Fun in the Sun!

After a fun-filled birthday weekend we joined Johns parents in Bonita Springs Florida for ten days of fun in the sun! All of Johns siblings (except Jeff- he was definitely missed!) got to spend a few days at the house Johns parents had rented. John and I arrived after Jenn and her kids had already left, so we were really bummed that we had missed them, but heard they were a lot of fun! There are so many fun stories I could tell, but I decided on just sharing a few highlights of our time! I'll let the pictures fill in the details!

These were the sunsets that we got to watch from our back porch every night. In the morning as we ate breakfast out there, we watched dolphins swimming in the shallow waters!

Missing the four Loftins for the complete crew!! 

Three of my beautiful sisters!!! Each of us took a couple nights to cook dinner for everyone. It was my first time cooking for a big group and we got to swap a few fun recipes! I am so thankful for these women!

Me and the handsome Mr. McLleyton! 

While we were in Florida we got to go to the Orlando Magic/Chicago Bulls game! John is friends with the owner of the Orlando team, so for the second year in a row we got special treatment! Court side seats and an all-access pass to the lounge! We had so much fun getting away just the two of us for an afternoon and enjoyed a pretty intense game. One of my good friends from high school who moved to Orlando, Beth, moved to Florida after college and happened to be at the game as well! So we got to visit for a minute and snap a quick picture! She is so sweet!

I love watching John interact with the nephews, but this was one of my favorite interactions. James is being raised bilingually and John was just double checking how much he understood. John was putting phrases into google translator for James to figure out! There were lots of laughs that night!

We rented a pontoon boat one morning and John navigated the inner coastal waters for us. These dolphins swam right up to our boat just playing together- it was so fun to watch!

Hanging out by the water looking for sea shells! The ocean water was never below 80 degrees so we got to put our chairs right in the water! 

It was so fun to watch these two interact! They loved playing together and shared lots of laughs! The gap in age between the two of them is less and less evident every time they're together. 

Uncle John was so great playing with the kids! McLleyton wanted John to be the dog, but John wasn't interested in playing the part, so MC compromised and decided he's wear the leash if John would walk him.

Lots of books were read during the time we were there! I grew up with my dad reading books to me every night, so I love reading books to the kids. Monreau and I had some special time together reading books- she could read them with me for hours- and I've had no problem with that! :)

John and I were the last "kids" to be there, so we had en extra night with his parents. It was funny though, after living with kids around for a couple weeks, it was eerily quiet after everyone was gone. There was no more need to point out helicopters or motorcycles when we heard them and it took a bit to get used to being just normal adults! The four of us drove to Naples the last night we were there for dinner at Tommy Bahama. I had never been there before so Poppy made sure I tried their coconut shrimp- and it was delicious! :) We are so thankful that we got to spend so much quality time with his side of the family in the sun! It got us pretty excited for some more fun with everyone at the cottage this summer!!

April Travels bring a May move!

John and I have had/are having a busy month of April visiting friends and seeing lots of family- but we're loving it! We kicked the traveling off early to the double wedding and got to see lots of extended friends and family. This week we are enjoying a week in Florida with Johns parents and siblings, which I'm sure will be fun to blog about- we're getting some great pictures! It's kind of funny how the idea of a vacation changes once siblings start having kids! Everyone is up and ready for the day by 7:30- there's no sleeping in around here! :) From here John and I are headed to North Carolina to find an apartment! That's right, we're moving to Greensboro, North Carolina the first weekend in May!!! Some family friends of ours live down there and own a small business called Rental Works. Like the name implies, it's a rental company- half of the business is for event rentals and the other half is machines or other items a person can rent for yard work. Ultimately John would like to own some type of small business, so we're headed to Greensboro so he can learn the ropes! Apparently the basics of what a small business are composed of are pretty similar across the board, so the goal is to take what he learns in Greensboro and apply it to his own venture. I'll have more details to come, but that's a little overview of what the next month looks like! We're really excited!

