Crystal River Pictures

Crystal River with the Fam

Jason & Kerri invited us on a family weekend getaway - it was a great time! 6 adults and 9 children.. yes, NINE! 1-10yr old: Christian, 2-7yr olds: Alyssa & Drake, 3 5yr olds: Brooke, Avery & Emily, 1-3yr old: Benjamin, 1-18mth old: Madison, 1-9mth old: Colten (and one on the way: Ashley)

Our trip started off with a boat ride, Captained by Jason. We went to the 3 Sisters Spring, looking to swim with a manatee or two - No such luck but it was very pretty there. Unfortunately, we have no pictures of that because we balked on getting an underwater camera and we had to swim to the springs. The water was SO cold. Each kid had an intertube and we all held hands to form somewhat of a floating train so we could all stay together, it worked more often than not but it surely was a sight to see.

Day 2 was some of the same. Jason Captained a bigger boat and attempted to take Andrew and I scuba diving. The kids swam all day, using the boat as a diving board. The water at the first dive site was a bit murky so we went back to 3 sisters springs and played around there. the water was crystal clear.

We docked the boat and had a nice lunch, then it was back to the hotel to relax and play games. The restaurant/bar was right next to our room and draft beer was only $1 so, you can imagine Andrew and I couldn't pass up a good deal!

All in all it was a great trip and to have so many children it went so smoothly, we couldn't have asked for a better time.

Catching up (and meeting) with family

Our trip to Savannah, Ga. on Valentine's Day weekend was great! Andrew was reunited with part of his family that he had not seen in years and the rest of us were introduced. We visited with Jason (Andrew's cousin), new (expecting) wife Carrie, Aunt Suzie, Christian (9), Brooke (4), and Madison (9m). It was a very nice weekend. The children matched up perfectly; the babies weren't really interested in each other too much... yet. Other members of the family that we met were Brutus, a rottweiler and Bear, a Shiloh Shepard.

Here is a pic of  Brooke, Avery &, Brutus:

We had a great time with everyone. The kids especially loved mud bogging in the woods and Andrew and I enjoyed the turquoise lake (minus the wind)... it looked like a nice swimming hole on a hot summer day.

We hope to get together again soon!