Back to reality...

Well, we made it home from Florida. We left Ft. Walton at about 10 am on Thursday morning and pulled into our garage at about 1:15 am Friday morning. We had originally planned to stop about halfway, but since Addy was doing so well and we were looking forward to sleeping in our own beds, we decided to push through and drive straight through. Overall, I would deem the vacation a huge success. Here are some of the successes and highlights from our 7 days away from home:

• Both Derek and Adalyn managed to spend many days out in the sun with no sunburn. For those of you who know Derek and his complexion you may consider this a MIRACLE!


• Adalyn loved the sand and the water and spent a lot of time in the holes of water her daddy dug for her.


• Adalyn made many new friends on the beach as she would go up to random families and get their attention by saying "hi" and doing a little dance to impress them. She then usually preceded to attempt to play with their beach toys.


• Adalyn managed to eat several cobs of corn throughout the week. Apparently many restaurants on the Gulf offer corn on the cob as a side and Addy's loves her corn!


• We went on a Dolphin Cruise and actually managed to see many dolphins. Addy also got to sit in the captains chair and "steer" the boat.


• We conquered our camera's self-timer and took a few family photos on the beach. (See photo at the end of the post:)


• Many pictures were taken! (734 to be exact)


• We fought the battle of the sand all week, but only managed to bring a few buckets full with us.
  
• Addy got to make her first build-a-bear, which is actually a dog wearing a Destin t-shirt named "woof-woof"


• While in Florida, Adalyn learned several new words including--beach, pizza, and lawn mower.


• I got to spend valuable time pool-side sun bathing and reading something besides Goodnight Moon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.


• It only rained a few drops throughout the week, which was a huge surprise.


• Many priceless family memories we made throughout the week.

We had a wonderful time and loved every minute we spent in Florida. However, now we must get back to reality and begin thinking about the upcoming school year. It's time to start making the mile long "to do" lists in preparation for a new crop of second graders. I have included several pictures from our vacation, but if you would like to see more of the full Freihaut Florida experience you can visit our shutterfly site (see bookmarks in sidebar).