Upon finding out that we had orders to move back to California and that Logan needed to attend a three week course in Milton, FL, it was a no-brainer that we’d be spending some time visiting our friends over the summer.  As soon as the movers left, Logan headed down to Florida with a trailer full of stuff and I took a detour to visit my friend Mikki in Charlotte, NC. I’m embarrassed to say how long it’s been since I’ve seen her and we had yet to meet one another’s children. She has two girls and was currently pregnant with her third! The kids enjoyed playing together and I enjoyed getting to catch up with Mikki and see her beautiful home! We also got to explore Charlotte a little bit and I am currently working on talking Logan into moving there when we retire – LOL (the verdict is still out on that one). Thank you Moore family for having us!

Two quick sleeps and we were back on the road headed to Jacksonville to my mom’s lake house! Just a few days after arriving, we left to go on a belated 10 year anniversary trip to Mexico sans children which was awesome! We came back and  celebrated the 4th of July in Jacksonville and spent much of our time in the lake…

playing with Grandma’s water hose…

and just enjoying our time together.

Logan left to head to his school in Milton, FL and I stayed back with the kids to spend time with some friends. We were able to meet up with my friend Traci and her two kids. Traci is the only one of my high school friends that still lives in Jacksonville, which is nice when I come visit! We rode the golf cart through her neighborhood, played in the pool, and visited the marina. We even got to fit in a zoo visit with them another day!

The rest of our time was spent in Tallahassee visiting my sister and attending swim lessons.

Then we packed up and headed to Milton to go visit Daddy for a week. It just so happened that one of our USMC friends is stationed in Pensacola (which is super close to Milton), and another former USMC friend was vacationing there, so when the stars aligned, there was no question that we had to plan a quick dinner meet-up. Good people right here!

I even got to sneak in a visit with my friend Sarah, who is currently finishing up her medical residency in New Orleans. Logan took care of the kids and she drove over on a Saturday so we could spend a few hours catching up on the beach and at lunch. Yay!

Logan had to finish up one more week of school and after just two days of hanging out around the hotel on base, we decided to drive down to Panama City Beach to visit my friend Emily! I met Emily at the hospital we worked at together in Hawaii. Seven years and five kids between us later, we were finally able to meet up! She has three boys, the youngest two are twins, and boy, did my kids have a blast! We played at a splash pad, drove their golf cart through the Chik-Fil-A drive through, ate dinner at the park, went out searching for frogs at night, and stayed up waaaaayyyy past bedtime! Both my kids were exhausted the next day, but we had a blast! Thank you so much Emily for letting us crash your house.  We have officially deemed it the “fun house”!

We drove back to Milton the next day and spent one more night there until leaving the next morning for Tennessee. Most of Logan’s family lives in Tennessee and we were excited to get to spend some time with them. The kids had fun playing with all of their cousins’ toys and Logan had fun seeing his family and acting like a teenager again with his brother.

One day during the week, we drove to Huntsville, AL for the day since it was just a short drive away from where we were in Tennessee. My friend Rebecca lives there with her husband and three boys and we spent the day exploring the US Space & Rocket Center. After a yummy BBQ lunch where we met up with her husband Josh, we headed back to her house for naps and catching up.

I love taking a photo of all our kids together when we’re able to meet up! Her littlest was sleeping, but we got all the older kids. I’m so happy we were able to see them on our summer gypsy adventure! I can proudly say I saw all my bridesmaids this year! Woohoo!

After a week at his sister Tina’s house, we drove to Mississippi to spend a few days with Logan’s dad. They attempted to go fishing (it was SO hot) and spent some time just hanging out.

The kids’ favorite thing to do there was riding an ATV. Easton looked like Evel Knievel riding that thing up and down the dirt road!

After a couple of days in Mississippi, we packed up again and headed back down south to Perdido Key, FL for a week vacation at the beach and to celebrate Amelia’s 2nd birthday. We had a blast and on the last day, Logan did his last pack up and started his long drive west to California. The kids and I headed back to Jacksonville and spent one more week with Grandma before boarding a plane ourselves to fly to California.

We are so grateful for all of our friends and family who opened their homes to us this summer! It was definitely a memorable one, even if we were living out of suitcases and lugging my 27″ Mac up three flights of stairs (here’s hoping Santa is bringing me a laptop this year!).  Next summer has a lot to live up to!