Destin Florida Visit

We took our annual road trip to Florida to visit great grandma the week after school got out.  The girls were so good for our very long car ride from Chicago to Destin.  We had a lot of fun visiting the beach by Grandma's and Uncle Bob & Aunt Marty's pool every day.  Great grandma was under the weather while we were there, so we let her rest and we took in the surf, sand and sun.  The girls did get to go to "Build-A-Bear" with great grandma.  We enjoyed our week in Destin and wished we could have stayed all summer.  Here are some fun photos from our vacation.

First day at the beach ... one thought she was a rock star with her "shades" on

Lauren enjoys the beach

Mackenzie poses by the ocean

The girls work on making a sand castle

Once Lauren noticed the sand didn't come off her hands she was not really in for creating a village

Mac loved the waves.  She did get knocked down by one and hit by a second on her way up.  She thought that was awesome.

Running away from the waves

Posers ... they look like they belong on the beach daily

This one was a "forced" pose

Lauren was only putting her toes in ... not a huge fan of the beach

Chris walked her into the water ... she tried to run out after the first wave hit

Taking a break from the water

We got them miniture "Sprite Zero" cans ... last time they will have soda for awhile

Thought this was such a cute pose of their little buns in suits

Lauren steps on the pedal to "Stuff" her bear.

Lauren squeezes her Bear to make sure it's soft enough

Mackenzie steps on the pedal to "Stuff" her bear

Mac squeezes her bear to make sure it's soft enough

The girls pick out a "heart" to put in their bear

They "KISS" the heart before putting it inside - to let the bear know it's loved!

They tap their "TOE" with the heart before putting it inside - to let the bear know it's "Toe-tally" awesome!

They put their heart inside the bear and it gets sewn up

Lauren with her finished bear ... time to shop for clothes and name this bear - Leah

Mac with her finished bear ... time to shop for clothes and name this bear - Haley

The Mertins Girls at the pool - thank Uncle Bob & Aunt Marty

Mac and Lo share the raft

Lauren tries to jump ship - she cannot swim in 4 1/2 feet water?

Hugging each other - this is the fuel for the fire to start a little argument

Ahh Ha! "Don't touch me Lauren!" and a shove to the head.

Lauren just liked to float around the pool on the raft or the tube

Chris and Lauren pose for a picture

Does this kid look like she is on vacation, or what?

Mac swam along the wall of the pool ... she has "self-taught" herself to put her face in and swim

Just needs a lesson for technique now!

After a long underwater swim ... posing for a picture

Step 1: put the tube around my waist

Step 2: jump out into the pool

Step 3: take the plunge and make a big splash

Uncle Bob brought us all ice cream cones for a after swim snack.  Lauren LIVES for snacks!

Mac really worked up an appetite for a snack

At the end of day ... they were tired and ready for bed!

The BIG Dance Recital

From the end of August through the month of May ... every Wednesday from 4:00-4:50pm ... Mackenzie has been going to her "pre-ballet" class.  After all of the hard work and lots of practice at home, the recital day has come.  I cried, of course!  It was THE MOST darling perfomance I've ever seen (of course, I am biased).  She is so excited that next year she can go on to the next class: Combo One.  It is a combo of jazz and tap.  She is dying for the tap shoes ... hilarious!  Here are some photos from the time preparing to the actual day.

Mac ready to go to the show ... it's a 90 degree day on Memorial day weekend and we were happy to be in the air conditioning watching our little fish!

Under The Sea ... Mac is doing her routine perfectly

Mac is the 3rd from the left and her good friend Sienna (with glasses) is next to her

End of the show bows

Mackenzie and Sienna pose with their flowers on stage at the end of the show

Mac poses backstage with our neighbor Kamden for a photo

Mac poses after the show

Two bouquets of flowers ... the purple/yellow bundle from her family and the roses from her friend Sienna

Mackenzie graduates from Preschool!

After two years of attending the Little Vikes Preschool at Fremd she is finally ready to go to Kindergarten.  We were lucky enough to have a friend of ours (Kelly O'Kelly) who worked with Mackenzie and her son Colin on the Jolly Phonics program.  Both of them are able to sound out words and read some simple sentences.  Mackenzie will be going to the full day Kindergarten at our school.  I cannot believe that she is going to Kindergarten already ... where has the time gone?

Mackenzie getting ready to enter Fremd HS for her preschool graduation ceremony

Mackenzie and Colin O'Kelly pose together



Mother and Daughter

Mackenzie poses with her gift from her HS teachers and the memory book they made for her

Lining up with her teacher Lauren for the ceremony

The preschool class and their HS teachers are lined up on the auditorium stage at Fremd

Singing songs for the parents

"Wheels on the bus"

Singing more songs

Singing is Mackenzie's favorite thing to do (just like mom)

"Blast off to the Moon" song

Jumping up after the countdown

Posing for a photo when her name was called

Darling Picture

Singing the "Goodbye" song

Ready for the reception ... more importantly ... ready for cake

Waiting for "Mrs. Mertins" to end the ceremony

The flowers were being swung around and knocked into each other at the end

The class cake

Lauren Cowick (HS teacher), Mac, and Faith Leatherman (HS teacher)

Mackenzie and Katie McGlade ... so cute!



After her busy day ... she relaxes and poses for one last photo!