Guess Who’s Back?

Posted: June 28, 2010 at 5:00 pm

And no, it’s not the Backstreet Boys. I’m back! For good!! I missed you all and blogging soooooo much while I was away. I have to say that as much as I enjoyed vacation and all it entails, I am glad to be back to regular living. We knocked out a bunch of errands (like restocking our fridge and such) yesterday so that way I could just go about life today. I went to a spinning class this morning (first workout in over two weeks!) and then did some other odds and ends running around – like to the post office to ship something, to pick up the loads of photos I got printed from our trip, to get a new hair dryer to replace my busted one, etc. I don’t know for sure what it is, but something about having a wonderful vacation and then coming back and still loving everything in my life just makes me smile from the inside out. I sincerely hope you all have been doing just as fabulous.

Now I guess I should move onto what most of you are looking for in this post…vacation details! Basically every day is the same when we are on our Daytona Beach vacation. My extended family has been going there for over 25 years and I look forward to it every year. Days of relaxing at the beach, spending time with family I only see twice a year, and topping off the night with a fabulous seafood dinner out together makes for a great vacation. Even better? It’s all on my G-Pa. He spoils us. 😉

Day to Day In Daytona

In the morning, we would wake up at around 6:00 am thanks to a specific little person sleeping in our room. Then, we would do our best to make it out to the beach for a morning sunrise walk. We would do a 3 mile walk with M in the stroller which was a lovely start to many mornings.

IMGP4813 IMGP4804

After hopefully making it out for our walk, we would come back in for some breakfast. Then we lathered up the sunscreen, got in our swimsuits, lugged the endless vacation paraphernalia down to the beach and just enjoyed ourselves. Makenzie played in the sand; we all went to jump waves in the ocean; I read some books.

P1140263 IMGP4726 P1140225 P1140229 P1140244 P1140250 P1140256

We would hang out for about 3 hours and then head up for naps and lunch. I loved naps! I took an almost two hour nap pretty much every day. It was glorious. I loved lunch as well. Healthy food finally sounded good to me again and I ate it up. I think I ate my weight in fresh fruit, cheese, hummus, carrots, and whole wheat pita chips this trip. If I was extra hungry a sandwich or something would accompany this snack plate.

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At around 3:00 pm we would head back out to the beach to soak up a few more hours of sand and fun. After all, we had to be sure to work up appetites for our dinners out every night. I absolutely adore the food from the places we go eat at in Daytona Beach. I start drooling over it a month in advance. This year did not disappoint. Here are some of my favorites….

IMGP4789 Lots of Salad – Caesar or House

IMGP4791 The Most Delicious Filet with Spinach & Mashed Potatoes

IMGP4797Coconut Shrimp

IMGP4938Broiled Crab Cakes + Baked Potato

IMGP4973 Clam Chowder Bread Bowl for the Sis & I

And in case food pictures aren’t all you were looking for, here are some others of us going out.

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All the “Kids” with our G-Pa

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When dinner was done it was time to return to the condos, perhaps play a game or two, and then crash in bed simply to repeat it all another day. I did have a few other highlights on the trip, including a luncheon meetup with the awesome Julie and a trip to the Ponce Inlet lighthouse, but I will save those for a post later this week.

Now you tell me…

  • What is something that made you smile this past week? I want to know a highlight from your world while I was away frolicking in the sand.
  • Do you have a vacation spot that is special in your heart? Daytona Beach will always be my favorite beach and place to vacay simply because I have ALWAYS gone there.I have so many wonderful memories from there.

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31 Comments to “Guess Who’s Back?”
  1. Jess says:

    AWW! Sounds like an amazing time – we missed you here in bloggy land!! Loved reading all the guests posts though, you have some great blog friends (ahem, me included LOL) 😉 Welcome back! And PS. You look positively radiant in your pictures!!

  2. janetha says:

    yay! welcome back. sure missed you!! looks like you had such a blast 🙂 enjoyed your guest posts!

  3. What an amazing time! It sounds so similar to my family’s vacation – been going for over 25 years and we have a routine, but it is perfect!

  4. Ah the beach. How I miss it so! We used to go to Destin, FL all the time. Damn BP altered those plans this year…

    Looks like you guys had a great time! Welcome back! 🙂

  5. Mellissa says:

    I don’t have just one place, it is the new place we visit every year. We are trying to go somewhere different and never repeat a vacation!

  6. Looks like such a fun time with family at a beautiful place! I love soaking up the sun on the beach.

  7. you are seriously just so gorgeous!!! let’s see…my husband makes me smile all the time, and a favorite place? northern california…it reminds me of my family and some truly amazing vacations we’ve been on!

  8. Welcome back girl!!!! Loving the pictures.

  9. Lee says:

    Such pretty pictures. I have a highlight for you from my world – I got married!

  10. Jennifer says:

    Did you go to Aunt Catfish?! The picture of the cinnamon bun and the pictures by the dock looks like you are there. That is the BEST seafood place ever. I’m so glad you had a great time. I’m so sorry I couldn’t come down and see you. We had Bible camp all last week and my husband is the director and I just came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t be able to get up with you. But seeing those pictures of you at places that I have been makes me wish we could have met up!

