Fun With Family

Well, you know when family comes to town, we're gonna play.  When my mom and brother came to town, the first thing we did was head to Destin Commons for the day.   We went to see the movie BRAVE (loved what I saw of it, although I was in the bathroom with kids a couple of times) and then headed over to Build-a-Bear.  

We let each of the girls pick out an animal to be their special friend to cuddle with while Daddy is gone.  Chris recorded a message for each of the girls on a voice box so they will be able to hear his voice whenever they want as well.  I'm hoping these will help with the Daddy withdrawals in the upcoming months.

I loved how each of the girl's pets represented their personality as well.  Even though we told the girls that their pet was going to have their Daddy's voice in it, Kate still made hers a girl kitty in a wedding outfit.  Love it.  Analise made hers into a horse surfer guy, Aly chose a bear with a soldier outfit, and Kylie was just happy to push bears around the store in the strollers they had available so we gave hers a pink camoflauge outfit.  (I'll have to get some pictures of the finished products later.)

The cousins were only here for a couple of days, so they crammed in as much as possible in every waking moment - playing on the golf course, watching movies, playing on the wii, and of course . . . the beach.

We had another great day at the beach.  It was hot, hot, hot, but the water felt great.  And if you can see in the water a ways out where it's really light again, it's a sand bar where it's really shallow.  Some of us went out there and hung out at the sandbar, which was tons of fun.

We also had tons of fun body boarding, splashing in the waves . . .

. . . working on our tans . . .

. . . lounging on the beach . . .

. . . and digging in the sand.

We had so much fun that some of us couldn't even make it all the way home.  Happily exhausted at its finest.

Unfortunately, Cathy and the cousins had to head out of town the next day after the beach.  But that didn't  stop the fun.

On Monday, we went to Seaside - The place where "The Truman Show" was filmed.  But we made sure to watch the movie the night before to make sure to have the complete experience.

It was a fun experience going there - very quaint with lots of shops and people riding bicycles.  It was super trendy and expensive though.  We hit the beach there as well, and the clouds rolling in were gorgeous.

There was a lot of fun had that I did not take pictures of as well: movies and watching Psych, walks along the golf course, and tubing down Turkey Creek, where Matt actually saw a snake swimming.

Unfortunately, my car started acting funky in the middle of the week - refusing to start, actually.  However, amid getting a new alternator and battery, we continued our touristy plans - just getting a jump start everywhere we went.  It was quite interesting - luckily I have great jumper cables and now know how to use them very well!  And thanks to Matt and my Mom for helping to flag down all the nice people in Destin.

So, with our fickle car we headed off to find some souveneirs and check out some Alligators.

Don't get too close . . . they might get ya.

After that we grabbed a bite for lunch on the harbor.  (Notice the pirate ship in the background.)  There were some awesome thunderstorms rolling in, but they didn't bother us.

Some more shopping and some ice cream and then we were good to go.

That night we headed to the beach for the firework show over the harbor - always a good time.

And, as a random part of the trip, my mom gave Kate an Ariel wig for her birthday to go with the outfit I got for her.  She looks just like her!  Another funny sidenote - the wig came with a hairnet and Kate had as much fun playing with that as the actual wig!

Also while Matt and my Mom were here, we went crazy on the puzzles, putting together 5 or 6.  We did so many puzzles that Lise decided to make her own puzzle to take to church.

We also had some nice neighbors that let us swim while the car was in the shop.

It was great having my Mom and Matt come out to visit.  Of course, all good things must come to an end . . . oh wait, no they don't!  We'll just hop on the plane with them and continue the fun in Utah . . . details to come . . .  

Analise's Baptism

So, this year Analise's birthday was extremely special.  Why?  Because she was turning 8 and so that meant she was old enough to get baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Here in Florida they'll let you choose to get baptized in the ocean and so that's what Analise decided to do.  It was amazing.  In order to not make a spectacle at the beach, you have to go fairly early in the morning when there won't be too many people around.  We scheduled the baptism for 6:30 am - meaning we woke up at 5 and were out the door by 6.  It was an early start, but it was wonderful.  As we were driving over the bridge the sunrise was beautiful. It wasn't hot out yet, and there is just something about being out in nature that makes everything feel even more sacred.

Analise looked beautiful - like a little angel.  We borrowed this dress from a friend.  It has a Hawaiian Flower print on it which fit in with the atmosphere beautifully.
I was amazed at how many of our dedicated friends would wake up that early on a Saturday to support Analise and our Family.  Also, we had some family come into town to make it extra special.  My mom and my brother, Matt, flew into town. Chris' sister, Cathy, drove all the way down from Connecticut with her daughter McKenna., and even stopped off in Tennessee to pick up two more cousins, Rachel and Rebbekah, as a surprise!  It was nice to share this wonderful experience with all of them and feel of their love.

Here is a picture of them walking out into the ocean (no pictures during the actual ordinance, of course).  My brother and our good bishop were the witnesses.  In order to be able to hear, the witnesses have to walk out into the ocean with the priesthood holder and the one getting baptized - hence my brother wearing a swimming suit with his white shirt. :)

After the baptism was performed, we headed back to the house for the confirmation and the program.  It all turned out really well and I felt the Spirit very strongly.  I am so grateful that Analise made the decision to get baptized and what a special day it turned out to be.  I know it is one that our family will never forget.

Happy 4th of July!

It may be a little late, but I wanted to document the fun celebrated by the O'Gwin Clan on the 4th of July.  We had a BBQ with another family in the ward, which of course, would not be complete without the famous flag Jell-o cake.

After we had stuffed ourselves silly, we headed over to another member's house who had a dock on the bay - a perfect place to camp out and watch some fireworks.  There were a few families there so  the kids had a lot of friends to chill with. We brought popcicles, which were a nice way to cool down because it was STICKY and muggy!  (Also, the bug spray was a definite plus as well.)

The older girls liked watching the fireworks from the docks.

Lots of fun hanging out with friends, watching fireworks, doing sparklers afterwards and . . . 

. . . getting completely exhausted and falling asleep before the fun was over.

Birthday Parties and more Swimming

So, at the end of June we've got two birthdays two days apart.  It makes it a little tricky to give them each their own special day without combining, but we do our best.

For Kate, who turned 5, we did a party at the splash pad with popcicles, cupcakes, and a few of her friends.  Simple and fun.  Plus Kate had great time, and that's all that mattered.

Also, we were in the middle of more swimming lessons.  Kate got these new goggles that covered her nose so she wouldn't have to breathe bubbles out her nose.  Apparently that made all the difference in her swimming lessons because after that she wasn't afraid of getting in the water at all.  Go figure.

The other girls loved being able to tag along for swimming lessons as well.  Aly and Lise learned how to jump into a pool fully clothed and learn to make their pants into a floating device.  Kylie also loved being a part of the lessons.  She actually fell into the pool once, but that did not seem to deter her.  When I scooped her out of the pool, she got out, wiped her face on a towel, and got right back in.

The girls also had a great time learning to dive in a pool that was deep enough and racing their teacher (Aly actually won once!)

A couple days after Kate's party, we had Analise's party at our house.  Analise planned all the activities for her party and the girls all had a great time.  There was some crazy games of Twister going on . . .

. . . they painted sun catchers . . .

. . . and broke a pinata, Rapunzel style, with a frying pan.  Our frying pans must be pretty weak though, because it took Chris' muscle to break the pinata - deforming my frying pan in the process. :)

Of course we also opened presents and ate cake - an Oreo ice cream cake - that Analise requested special.

YUMMY!