Grand Ridge, FL

We arrived in Grand Ridge, FL on July 11th around 4 pm (our day started around 3 am), and we were exhausted!! We stayed in a brand, new motel in Grand Ridge for two nights before we left for the beach. We got two beds in our room, because we thought Ellie could sleep in one, and we could sleep in the other. It turns out, the beds were not really queen size more like an inch bigger than a twin. So, I slept with Ellie.

The night we got there Aunt Joyce and Uncle Jack took us to Bay's Seafood. Chip, Laura, Crystal and Jared came too. Bay's fried EVERYTHING!! We even had fried pickles! Dan and Ellie liked them. Grandma GiGi, Tosh and Maggie's flight was delayed, so they didn't end up getting to Grand Ridge until 8 or 9 pm (they came with us to the airport), so unfortunately they missed out on all the fried food.

The next day, we caught up with the rest of our relatives at a party they threw for us at my Mom's cousin's house (Michael). His house was beautiful, and they had a pool and water slide set up outside for the kids. It was a bit rainy and cold, but Ellie still ventured to the slide. She also informed us every time she peed. Oh well, she was next to perfect in every other way when it came to potty training.

We didn't plan a huge birthday bash for Ellie at home, because they were planning on giving her one out there. They got her a birthday cake and some balloons, she was in heaven!! They also had such yummy food. My favorite was Shannon's 24 layer chocolate cake. She even made an extra for us to take to the beach house (needless to say, it didn't last long).

The next day, we left for the beach, and we came back a week later. We stayed in the same motel, and had a couple of problems with bugs, mainly ants. Tosh left a pair of shorts on the floor in their room, and when he put them on again, he felt a tingling sensation all down his legs. His shorts were covered in ants!! As we started looking at our rooms, we had a hard time understanding how the motel had passed inspection. There were LARGE gaps at the top and bottom of all the doors to our rooms. The bathroom faucet fell off in my Mom and Dad's room. We felt bad, the couple that owned it were so nice, but the motel definitely had some issues

We had another big party at Chip's house, a fish fry. Aunt Susie came down for the day, and brought a present for Ellie and Shannon (a Hummel figurine). Ellie had a hard time warming up at first, but she still, to this day talks about ALL the grandmas and grandpas in Florida (Grandma Susie, Millie, and Joyce and Grandpa Mac and Jack). She really started warming up to Aunt Mildred. She loved going to Aunt Mildred's house to see her dog Tiko (he was a really mean dog). She also liked to see the dolls and eggs she had. She loved Aunt Joyce's house because she had goats, but her favorite house was Chip's because he had 4-wheelers. Ellie also loved Laura, because she gave her gummy bears.

We went to Providence Baptist church on Sunday with our family. Everyone was so nice there. I took Ellie to the nursery, and stayed there a while. I got to know the couple over the nursery. They were expecting a baby in a couple of months.

Dan, Ben, Ellie and I left later than everyone else on the 23rd. We wanted Ellie to be able to sleep in, so when we finally left to head back to Tallahassee to catch our flight. We stopped at a Waffle House. I took Ellie back to go to the bathroom, and she was flashing some smiles to a lady as we were walking out. When it was time to pay for our food, our waitress told us it was already taken care of, the lady Ellie had been smiling at, took care of our bill because she thought Ellie was SO cute! You can't beat Southern hospitality!!

On the plane ride home, Ellie made a couple of friends. She talked with the grandma and grandpa behind us, and she made friends with a little boy named Slater. He would come and sit by us for a little bit, and then he and Ellie would run back to sit by his mom and get some treats. It was cute!

We had SO much fun on our family vacation!! I was finally able to introduce Dan to my Aunts, and they all seemed to like him, and they thought Ellie was cute too. Dan wants to try to go out every two years or so, and we are expecting Laura and Crystal to come out to Utah in April to go snowboarding.