It's us, only uglier.

I have some catching up to do ... but I just had to show you this photo. We took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Little Rock this past week. One night we went to dinner at the Cajun's Wharf. Great place. Right on the river. I handed off the camera to Davis thinking Kyle & I could get a nice photo together.

Wrong-O. Looks like we were hit HARD with the ugly stick.

I couldn't breathe, I was laughing so hard after I saw this. I still get uncontrollable giggles whenever I see it. I almost want to put it in a frame ... just as a joke. :) Is it me or do we look sort of Shrek-ish?

4th of July Weekend ...

{outside of the church where, I believe, their great-grandparents were married}

Here are some belated photos of the Immele Reunion in Pilot Grove & Boonville, Missouri. We had a great time! The kids loved having so many opportunities to play with their cousins! I took a ton of photos ... I might put them up on Snapfish or something. If I do, I'll link up!

New Mexico Photos ...

Here they are!  We had such a GREAT time.  We stayed in a little Casita, which was a 1 bed / 1 bath little home with a full kitchen, living room, 2 gas fire places & a hot tub on the patio.  Even though we were in our own place, it was sort of "B & B style" in that there was a man & woman who owned and operated a bunch of these quaint little Casitas right off the Plaza.

We actually flew into Albuquerque, rented a car ...

 

& drove up to Santa Fe.  We spent Saturday doing sight-seeing ... my favorite was the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum which was just around the corner from where we stayed!  You can read more about the Museum here & here.

 

 

We also loved the tour of the Governor's Palace & getting to see the inside of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.  [The outside was all under scaffolding]

  

We spent the rest of the day just walking around & of course we had to track down a sports bar that would have the Mizzou game on!  After the Tigers won, Kyle & I played a few games of pool before going to dinner.

Sunday we drove up to Taos.  We took "the High Road" up there, stopping in Chimayo to see the Sanctuaria Chimayo.  Wow.  What a cute little church.  We stopped by the gift shop where we had the pleasure of meeting Father Roca who will be 91 this July.  He had preached at the church for about 40 years before retiring, but he still goes there every day. He was a RIOT.  Such a sense of humor, so charismatic.

Once we were up in Taos, we drove to see the Rio Grande Gorge.  Wow.  I'm a bit afraid of heights ... and it was a huge drop.  It even made Kyle a little nervous!

 

We then walked around the Plaza in Taos before hitting "the Low Road" back to Santa Fe.  

Monday morning we drove back to Albuquerque to catch our flight.  The drives were so scenic, I took dozens of photos.  What a gorgeous place.  

The "Silly Shots"

While in Florida, I wanted to try and get a nice picture of the kids on the beach.  This takes a lot of planning ... you know, outfits have to be chosen, packed & saved specifically for that occasion.  Then you have to pick the day you'll attempt to do it.  And you have to hope the weather cooperates.  And the kids, too, for that matter.  Oh & you have to try and remember to take the camera battery out of the charger plugged into your 7th floor hotel bathroom wall BEFORE you get all the way down to the shore.  That's definitely a key element.

Finally ... it all came together for us.   I got a lot of cute shots, but in most of them 1 out of 3 was blinking.  So this is my favorite of the bunch.

Although I do love Libby's face in this one... How could you not love those sassafrass lips?

After what seemed like hours of trying to get a nice one [but in reality it was probably 5 minutes], we let them "loosen up" & do a crazy shot or two.  Or nine.  And they came out pretty cute, too! 

Then we walked down the beach to the Palm Pavilion Restaurant for dinner, where the kids got treated to Shirley Temples.  :) Ahhhh ... VACATION.  

Thanks, SWA

I love Southwest Airlines.  I need to put a plug in for them.  They rock.  They took us on vacation again!  :)

We flew in to Tampa, FL late Tuesday night...

Rented a ... umm... car.

 

[This is what 9 bags, 5 people, 2 car seats & a stroller 

look like all packed into a PT Cruiser, in case you wanted to see.

I know you did.]

Then drove to Clearwater Beach.  We stayed at the Hilton for 5 nights, 5 days... & it was a dream.  My tastebuds are even spoiled.  They got to enjoy Starbucks coffee every morning.  I made 3 pots of coffee this morning [sooo not an exaggeration] & dumped all 3 out because they tasted bad.  

Here is a photo of our hotel...

And the view looking to the right off our balcony...

And the left off our balcony.  

Not bad.  We got to watch the sunrise over the bay & the sunsets over the gulf.

 

[Here we are watching the sunset pictured below...

doing it right with juice boxes & a couple of Coronas.]

We went shell hunting every morning, built sand castles and/or a sand sculpture everyday & watched a sunset every night.  We also enjoyed the pools & a day at Busch Gardens.  There are more photos coming soon!  But here are just a sampling of my faves.  :)