Waking Up In Paradise 183.365

 

It's Sunday morning, our second morning here in paradise. Yes, that's right, we're in paradise for the next few days. Our morning started out with going to Church and heading home to pick everyone else up to head to the bakery for breakfast.

There are no bakery pictures, but I am sure that won't be our last trip. Maybe I'll get better pictures to share then. Right near the bakery is the Biltmore hotel... gor-ge-ous!

I loved having four beautiful girls to take pictures of in such a gorgeous place. For some reason, the pictures are not as crisp as I would have liked. I'll have to figure out what was up tomorrow when I take more pictures. These poor people that travel with me. I'm like the stinkin' paparazzi. Seriously. By picture 324235 they are like "I'm seriously going to shoot you if you keep shooting pictures of me!"

For now, enjoy the pictures they all allowed me to take! We'll start of with Neijra!

 

Irma nestled into the palm trees. Have I ever told you how much I love her and love palm trees?! Now putting them together... awesomeness!

Ines, testing out smile one and smile two. Gotta love a girl that has two signature smiles to let me capture!

Oh and Meemsy... well she just looooveeees it when I take her picture. She is so photogenic and even asks me to take pictures. She has a good eye too. Quite creative!

My sisters! Love them!

Nahida looking lovely amidst the palm trees.

I love these two ladies! Mom and Nahida. Mom isn't big on getting her picture taken so enjoy the few I was allowed to capture.

 

There is some serious love going on here.

 Ines really liked these trees!

 Loving these girls.

 A flower for her babe.

 See what I mean by the love? She is his shadow.

 There is some love here too! ;)

Two stylish gals! Look at the poses! I really love the picture of Neijra. It's definitely going in a frame!

 More creative poses from Meemsy!

Posed and candid.

Love this place! (Note: Looking stylish and beautiful as always... - Irm)

 All posed. And yes, the holding hands was my idea. I'm not sure it was appreciated by many. Just Meemsy because she got to hold Gussy's hand. ;)

 My Monito and I. I love him.

Me again. Normally I'm behind the camera, but in such a beautiful place, I was welcoming the thought of being in some of them.

 I love, love, love these leaves! I have to find out what this plant is and if it can grow back home! Purple and green! It could only get better if it was purple and aqua.

 I wish I could have gotten a better shot of the picture on the top right. I would have loved a closer shot. Love this of the six of us.

 Girls!!!

 Gussy and Meemsy.

 Planking!!!! Oh Mono, you make me laugh.

Twins! Wouldn't it be just great to be a twin. How lucky these two are.

They are so beautiful. Notice there is only one smile going on here for Ines... She decided this was the better one. I think she looks cute. :) But they both do. Any smile, on either girl... I just love seeing a smile on their faces. It's good to see.

 My very patient peeps waiting for me to show my Mom how to use the camera to capture my shot!

 And here we go. This was the best we could do. I wish it was closer and clearer, but it's awesome and I was so happy! Thanks you guys! You made my day!

We found The Little Flower Church!! So beautiful! Mono and I have a special place in our hearts for St. Therese... plus we are getting married on her feast day, so it is extra special!

Ellie, this picture is for you!! I had to get a picture because it made me think of you!

 

 

 

This was Meemsy's new ride! Cute!

We had a great day today. We spent a lot of time at the pool today. Tomorrow is the 4th of July so there will be lots of fun festivities to enjoy. And more pictures, of course!! 

Tonight Irm and I baked cupcakes. They are boxed... You know I never do that. I hope they still taste yummy! I am sure they will. We had a lot fun making them and that is all that matters. They were supposed to be red, but they are on the pinkish side. Does that happen to you? I can never seem to get them a true red color. Oh well.

I can't wait for tomorrow! I'll blog about all the holiday festivities tomorrow night or on Tuesday!

Good night all and have a safe and happy 4th!

Bienvenido a Miami! 182.365

 

Salt water, soft sand, warm breeze and that wonderful, unmistakable Florida sun...

This is how my day was spent. Relaxing and reading on the beach!

One of three books I was hoping to finish reading on this trip. I don't think I will get through all three. But I am enjoying having this time to relax and read... along with a lot of other fun things we are doing!

Looking forward to spending the next few days in total relaxation!

The next three are from tonight's dinner...

And one picture from our walk tonight. I love taking walks here. If I lived here, I'd be in the best shape ever! Seriously. Between the beach, the sand to run on, the ocean to swim in and all the walking/bike riding to be done around the village, it would be wonderful.

A Long Road Ahead

The number keeps rising in the right hand corner of the screen… of the GPS screen. That isn't good. That means the time of arrival is getting later and later. We started out with an arrival time of 1:20 and now we are looking at 2:44 am. Yes, AM! Oh, now it is 2:45. There is a car accident just a few cars up from us and the road is completely closed. We will be driving through the night. :/ We are in two cars… Mom, Dad, Nahida and Jimmy in one car and Mono, Irm, Ines, Neijra, Merima and I in the second car. Meemsy is sleeping, Neijra took a walk to the other car, Mono is on the phone and disappeared. I bet if he kept walking, he'd make it to our destination before the rest of us. Hmmmm… that's a good idea. I may go try that myself. ;) Ines is now with me in the front. She's in the driver's seat. Practicing for when she gets her permit. ;) Irm is watching me blog (she's curious as to how I do this crazy thing!) and that's all of us. I'm just trying to kill time. There is a thunderstorm rolling in at the same time. Hopefully it passes us because on the radio part of the storm has heavy hail. Everyone is out of their cars, sitting on the guard rails, walking around, poking their heads out of the cars. We're all trying to entertain ourselves. I think I have figured out the best way… blogging. :) I just wish I had some pictures to include along with it. :) I guess I could use this time to catch up on some of of my other posts that need to be completed. 

We are up to 3am… My Mom and Mono are now up near the scene. Maybe they'll come back with some info. Jimmy is sitting with us for a bit. :) I love having him in here with us.

Okay, the arrival time is now 3:05 am and we are on our way! Yiiipppppeeeeeeeee!

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We've passed through peanut country, afternoon rain storms that come on summer days, a long delay, completely stopped in traffic, bathroom breaks (for 7 girls!), gas fill-ups and all the things that come with long road trips… including a change in time zone. 

I was just in this time zone last week and it will be good to be back. Hello Eastern Time! We have two cars full headed down to the beach for the Fourth of July weekend. I am so excited… we all are! The 12 hour plus car ride will be more than worth it when I am laying out in the warm summer sun, on the white sand, listening to the waves crash tomorrow morning.

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Today is July 1st. That means in exactly three months it is October 1st! Yay! There are still things that need to get done, phone calls to be made, meetings to go to and decisions to make, but all will get done. For now though, we will all enjoy our family vacation at the beach.

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We are less than two hours from our destination! The trip has gone well ever since the one hang up with the accident. I am sure we will all sleep well tonight - those of us who have been up the whole time at least! The kiddos will possibly have trouble sleeping, but I doubt it. I cannot wait to wake up tomorrow morning and be at the beach.

I am in my total element when I am there! I cannot wait to soak up every second and take the opportunity of the beauty I will be around to capture it on film - actually, it's not film anymore, but you know what I mean. ;)