Vacation In a nutshell

Feeding the seagulls which hung out right outside our back door.

Ben's adventures -- a dip in the ocean and a quick climb up the palm tree with the not so grateful slide down the tree and the subsequent splinter removal.
The Colt's Home Team Away from Home before the Super Bowl game. We had a great time watching the game.

We had a lot of fun at our day at the beach.

Sophie loved swimming and I think she's a natural.

The Aquarium was really cool and you can see sharks like this swimming right over your head - that was very neat.

Lastly -- Miss Sophie in her beach hat (goes well with the long sleeve T-shirt and long sleeve jacket and long pants. She's such a fashion plate.

I had a great time, but I was ready to come home today (or a few days ago). Samantha and Ben both got pink eye yesterday, so I may not be out of the woods yet. Time will tell.

One of the best pictures of my vacation came as I walked in the back door. A big welcome home banner crossed the door to my living room, complete with balloons hanging from it and ribbons crossing the door that I had to run through (think high school football games). There were streamers hanging from the dining room and living room ceiling that Jacob and Carly put up by standing on the kitchen bar stools. They made "streamers" by tearing the perforated edge off of a box of folding computer paper.

It was so sweet and there was a party for me, complete with a snack table with moutain dew, slim jims and pudding cups, cards and candy - all put together by the kids. I also had a sash to wear that had balloons dangling from it. It was very sweet and it feels great to be home.