This is not going to happen for a long
time, so BE GONE! TAKE FIVE DAYS INSTEAD OF FOUR!!
And we said “Done deal, we are outta here!”
And the grandma’s, dads, aunts and cousins all
covered our buns for us, while we tried to tan ours.
We really had a fun wonderful *bonding* time.
The funny thing about this group of girls is that it is
not a natural group. Our husbands were friends before
we were, and we sort of became friends by default. It’s
odd, because I rarely hear of guys that insist on hanging
out together, but these guys did. As they got married over
a span of about five years, we would add a new wife to the
mix. So being friends was not without growing pains,
as some are added and some drop-out.
Having said all that, what started by default ended with
true friendships and I’m not sure what I would do without
these girls. Sniff, sniff..pass the tissues please.
I got a new camera on this trip thats why it looks so amazing.
Kidding! They were taken by talented Shannon
Giddy about being free from responsibilty, and happy with
our urber-dark tans, we take the town on a windy evening.
Happy Weekend everyone!
Andrea Esh 
Andrea, what a great family picture! You look so happy and are so pretty.And the girls vacation? Wow! So fun! I’ve been thinking the 3 of us ladies from church who have turned/are turning 30 this year should take a couple days and have some fun to celebrate! I only mentioned it to one of them- things have been crazy lately- but maybe when things settle down, I’ll bring it up again and hopefully they will be into it as much as I am!
Sweet! …and what a good man you’ve got there (it strikes me)! He loves family pics and sends his wife to FL to enjoy gal pal time? Seems he ‘sees’ his family and that’s a total gift…and also seems to me that a good man is mostly revealed with a good woman.Thanks for your encouraging story!
Fun, fun all around! And I know Jessica, she’s an Iowa girl and a cousin of my husband’s.
I am jealous of your girls’ vacation. And esp of the fact that your husbands insisted that you go!! Also, no judging here about the traveling picture. Seems pretty familiar!
your family picture is GORGEOUS!! i love the setting, the lighting,your shoes… 🙂 you have adorable kids!and what a fun girls week together! and amazing husbands! 🙂
dude. if family vaca wasn’t cool enuf…. question, are those sharks?? and your family looks beautiful!
@lifeisadance – Thanks! I really wanted to take pictures in Florida, but I didn’t want beach pictures (picky, picky) anyway, historically we have done TERRIBLE with family pictures, we are so un-photogenic, so I am really happy how they turned out.@pairachopstix – Yeah, really. I’m a little self-conscious how this post makes me look like somebody who has the easiest life around. It’s not so, I promise! Not sharks, dolphins. Could I get a picture of them jumping in the waves? Of course not.
FUN!!!!!!!!!!! I’m so happy for you about both vacations, AND for the beautiful, beautiful, fun family picture. You look so pretty and I love your shoes and your cute children and how your family looks fun and relaxed. re:^^it’s okay…we know you don’t have a pampered life, so just soak up the happiness. 🙂 I don’t like to say, “You deserve it,” because I’m so technical and none of us humans really deserve anything…so to be pc for myself and everything…I thing it’s great that you had a fun, relaxing vacationX2 during/before all the adoption adjustments.
Very lovely Andrea, everything! The pictures are great! Family time and girlfriend time, what can beat that, for real?! So glad you got to go.
You’re the prettiest girl on the friends picture. Your family is really, really cute. And I love the travel photo.