Our vacation part 1 - Visiting the Murphy's

We started our summer vacation by traveling to South Carolina to visit our dear friends, the Murphy's. They have the MOST beautiful home out in Okatie, SC in the most wonderful neighborhood. Only problem, it isn't next-door to us anymore. :( They were kind enough to let us stay with them and "take over" their home! When the Dossett's come to visit, it is like a storm blows in! Thank you Chris, Christy, Ian, Lia, and little Ali. We had a wonderful time visiting with you all. I loved how the kids picked up like they had never been apart. We miss you all so very much!

Their neighborhood has a wonderful pool with a great slide that the kids couldn't get enough of. Lia was a big help with Ava in the pool.

The girls ran up the steps and came down the slide, over and over.

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER! :)
BEST FRIENDS FOREVER! :)
BEST FRIENDS FOREVER! :)
Chris and Ali just coming off the slide.
At first we made Ava ride down the slide with Drake. But, she didn't want any help. She wanted to do it on her own. "Me do it!"
Weeeeee!
The girls.
At Harbour Town in Hilton Head, there is a man named Gregg Russell who performs for the kids. He has done this for the past 30 years. It was neat to see all the adults who used to come to HHI and watch his show and who now bring their own children to see him. My kids LOVED his show. Ava and Ali didn't sit much during the show. They did a lot of dancing and moving :)

Cooper and Ian watching Mr. Russell perform.


In Harbour Town this was a great playground. The kids loved playing their and getting dirty.

Best Buds....what sweet boys.

Lia is SO photogenic!





I love these girls

Silly girls.


Drake had fun at the park too.



Ali and Ava loved listening to music on their little mp3 players. It was so funny to watch them.

Playing on the porch.

District 5 seven year old All Star District Champs!!!

Cooper's All Star Team won the District tournament today. They are the district 5 seven year old champs and will go to the State Tournament July 7th. It was SO exciting and nerve wracking to watch. The boys did such a great job and Cooper played some GREAT games of baseball this weekend. Way to go Springdale!!!

Cooper with his very proud dad!
Getting their medals

Dog pile!


After the big win Cooper wanted to go eat at Olive Garden to celebrate. We all went and ate way too much and even had some yummy desserts.

Our vacation part 2 -Watersound, Florida

(The Part 1 - Visit with the Murphy's will be posted later). After our WONDERFUL visit with the Murphy's we drove down to Watersound Beach, Florida


Everytime I tried to get a picture of the kids, Ava and Cooper felt the need to make silly faces. Especially Ava. In every picture, she is making some silly expression. Such a goof ball.

An action shot of Ava turning to "pose" for me.

Cooper spent a lot of time digging a deep whole in the sand.





Ava and one of her many expressions...





Playing together without fighting. :)

Sophie posing for me....
Ava trying to pose like Sophie. Notice, the cookie :)
Mark and the boys playing in the pool. They had a blast doing this every morning before the crowd hit the pool.

Goggle girls.

Drake discovered that he could catch softshell crabs in the surf. So, this year instead of chasing sandcrabs, he and Cooper chased softshell crabs. Some were really big! One even pinched Cooper's little toe and made it bleed. He dropped his flashlight and net in the ocean and ran as fast as he could out of the water.

Ava inspecting the catch of crabs while saying "Ewwwww!"
Dropping a crab in the bucket.
Drake with one of the crabs...wish we could see it in the net.
Can't tell, but the moon was beautiful this night over the ocean.
Cooper found this HUGE shell in the ocean. He was so proud and Drake was so jealous. I've never found a shell that big.
Ava doesn't know what to think of the crabs.
Ava got soaked one evening while walking the beach. I took all her clothes off because she didn't like her wet clothes. Mark couldn't believe that I had her out there in a diaper. I took a few pictures because I thought she was cute. Next year, she won't be in diapers....I hope!

We love Watersound. The sand dunes are so beautiful. You would never guess the ocean is just right there.
We loved riding bikes on the trails and boardwalks in Watersound. This is looking into Watersound at some of the big houses. We love this place. It is so beautiful and peaceful.
Cooper and Drake riding by the ocean, up and over the sand dunes.

Watersound Beach, Florida.
So sweet (when she wants to be :)


Bathing beauties.

Posing in her bikini that her daddy didn't want her to wear, but she was pretty cute in it.


Ava on the beach...I love this pic.


Sweet Sisters...the girls liked playing on the screened in porch.

We spent a lot of time driving around Watersound in this. It was great!
Drake found a little sand dollar shell (no longer alive). He was SO excited!



On the last full day of our vacation, we headed to the Beach Club to swim in the pool. We noticed 2 big, nice buses in the parking lot. The parking lot isn't big, so it was very obvious. We walked in and the Watersound worker who checks you in told us that those buses belong to Lady Antebellum!!! They said they were going to be there all weekend. I was hoping SO BADLY that we would see them. Especially since my girls love to sing "I Need You Now". We never saw them, but it was still neat seeing their buses and knowing they were staying at the same place as us.
Walking infront of our beach house. Such great memories...