Daytona Beach 2011

As we do every July, our family headed off to our condo in Daytona Beach for 2 weeks!  We were in for some HOT HOT HOT weather!

As is normal, I toted the 2 boys, a babysitter, myself, and enough food to feed the Five Thousand.

We had great weather, good friends, and good eatin’.  Does it get any better than that?

There was boogie boarding……

And swimming…..

And hangin’ out with Kelli the babysitter!

While there, we always make time to go to Down the Hatch for some delicious seafood….YUM.

It was nice to get a family picture off the beach this year.  Normally, we’ll get one in front of the ocean and it’s so sunny and sandy, but this year, we did one on the docks at the restaurant.

 

We happened to have some dear friends of ours staying just down the road at their condo and they met us for dinner one night!  This is Jennifer and Bill…SHE is the COUPON QUEEN and puts the Extreme Couponers to shame!

One night, we went down to the Boardwalk to let the kids have a little fun, ride the ferris wheel, and let Kelli and Cecil go up in the big slingshot ride.  (yes, they are nuts).  This is Kelli and I at the top of the ferris wheel!  I feel VERY old because I used to babysit her when she was around 3 years old and now she’s babysitting my children!  oh my!

Kelli and Cecil getting strapped in for the slingshot ride!

 

They went 300 feet in the air at 110 miles per hour!!  CRAZY!

If you know me, you KNOW I am NOT a risk taker, so it will come as a shock to you to learn that I PARASAILED at the beach this year!  YES! ME!  I DID IT!  800 feet in the air!

A cousin of mine and her family rented my Dad’s condo this year and we all went together to parasail.

Here is my cousin, Karen, and myself BEFORE the big event!

 

Kelli and the boys…..

I was hoping this wasn’t my last family picture!  HA!

You all KNOW my aversion to the ocean (yes, I hate the ocean) and sharks…so I was SO thankful we didn’t have JAWS as our boat.  Yes!  The name of that boat is Jaws!

 

Our crew was awesome!  The best crew and captain ever!  This is the first mate getting me all strapped in and ready to go!

 

Even Cecil went parasailing!  This is him and Kristen (Karen’s daughter) way up in the air!!

I guess from the way I was holding the rope, the next day my arms looked like I had been in a brawl!  Bruises were awful!  Don’t worry—these pictures make it look GOOD.  It turned ugly purple and green before the next day!  And you know what?  IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Overall, it was a great beach trip and we had a GREAT time!  Can’t wait for next year’s trip!

Happy Summer!

~CB~