Easter 2012 in Naples

I just love my family....unfortunatly I am not one of the lucky ones that gets to have my WHOLE family in the same city to do all the fun family stuff people get to do...so when we are able to get together like we did over this past trip it is truly so special.  If only it lasted longer.   We all flew down to my folks place in Naples to spend Easter with everyone.  I remember doing this when Lizzie was about 2 and it was wonderful...great food, great weather, great times.  Glad we were able to organize this to happen again, with all of us!  Here is a brief rundown of this crazy family :)

Monkey Todd as Lizzie likes to call him....he is the middle brother and ask him about a movie quote and he knows it.  It is like the kid has a crazy sense for memorizing movie lines!  He lives in Naples with his girlfriend Jocelyn where he works in Landscaping...hence the good tan :)

Kevin is my baby brother....here he is eating down the homemade carrot cake that we made for Wade's birthday...him and Katie (pictured on left) live in Austin, TX right now :)   As you can see the child like Todd coming out...I don't think he will ever be grown up.  And we love it!!

I didn't have one of just Brad but he is in the middle...the brother right below me.   Brad lives in St. Louis with me...only one :)   He works in logistics.

Here they are working diligintly on decorating Easter Eggs.  Each one of us decorated an egg and I can safely say that I don't think those boys have done that since they were little.  None of them are married yet and no kids :) 

And here is Mimi and Pawpaw as the girls call them. A great shot of my mom Kim & stepdad Kent at brunch on Easter morning.   It was so fun to see them and I know they are having a great time down there in Naples :)

Bella thinking she was ready for the pool at Mimi's but clearly not just yet :)

Group shot of the first night...I can't believe everyone has a smile on their face :)   And me yikes..I needed to wipe the old mascara off my face.  This was after an intense game with the boys in the pool.  I through the little squishy ball so hard and so many times I felt like I had pitched 6 games the next morning I woke up. Wow I am getting old :)  Todd of couse won the game!

Bella loving on her carrot cake for Daddy's birthday

Group shot of the girls before church....they clean up pretty well don't they!  Love all their dresses :)

Girls in front of the awesome rose cross at Mimi & Pawpaw's church.  Love this shot and Bella is actually coperating :)

This is my new favorite of me and Bella....love this little one :)

Hilarious thinking that she would like coconut cheesecake from the Dessert Bar....this shot is taken mid spit out :)   She must of thought it looked pretty, to point it out with Ava, but not so much on the tasty side for her :)

Daddy with oldest Gracie...so hard to think that she will be going to high school next year.  This is a great shot of them both!!

Me and my love :)

Lizzie and I

Time for the Egg Hunt at Uncle Todd's & Jocelyns :)   They had over 100 eggs that the Easter Bunny had left at their house!  The girls were in heaven as they walked up!

Before the hunt began they had to play with Ned the turtle...he has quite the animals in his backyard...couple turtles, frogs, cats, dogs and sure he has a few others that we don't know about :)

Bella is off!!

The girls both found an egg high up at the same time, so Uncle Todd made them rock paper sissors for it.  I think Lizzie one, can't remember :)

The 4 girls dumping their good out :)

Back to swimming for the rest of the day at the house :)

Grace coated up with sunscreen swimming like a fish!

I think Ava had her goggles on for hours on end....the joy of a child and loving to swim for hours!



Bella spent most of her time with these toys poolside...she wasn't quite ready for the actual pool but she LOVED all these toys

She did finally make it in on the boggie board and had fun while the older girls pushed her around

Boating to Marco island for lunch

Beach Time!!



One of the last nights there....a little more tan from the original first group shot :)

Girls at the beach playing before dinner at Docs in Bonita Springs

This one is so fun...yeah that are all looking and smiling!!!

Lizzie with Flat Stanley for her class project

What a great trip I know the girls had an absolute blast this year!!!

Spring Fun....and being a mommy.....

The weather here this year has really been crazy ....just gorgeous and really warm, really early in the season. We love taking advantage of it as much as we possibly can!

I just realized today it is about 11 months since I left the full time world of corporate sales that was my life for 10 years. And it is days like today that reminds me how this is where I am supposed to be at this time. Nevermind the fact that I can't purchase new clothes every month, or every 6 months for that matter, but it is so worth it right now to see this little face enjoying the spring day while we wait for Lizzie to get home from school. This is the park right down the street from the house...and Bells just loves this little play house or play stage is what it is I guess......

She is such a ham...just like her daddy...and not to mention his twin still. 

Here she is behind the stage...

Busting out some dance moves...I had Dave Matthews on Pandora, she wasn't quite into that kind of music. She is more of a LMFAO kind of girl :)

Love the trees....everything is blooming

Speaking of blooming...this little one isn't so little anymore.  I feel like she just keeps growing so fast.  Not to mention the fact that she is growing faster than I can keep pants on her that fit....She is so gorgeous..she has those Brooke Shields kind of eyes/eyebrows.  Thank you Campbell fam for that one :)

And so sweet...as we walked home from the park I saw a group of girls that were just a few years older than her, and to listen to them talk, I prayed that mine would never end up like them.

I know there is always controversey between working moms and stay at home moms...to me there is never a perfect world.  When you are working, you might have extra cash, but you miss these faces all day, and they spend most of their day with other people watching them.  Then when you stay at home you stress out b/c you feel like you are not contributing like you should financially and second guess the decision, but at the end of the day, God NEVER gives you anything that you can't handle.   The truth is I am at peace, I am happy I get to see these little ones grow up more so than I did before, and for that I am truly grateful, even if that means I am wearing jeans from 2006 when Nordstrom was my favorite place to shop....but hey the good thing is...I can still fit into them :)