Beach in Review

What an amazingly beautiful day in Nashville today!  After a couple weeks of hot and humid summer weather, it finally looks and feels and smells like September.  And though we love some fall around here (especially my fair-skinned, heat-averse husband and daughter), I am not quite ready to let go of summer for good:)  In that spirit, how about some beach pictures?

These are from the annual Cummings family beach vacation, in which the Cummings parentals and their three daughters and families load up for a week or two on St. George Island in Florida, a place dear to all of our hearts.  Of course, some of the best parts of a roadtrip are the fun stops along the way, so we made the most of those, with a picnic lunch at "the rocket rest area" (near Huntsville), ice cream and playground time at Peach Park (near Montgomery), an overnight stay at the Best Western in Dothan, and lunch on the water, complete with fun coloring pages and rows of docked boats to explore, at the Dockside Cafe in Port St. Joe, not too far from St. George itself:

Everyone was so glad to get out of the car at our hotel in Dothan that a round of parking-lot hopping ensued. 

And then we made it to St. George Island!  We had two weeks of glorious time spent swimming in the pool and the ocean, sunning and reading and playing on the beach, and cooking and eating delicious beach meals together.  Not every moment was perfectly blissful, what with two toddlers, an infant, and a crew of extended family in close quarters, but sunshine, sea breezes, and ocean views can brighten up almost any situation:)

Our girl LOVED her some pool time.  We spent most mornings hanging out here, generally with the turtle float (which Ev named E.E.) in tow.

And the beach itself was pretty fun, too!  

We spent lots of time eating together...sometimes at Eddy Teach's (the local raw bar), but more often than not, on the beach.  

We also had some fun celebrations, both for D's birthday and for the 4th of July!  I love this picture of three cousins in their best July 4th gear:)

Farewell until next summer, St. George!  I'll be dreaming of a scene like this come January:)