Vz Family Vacation

We just returned from a much needed 8-night vacation in Gulf Shores, AL. By the end of the week, there were 22 of us in 3 condos, which sounds like utter chaos to most people, but I have no doubt it will go down as one of the best weeks of my life. The picture above is only of my family (including my parents and sister) and both of my mom's brothers' families, but in addition, Emily's boyfriend, Nolan and Greg's girlfriends, and Randy and Betty Veazey were there. We took this picture as a surprise for my grandparents for Christmas. I doubt any of my grandparents' friends are Bloggers, but just in case, don't tell!!! We're already making plans for Vz Family Vacation II.

Jack made such progress in the water over the course of the week. The baby pool was awesome, so we spent a lot of time there. By the end of the week, he actually got the concept of moving his arms and kicking his legs while we held him on his stomach and he would make motor boat noises with his mouth the whole time. It was hilarious!

On Thursday morning, the guys got up bright and early to go fishing. They caught the limit and we had a fish dinner that night at the condo.

This picture doesn't do this story justice, but I'll try anyways. While the men were fishing, we went to the outlets and then to Lambert's Cafe. I got my camera out to take a picture of Jack and as soon as he saw me point it towards him, he squeezed his eyes shut and did this crazy smile. From then on, we would tell him to smile and he would repeat. The picture is kind of mid-smile, but it was the best shot I got of it. Once everyone started asking him to smile, he really hammed it up and now he only sticks his tongue out when you tell him to smile.

Riley is my cousin's 2-year old daughter. We bought her and Jack matching outfits in the spring and decided they would be perfect for beach portraits. That afternoon, both kids refused their naps, so we figured it would be a disaster. Fortunately, Jack was too sleepy to crawl away and we managed to keep Riley still long enough for a few good shots.