A big day!!!!

 Matt came home from Texas (he had to go there for work) and Anabelle told him first thing to take her training wheels off. He did and I am not joking when I say this...Matt held the bike so she could get on and away she went...not nervous or scared. She told me to stand back because she could do it. Matt and I couldn't believe it. Could it be that easy???? Yep!!!! It can! Our girl is growing up!

Soccer Camp

Tinker and her friends at soccer camp!

Florida Vacation~Part 4

 A big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for renting the house! Everyone picked out a special shell necklace as a souvenir.

Florida Vacation~Part 3

 Other things we loved about the beach and our vacation:
1. We caught all sort of little critters that live in shells....mostly crabs. The kids were fascinated by this.
 2. Matt swam way far out and got a ton of big, beautiful sand dollars. We dried them out and bleached them! I thought that was really neat!
3.  Flying kites on the beach and playing in the sane was fun too!
4. Anabelle loved to collect shells. Her and I would walk along the beach trying to fond them!
5.  There was an ice cream shop nearby where we were staying.  We enjoyed ice cream cones twice on vacation for the bargain price of 7.00 each!
6. We ate dinner on the beach one night and the kids were beyond excited. They just couldn't get over that right there was the ocean.
7. We did get dressed up and go out to lunch one day. We opted for place called Shorty's and Matt enjoyed some crab claws!!!!
8.  There was a little village close to where we stayed and every night there was live music. We took the kids down there several nights to sing and dance.
9.  We were there on the 4th of July and literally had the best seat in the house for fireworks. They were like on top of us.
10. We all got one heck of a tan!
11. The drive down and drive back were manageable. We were nervous at first but the kids did awesome and we made the 12 hour drive down and back in one day! I was super proud of everyone in our family for surviving that one!

Florida Vacation~ Part 2

 These 2 spent most of their time on these boogy boards.  The loved the waves!!!!  Anabelle loved to go out (way in the deep) with Matt and swim and snorkel. I couldn't believe how far out she would go.

Florida Vacation~ Part 1

It has been a summer of vacation for the Mertz's.  However, this vacation topped it off.  We went to Seacrest Beach in Florida (about an hour from Destin) for our family vacation this summer. It was absolutely amazing! The kids had never seen the ocean before so this was such a treat! They loved, loved, LOVED it! We were there a week.  It was heaven! We pretty much camped out at the beach every day and then went to the pool. We ate in most nights as our house had a hugely amazing kitchen! The kids became expert snorkelers and boogy boarders.  It was quality family time.  We were together and had a blast making memories.  Now I understand why people who go to Florida always want to go back.