What a wonderful time I had with my babies being pampered by grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, while I enjoyed much needed time to read, sleep, and actually lay out some. Every so often my babies would let be mommy again, but only for a second when it was bed time or meal time.
We are all so grateful to my grandmother for renting this house in Cape San Blas for the week. What a blessing! There are so many beautiful picture perfect scenes I just had to capture. So...too many pictures again...but to be expected on vacation. Right?
Babies and Bubbles...nothing better...
Kaki and Aunt Debra relaxing on the picturesque porch overlooking the beach...
After our Oreo chocolate pudding dessert it was time for some ballet dancing...
We saw many crabs on our night walk at the beach...
This is how we all rode down to the beach...the kids had a blast!
Mary Taylor loved the sand...
Henry looks like he is trying to pull Aunt Jennifer into the water...
Cousin Hannah catching some rays...
More work to be done in the sand...
She wasn't too sure about those waves...
Grandmother helped her build sand castles...Mary Taylor enjoyed smashing them with her foot...
Cousin Ben is thinking and planning how to his first run is going to go while Kelly tests out the water...
And he's off...so his Henry...
"WOW, that is so cool!" ~Henry
Cousin Ben takes a brake to say hello to some ladies...just kidding, its just his cousins...
And the house came with a pool...this is such a plus with kids...
Henry has become a little fish...
Mary Taylor sticks close to T.T.
"Dance to the music, come on dance to the music..."(She loves putting on a show)
"All we need is a party...."
Eww gross...
The sky was beautiful from the sunset...
Kaki is doing a good job getting Mary Taylor to laugh...
The next morning was overcast and stormy...so it gave us the excuse to stay inside and watch movies and have a break from the sun...
That afternoon it cleared up...so it was a perfect afternoon to have appetizers by the pool...
I made really healthy black bean dip for everyone to enjoy...
Henry loved this hot tub which was actually cold. He swam in it the whole time...
Some of the neatest wild life at this beach...
Then it was shrimp boil dinner by the pool...
After dinner all the grandchildren took pictures on the beach before the sunset...
Ben, Henry, Me, Amelia, Hannah, Grandmother, Rachel, Mary Taylor, Corrie, and Darren (missing: Matt and Kelly, Nathan and Leslie, Jeremy, and Dee)
Cousin Ben, Aunt Deborah, Cousin Corrie, and Darren...
Not many of the pictures turned out at the beach because it was getting too dark, but after I tweaked this one a bit, it looks a little bit better.
Thanks Corrie for this great picture! I was so excited that one turned out!
Then it was time to celebrate Henry, Aunt Deborah, and my birthday over cupcakes and ice cream...
The next day was beautiful...so what a perfect opportunity to build a large sandcastle...As a child, my dad would build a whole development of sandcastles on the beach. One year, his sandcastle was on the local news, so I have a lot of great childhood memories building sandcastles. Henry and Mary Taylor got to experience my dad in action with the help of the whole family...
Corrie is the artist behind the castle. "J" is for Jackson, my maiden name...
The youngest and the oldest taking a look at the castle in progress...
Mary Taylor definitely liked the sand, she didn't seem to mind it all over her...
A great windy day to fly a kite...
Henry did a great job flying it, thanks to Uncle Terry...
Now Uncle Matt has the right idea...
Amelia is pooped from building the sandcastle...
The dogs also loved being at the beach...this was Milo and Bell's first beach vacation...
Kelly thinks there is a ball in the sand...I hate to tell her the truth...
Grandmother with her three babies...
Robert, Tommy, and Jennifer
And Henry learned to drive with Nathan as his copilot...
Daddy came in the night before to join us for the last day at the beach, just in time for the long car ride home...
We didn't quite finish the sand castle...but looks pretty cool from the beach house at dusk...
After our fun day at the beach we all headed out for dinner at Boss Oysters in Appalachia cola .
Our attempted family picture...
Henry noticed Uncle Nathan's Sigma Chi tattoo and wished he had one...well now he does...
Cousin Rachel and Cousin Hannah enjoying the crazy Jackson Family...
This is my attempt of a picture at night time with no flash...pretty good for my basic camera...
Look who this ship was named after...
On your mark, get set, go!
This was definitely Henry's element...he loved racing everyone...and he's fast too. I think somebody's daddy was proud (I'm just say'n)...
Mary Taylor thought this was great too! I think the adults have had enough, of course the kids could go all night!
The next morning we packed up and headed home. Our journey home was a little more taxing than the way here...our DVD player stopped working 1/4 of the way home...lets just say lots of screaming bored kids, who did not sleep and a mother with one large headache! But, it was all worth it, RIGHT?
We actually really did have a wonderful time. I know we will all cherish this week in the years to come. Lots of great memories created! Can't wait to do it again next year with Charles Tucker having the privilege of joining the fun of the crazy Jackson family.
Thank you Dad and Corrie for joining the photography team for the week! I think we got some good ones!!
**Yeah!! The Ugandan courts reopened today!! Our social worker told us our dossier would be filed this week, so hopefully it won't be too much longer before we know when our court date will be. Once we have our court date we can start preparing to travel. I can't wait to travel 24 hours on a plane with two kids under 4! Seriously, I can't!!!