  11. What a beautiful weekend! I love the beach and family pics – looks like you had a wonderful time!!

    My happy place is Auburn – I love to visit and always feel like i’m at home when I go there! A highlight from my world?? Hmmm I smiled and laughed a lot last week – this weekend I had a great time and enjoyed my friends and Austin and Reuben so much!

  12. Me-Linh says:

    It looks like you had a great time! Welcome back! Thanks again for letting me do a guest post 🙂

  13. Shannon says:

    So happy you had such a wonderful time and are loving life so much. That’s a great feeling…and you deserve it 🙂 Welcome back!

  14. Hayley says:

    YAY!!! I loved all of your guest posts, but I’m so glad to see you back. Your trip looked wonderful!! You guys are such a beautiful family…what a nice spot to get away!

    Going back to England and visiting London always brings back fond memories for me since that’s where a lot of my family lives. I’ve been going there since I was a baby and even though my grandparents passed away years ago (they lived in Wales) I still have lots of fond memories of trips there with my family.

  15. Mandy says:

    Welcome home girl! LOVE all the pictures. M looks so cute on the ocean and I just love seeing pictures of all of your family 🙂 Miss you!

  16. Sarah says:

    It sounds like a really relaxing and wonderful vacation. I’m so glad you had such a great time! Great pictures.
    And I’m looking forward to reading more of your posts:-).

  17. Welcome back!! I love all the vacation pictures!! Something that makes me smile is feeling my baby move. It’s an amazing feeling!

  18. Welcome back! Looks like a great trip! 🙂

  19. Welcome back! You look so pretty in all the pictures! I love vacationing in Laguna Beach since my hubby and I went there when we were first dating and when we first got married. So Cal is the best!

  20. Welcome back! It looks like a great trip. Highlight from my past week was volunteering at a race and spending some QT with my husband before our busy summer really starts. I love that your whole fam goes on this trip. I want to do that someday when I’ve got kids and grandkids.

  21. katie says:

    WELCOME BACK GIRL!!!!!!!!!!! wow, what a fun trip! You have a BEAUTIFUL family!! I LOVE THE BEACH!!

  22. aww love your pics! Baby M is getting so big!! i can’t wait to see your beautiful 2nd child 🙂

    the beach sounds and looks amazing!! traveling to costa rica for me will always stay near and dear to my heart! I have family there and grew up going every single year! its so spectacular to reminicse about it!!

    welcome homeeee

  23. homecookedem says:

    MISSED YOU!! So glad you’re back!! 🙂 I am so glad that you had such a nice time at the beach!! How nice to spend all of that time with your family. M is so adorable, I bet she was so cute to watch play in the sand!! And yum, all of that food looks so good. Healthy food is finally sounding good to me again too, YAY!! I had a bowl of oats and chopped up peaches for breakfast this morning and a few weeks ago I didn’t think that’d ever be possible again, haha! Pregnancy is so crazy!! 🙂

  24. Biz says:

    How generous of your grandpa! Sounds like a wonderful trip – love all the pics too!

    My Aunt has a lake house in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia that is our gathering spot – lots of jet skiing, pontoon boating and fishing!

  25. Rachel says:

    I just got back from a weekend in Florida myself. Unfortunately it was a short trip and I didn’t get NEARLY enough beach time and came back without any resemblance of a tan. Arg!

    Otherwise the trip was lovely! My boyfriend met my mom’s side of the family for the first time and we celebrated my grandmother’s 85th birthday!

  26. Holly says:

    I’m so glad you’re back and that you had a great vacation! It looks just perfect. Family time, fun in the sun, walks on the beach, great food and company….doesn’t get much better than that, does it? 🙂

    Something that made me smile this week was my 4 year old nephew. I come from a family of all girls (and I have 3 nieces), but this little boy – oh, my. He and I have the same sense of humor (I know) – I just love laughing with him!

    Hilton Head is our family vacation spot….we’ve been going there every summer since I was in the 8th grade, but we haven’t been in 5 years! We’re actually going again in a couple of weeks…and I can’t WAIT!

  27. YAY! I am so glad you are back! I missed you!! 🙂 It looks like you had a great time. I will forever hold Maui dear to my heart. Keith and I spent 10 days there for our honeymoon and it was the best vacation I have ever had. We are going back this coming May for 12 days to celebrate our 5 year! SO excited even if it is still 10 months away! You look fabulous and are seriously a glowing mama (and mama to be!)

  28. i love all of your pics! your day-to-day routine sounds perfect! your family seems like such a fun group of people.

  29. omg amazing trip pics, Tina!!! Welcome back! It’s lovely to see you but take your time getting settled, unpacked, and re adjusted to life…we all know how it is coming back from a trip. Ugh. With everything “piled up” and you’re preggers so take it easy, beautiful lady! 🙂

  30. So happy to have you back! Your vaca seriously looks wonderful. I love that photo of Makenzie bein a sand mermaid! Awww 🙂

  31. Nicole, RD says:

    What a beautiful time! And your grandpa…he’s a keeper, wow! Spoiled 😉

    But welcome back! Glad to hear you had such a wonderful time! You sure kept the blog busy even when you were away…way to line up those guests post! Thank you 🙂

    You saw already, but a job and a house sure made me smile this week!

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