Party at the Prince House...

We had a party at our house on Sunday. We had over 20 teenagers hanging out in our living room.

 We served hamburgers, hot dogs, Mac and Cheese and cookies. You know typical teenage fare.

 It was super hot outside and we don't have a pool so I told Natalie we were going to have to come up with some games. We decided to do a "minute to win it" themed party and looked up a bunch of challenges from the television show.

 It's safe to say the kids loved it. (I was a little worried they might think it was corny)

 Natalie has a really great group of friends and I thought it was nice for all of her friends to see Chloe again and meet Charlotte. These were a lot of the same kids that Chloe met a few years ago when she first came to stay with us.

This week will be busy, the girls checked out our local community pool yesterday. Today they are heading to my Mom's pool for the afternoon.  Tomorrow it's Adventure Island water park.  Sometime in between all this we want to go bowling and Saturday we head out to the beach to stay in the Condo my Mom rented.

Hurry up weekend I'm ready!!!

Balancing dice on a popsicle stick challenge.

Chloe balancing the dice.

Chloe won this challenge it must be that great gymnast balance.

Dave, photo bombing.

The M n M straw challenge.

Group shot just the girls 

Group shot with the boys included.

Sunset at John's Pass...

Saturday we spent the day at my best friends house for her daughter's Birthday. It was suppose to be a pool party but the pool portion got cut short due to our continous afternoon rains. We are so tired of the rain already. On or way home the rain had stopped and it was actually beautiful evening because the rain took care of the oppressive heat. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for a sunset on the beach and some ice cream on the boardwalk. We even popped into my sisters after to drop off her birthday present and Chloe and Charlotte fell in love with her little dog Perry.

Dave horsing around with the girls on the boardwalk.

Yummy ice cream.. 

This picture was funny because Dave took it and said "looks like you have a halo and we  know that's not true" LOL

My girl got back from Pennsylvania last night with her BFF's family.  Couldn't be happier to have her home.

I love capturing photos like this I have another one of my Aunt and Grandma in the same pose.

Sunset time..

I made sure I wasn't in this one.  Definitely not my good side. LOL

One of my favorites from the evening.

This one too.

Charlotte and Perry

UCF, Shopping, and Go Karts, oh my...

After we got back from the beach on Sunday evening the girls headed to UCF with Sydnee. They got to see her University campus and spend the night in her apartment.

 If I am not mistaken though the best part of the trip was the shopping trip at the Mall of the Millennium. The girls couldn't wait to get into their favorite stores.

 They headed back home last night and after dinner decided to try riding Go Karts with Natalie's friend Jordan. I think it is safe to say they had a great time.

Maiden Voyage of new Kayak at Fort Desoto...

We had a beautiful day today at the beach and managed to avoid the rain. YAY!!! It threatened for about 30 minutes today and then thankfully went on it's merry way. We had the best time with the kayak today and can't wait to take it out again. The only disappointment was that we didn't see any dolphins or manatees. Of course as we were loading the kayak back in the truck we saw a whole school of dolphins swimming in the lagoon. If they just would of come a little sooner we might have been able to paddle out and get a close encounter. Oh well, next time right??

Dave, Charlotte and Natalie paddling over to the beach.  Chloe and I drove the truck over and unloaded the stuff.

Look at that gorgeous Kayaking french girl..

I laughed so hard when I saw this picture.  What was I thinking having a picture taken with three beautiful girls with tiny little figures.  I look huge and completely out of place.  LOL 

Of course, I had to snap a picture of my girl on the job.

Charlotte and I

The girls heading out.

Sunny Day at Rainbow River.....NOT...

I was so excited to spend the day on the river and share with Chloe and Charlotte a little bit of Florida "country." Everyone knows Florida has the most gorgeous beaches but our rivers are a little known secret. The morning started off great and I was sure the weatherman was going to be wrong and the rain was going to stay away. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case.

About fifteen minutes before we got on the river the rain started.  It started and didn't let up.  I was really undecided as to whether we should stick it out or just get a refund and make the two hour drive back home.

Dave said "lets do it" so I took his lead even though I was a little worried about the thunder I heard in the distance.  So we, the crazy party of five, floated down the river in the rain.

 In the two hour trip we had about 45 minutes where it wasn't raining but it wasn't sunny either.  Believe it or not the girls were actually very cold.  Remember, the river is only 72 degrees F.   Combine that with cold rain and no sun and even on a hot day you can get a chill.   But even though they didn't get the chance to swim in the spring or see the state park.  (We opted out of that because we just wanted to eat and get dry.)
I think it is safe to say we all still had a great time.  We laughed and joked the entire time we were freezing our tails off.

 Needless to say we were all starving by the time we were done and decided to take advantage of the covered picnic tables next to the parking lot.   We had another reprieve from the rain long enough to enjoy lunch and then we headed home.

 I had to laugh because we stopped for coffee and hot chocolate on the way home something that is never done in Florida in July.

After we got home we had pizza and salad then headed over to sports authority to take a look at their kayaks.  We have been wanting a kayak for a long time, in fact we planned on getting two.  However, their tandem kayak was on sale for $112 off the regular price.  We purchased it and are so excited to try it out tomorrow.  We are headed to Fort De Soto park and are hoping that the rain stays away.  Hopefully, if we are really really lucky we will see some Manatees up close and personal.  Wish us luck.

Chloe, dry for the moment and enjoying lunch.

Delicious lunch.

Three dry girls, almost.  lol

Natalie setting up our lunch.

Charlotte.

Safe to say the river wore them out.

oh yes, sleepy girls.

Trying out the new Kayak.

Ready for some Manatee spotting.

Girls night out...

Last night we went to our local theater to watch a stage production of "Lost at Sea."

 Charlotte is very into Theater back in France and I thought it would be fun to get in a little local culture.

 We decided it would be a girls night because Dave showed no interest in joining us. Imagine that!!! LOL

 Originally, Sydnee was going to join us but after working all day she was really exhausted so I called my friend and asked if I could take her 4 year old daughter with us. I'm so glad we did because Emma loved it and we really enjoyed having her with us.

 The play was really cute and we had a nice time. After we made a quick stop for ice cream and headed home.

 Today we are heading to Dunellon to spend the day on the Rainbow River. I better run and wake up some very sleepy girls.

 Have a great Saturday.

Outside the theater.  

In our seats waiting for the show to start.

Emma wanted her picture taken with her favorite pirate.  The "girl" pirate of course.