Overton Summer Reunion - Blue Springs

The gang, the herd, the gaggle...
The Overton clan gathered together for a weekend (a week for some) of family fun at Blue Springs Park in Orange City, FL. Can you say hot as the dickens?????!!!!!! Thank goodness for Aunt Barbara's super-soaker fans and the 72 degrees spring. We also celebrated Aunt Dottie's 70th birthday. Yes, that blurry picture below is Aunt Dottie holding a balloon. I must have captured the moment while chasing Caroline.

The kids had a blast with their cousins. They played water balloons, went on bike rides, road a float in the spring, roasted marshmellows, saw while turkeys....

We didn't rough it. We rented a cabin with the kids and enjoyed mornings on our screened in porch while hushing our 6 am alarm clocks(Bowen, Caroline & Davis) so that they would not wake the rest of the park campers:)

It was such a treat to see everyone, especially all of the kids. I just can't believe how fast everyone's children have grown. I wish everyone lived closer!

Overtons Reunite

Birthday Dottie

Keeping Davis cool in the Florida heat. He had a blast splashing in the float filled with water while the older kids used it to fill their water guns.

Funny faces for the camera with cousin Reagan

Babes in the bike trailer


More funny faces. Hey, passing the time with NO electronics! Okay, except for my camera!


Bowen didn't bother putting shorts on when we announced that we could see turkeys outside the cabin. Those turkeys are staring back and saying, "hey, boxer briefs for preschoolers! Cool!"

Swimming in the springs with daddy



The boys

Our last night at the park. We had a feast followed by cousin Matt passing out glow sticks, then sparkler time, and finally cousin Will helping out with an awesome smores treat.

Walker?!? I think not!

Davis is our little speed deamon in his walker. It's quite hilarious how quickly he can get around the house. I've removed some of our rugs so that nothing can slow him down. He literally chases Bowen and Caroline around the house. Caroline screams when she sees him coming. It kills your feet when he rams in to you. When he's circling through the kitchen, Caroline asks to sit on the counter top. If the older two head to Bowen's room to play, he's right behind them. It's priceless.

Davis is STILL not crawling forward. He can turn on a dime, army crawl forward (using his arms/elbows), cruise backwards, but still not crawling forward with ease. No hurry my little man! Hey, you've always got your walker!

Madeira Beach

July 9th through the 16th we spent time at Madeira Beach with my family. Mimi and Papa rented a gulf front condo and we had a blast. It was especially fun for Bowen and Caroline this year. They LOVE the beach. Not just the pool, but they have a special love for the small "west coast" waves. Even Davis got in on the action. He would sit on the shoreline as long as I would let him (SUNBLOCK!!!!)and smack the water with his fists and laugh.

We got in quite a routine while we were there. We were on the beach by 9 am, back up at the condo for naps by 1pm, and back down at the beach by 4 pm (EVERY DAY!!!). We all gathered on the balcony around 8 pm to enjoy the sunset. Bowen and Caroline would say, "good night sun" and then head to bed.




I had to include this photo. Here you will see my smiling baby boy enjoy the shoreline while his "always up to something sister" is stuffing his crack with muddy beach sand (peeking out of this bathing suit). Nice!

While enjoying a week at Madeira Beach, Brantley turned 34! Happy Birthday Honey!
We celebrated with the kiddos, Mimi and Papa, and crab spaghetti! YUM! We had a "date night" later on and met up with Jack, Diana, John and Lori. Good times to celebrate a great guy! Love you Brantley!

Blast Off!

"5,4,3,2,1" we shouted with thousands of onlookers. On July 8th our family saw history happening on Cocoa Beach. We stood in the sand and watched Atlantis take its final launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Bowen really enjoyed it and yelled blast off as the shuttle's fire trail blazed through the sky. I'm so glad that we decided to be part of that. We made the decision to hop in the car that morning and make our way over to the space coast for the launch to join an estimated 750,000 spectators. What a sad day for the space program:(

4th Festivities

On July 4th this year we spent the first half of the day on the beach and then headed home with the kiddos (Brant had to head back to work Tuesday). We lit some sparklers in the backyard and called it a night. Actually, Brantley and I listened to the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the family room and watched them on TV (in the air conditioning). We're getting old:)

Photos of us saying..."go ahead kids, play with fire"

Kicking off Summer Vacation...

...in Crescent Beach at the Overton family condo. Ahh...a piece of heaven with 3 little angels that kept us extremely busy over the 4th of July weekend. We shared the condo with Uncle John and Aunt Lori along with some of their friends AND the Casey Anthony case. I couldn't help but mention that because I AM SOOOOO DISAPPOINTED IN THE OUTCOME!!!!! Anywho...we had a great time at the beach and here are a few photos of some good times!