The Reders Head South

At the end of July, we headed down to South Florida for a Reder family gathering. The trip included my parents, my 2 sisters and their families, and of course the 4 of us. This trip has become an every-other-year tradition that we look SO forward to! With my sisters and I all living in different states and staying so busy with kids' schedules, we don't have many opportunities to spend time altogether, with the exception of big holidays. So this trip allows us to relax at the beach and catch up with everyone. And of course all the cousins keep each other busy, ranging in age from 13 down to 5 months! They love spending quality time with Grandma and Grandpa too.

We packed a whole lot of fun into our week at the beach! I can't capture it all - this blog would become a short novel. But I can surely cover the big things! Besides the daily fun-in-the-sun of the ocean, beach and pool, we...

...had a tie-dye party on the beach!
...went deep-sea fishing...and caught a 7-foot bull shark!
(this was guys only - the girls happily stayed behind)

...spent a morning at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, seeing baby turtles (among other things!) prepare for their journey out to sea.

...took Cassie on a special dinner date to Cap's Place with just mommy and daddy.
...helped Grandpa catch sea life and kept it as a pet in a bucket for a few hours.
...got some wonderful help with bedtime stories.

We always have fun spending time at the beach! Missing it already...