Birthday Weekend

So, I made it- I'm officially another year older- And another year wiser as my dad would say. Both my parents and Johns parents were going to be out of town on my actual birthday, but everyone made me feel so loved the entire weekend! We kicked it off Friday night with dinner over at Brent and Tim's house (it wasn't a party for me, but just friends hanging out). It was kind of funny for me because there were several people I graduated from high school with. I graduated with my brother in law, Jeff and he's still friends with a few guys from high school (as are Brent and Tim- who also went to my high school). So halfway through the night, Jeff asked me "Did you ever think you'd be hanging out with this group of people after high school?" and the answer was definitely no. I thought about that on and off for the rest of the night and had another random high school memory that kind of tied in with that thought. Another person, who I would talk to on occasion in the halls, but never really considered to be a good friend said to me as I was leaving the high school on my last day "See you at our ten year reunion!!" I laughed then because I thought it was funny, but this group of guys that we were hanging out with on Friday night would have been a group had I been asked in high school when I'd see them next, the answer probably would have been at a reunion. Just random thoughts and reminders I had of how the Lord has a plan for everything and worked things out in such a way that I've spent quite a bit of time with these fun people in the last year. And for that, I am thankful!

It's kind of a tradition in my family to have a birthday dinner out- to wherever the person having the birthday desires. My parents and brother were going to Washington DC on my actual birthday for Spring Break, so we had lunch with them the day before at Watermark.  I was thinking as we were making reservations how fun it is to have to make reservations for 6 now instead of 5. :) My dad has always been the one to ask questions growing up that I never knew the answers to because they were so broad- not to let another year go by without asking one, at lunch he asked "So Kel, what was the most important thing you learned this year?" (See, where would you go with this one?!).  So without giving it much thought, and having answer I knew he would appreciate, I said "To listen to my wise old man of course." I kept thinking about that question later though, and even though I gave the answer half jokingly, I think that might be the right answer. Everybody goes through the phase where parents aren't cool and don't know what they're talking about, but within the last couple years I've almost gained a new perspective on my parents. Maybe it's because I'm married and an aunt now, so I see my sisters parenting their children constantly, but I have realized lately that my dad is a pretty smart guy- on life in general. Once I started being open to what he had to say, I realized it was a lot of good stuff!! :) After Watermark, my brother, sister and dad decided that we needed some type of dessert at Culvers (totally random!) so here are a few pictures!

Dylan also decided he needed fries for dessert as well

That night, knowing that our families were going to be out of town, John got a group of friends together for dinner at Shanghai Ichiban, which is a Japanese Steakhouse in Grand Rapids. It was so much fun!! My sister and a few of her friends came, My brother-in-law, Jeff and his girlfriend Tonya, and Brent Ellis and Tim Ofield. I haven't gotten the pictures from my sister's camera so I only have one right now, but I'll add more once I get them!

 My beautiful sister!!!!

Love these guys!!

For my actual birthday on Sunday, Jayne and Matt had us over for a pizza/birthday party with them and their kids- which was also a blast! The girls were excited that they had made me my first birthday cake of this year. Jayne was finishing icing the cake when we got there and the girls were watching from the counter, but every time she turned her back, one of them would get a finger full of icing off the cake or out of the tub. It was pretty cute- and I can totally remember being at that age- getting a finger full of frosting was almost better than a piece of the actual cake! But after dinner Shaelyn and Monreau were putting on a dance "show" for me. That part was fun for me too, because I can remember being at that stage in life too! I loved practicing dances and making up routines, so when someone new would sit down to watch- it was lights camera action! And the girls were loving it! :) Jayne and Matt decided on Friday that they were going to start an addition to their house on Monday when they are in Florida. So while John was helping Matt get all of the furniture out of the way, the girls were practicing and then we all got a show downstairs (in costume!)

Ok, not the greatest picture of Monreau, but she came out in a princess gown, with a blanket over her head (it was her "long hair") and a princess crown. So here she is "wrapping herself up in her hair"

McLleyton didn't love being wrapped up in her hair so much

But he was trying so hard to keep up with his sisters- he was the "singer" in the show- so he walked around with a flashlight held up to his mouth as a microphone :)

The girls LOVE to brain quest questions with their Uncle John