We give thanks - for warm weather!

It had been two years since we were in Florida with the Stelljes & Piper/Bach crew, so we figured it was time for another trip down.

The three families stayed in Betsy and Paige's condo in Bonita Springs over Thanksgiving..not too shabby!

Our feast!

Here is most of the crew, ready for a Thanksgiving feast.  You may notice someone is missing...

She preferred not to be photographed (in her "Tangled dress").

Consider this the post-dinner "runway walk".

Bonita Bay has miles of trails throughout the "neighborhoods".  Kristin and Dan got to know these quite well (as strolling along with Thomas was the only way to get him to nap!).

We also saw a few of our sharp-toothed friends.  Even though this one was a baby, we still kept our distance -

 - though we made sure we got close enough to take a picture of Claire with her new friend.

My cousin and a sucker.  What could be better?

 Did I mention there was a pool right outside our condo??  Though, sadly, it was a bit cooler this year (yes, Mitch felt quite bad for me when I told him that), so once you got in the water, that was where you wanted to stay!

Cousin Thomas is a happy boy!

And then we were off to the beach! Cousin Liz wanted a little help getting to the water - good work Uncle Ryan.  (This was much improved from 2 yrs ago when she didn't like the ocean at all!)

Shortly after that, we snuck off for a quiet husband-wife walk (notice the smiles).

Family shot! (BTW - this is Claire's "cute face"!)

Claire liked to play "run away from the surf".

Cousins playing in the surf.

This year it was Thomas' turn to be tortured - in the form of forcing his toes in the gulf.

Pop Pop was in 7th heaven!

Grammy too!

Cute smiles!

Now let's stick everyone's toes in the water!

Getting close to nap time?

After our morning in the sun, we returned to the condo for quiet time (and naps for a lucky few!).  We then returned to the beach to watch the sunset.  Don't be fooled by Claire's dress - it was actually a bit chilly!

love.

I love this shot!

This would have been a good shot, if it didn't look like I was squishing Ryan.  At least Claire was happy :)

Grammy and Pop Pop got lots of time with their girls!

The night before we left, we were going to go see one last sunset.  However, prior to leaving I was helping Claire take a shower (and wash the sand out of certain cracks...).  While washing her hair, I got soap into her eyes...which then turned into quite the dramatic scene!  So instead of the parents seeing a last romantic sunset,  I stayed back with Claire, Dan, Thomas and Liz while Ryan, Kristin, Betsy and Paige went to see the sunset.  (They were also eaten alive by gnats - so I wasn't too disappointed!).

And then, sady. it was time to head back home.  The girls were quite helpful in packing.  

See you all back in FL in two years!