Cruisin' Vacation

My brother Keith and his wife, Hannah, planned a cruise vacation to Mexico with their friends. They invited us to tag along and we jumped on the opportunity! It was just the excuse we needed to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary this July! It worked out perfectly to where the week fell on my mom's spring break from school, so she and my dad flew to Jax to watch McKenna for the week.

The week was fabulous. We cruised with Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas. It was wonderful being with Keith and Hannah, and we left with 4 new, great friends!

Day 1 on the boat flew by as we settled in to our home away from home.

It was fun to dress up each night for a delicious dinner! What was even more fabulous was getting to eat while my food was still HOT :o)

Dave visited the casino with $20 and came out with $60! Yay!


We ported in Costa Maya, Mexico where we rented ATVs with Keith and Hannah. We drove the length of the mainland, stopped at a beach to play on some kayaks, and headed back to shop around. The 2nd port was to Cozumel. As a group of 8, we set off on a catamaran to Passion Island. We enjoyed a very sunny day, tanning on the beach, freezing in the ocean's water, playing some sand volleyball, and eating a delicious Mexican buffet lunch.


The week went by fast, but slow enough to know that we were there and enjoying time together! We missed McKenna for sure and were ready to be home with her come the end of the trip! What a blessing it was to get out of town and enjoy being Dave and Erin!

A huge thank you to Keith, Hannah, and friends for allowing us to come with you on this fun adventure. An even BIGGER thank you to Pop and Gigi for taking care of our sweet girl while we were gone. It was a joy celebrating our 5 years of marriage!

The Overton's Visit!

We love it when family comes to visit! Will, Mary, and Eli got to come for a quick trip as Will ran in an annual marathon here in Jax! We were one proud bunch for Will! Way to go!
Dave had to work one of the nights they were here, so we all went to see him and let the kids play on the fire truck!

We took advantage of a sunny day, grabbed Subway sandwiches and headed to Dutton Island for some fun.

The cousins played so well together!
We wish for them to be closer (location-wise), but we'll just get them together as much as possible. Cousins are the best!

Thanks Will and Mary for coming to stay with us. We'll take you any time we can get you!

Playing Catch Up

Whew...time is flying by! It's been tricky to keep up with blogging and facebook, so I've been slacking a bit on posting...time to catch up a bit!

February and March just zoomed past us...can't believe April is NEXT week! We are definitely ready for spring weather thought, that's for sure! We've been spending a lot of play time in the garage with the cars pulled because the weather has been too chilly for the real outdoors. We have so enjoyed the several warmer days that we've had lately! The park has been calling our names for a while now!

We had a sweet Valentine's Day with our little Valentine! She received extra hugs, kisses, cards, and presents from us and grandparents. McKenna's only Valentine is her Daddy though! She loves him so much, Dave can hardly stand it some times :o)


We have visited our Children's Hands-on Museum a couple of times with needing inside activities and have really enjoyed it! We also took advantage of sitting in on some free, 1st time attenders "Little Gym" sessions. McKenna has enjoyed it all! She does well being around the other kids and enjoys the freedom that comes with exploring!

We have a playdate once a month with the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group that I help coordinate. MOPS is going very well and keeps me busy. I love being a part of this group of women and children. We meet 2 times a month and have 1 playdate a month. Between tutoring 2 students 3 times a week, MOPS, church happenings, and watching 2 additional children...I have been one busy lady! I love it!


Our big girl continues to do big girl things. She is such a little Mommy! She babies her dolls like they are real babies! She holds them, feeds them, puts them "night, night", pushes them in the swing and strollers, rubs their backs, burps them, loves on them....EVERYTHING! She loves babies!!! I think when it's time for her to be a big sister, she may believe SHE can do it ALL!!! Throughout the month of March, I have kept two additional children a couple of days a week. Hudson was about 6 months old and Emma was about 4 months old. McKenna was in Heaven! There were several times that she would look from baby to baby trying to decide who needed her attention the most. It was too fun!

McKenna loves to help me put away the dishes from the dishwasher. She is doing a pretty good job at brushing her teeth before bed time. She loves to color, blow bubbles, work puzzles, play with play-doh, play with sidewalk chalk, take bubble baths, swing, go down slides, read books, and listen to music. She is talking more and more every day. Her words are really coming along nicely to where you can hear them and they make sense! She is like a SPONGE, so we've really had to be careful with OUR mouths :o) Apparently, I say "gosh" quite a bit...b/c McK will walk around saying, "Oh, gosh. Oh gosh. Oh gosh."....not quite so cute coming from a toddler's mouth!

When Daddy is home...McKenna is found right by his side.
Her daddy is her best friend! She loves to do whatever it is he is doing. If he's digging a hole, she's right beside him. If he's on the phone...she wants her's too! She loves to be out in the garage with him when he's out there.

Dave is doing well! He just passed his 6 month "rookie" test with the JFRD. He was pleased with his performance! He'll continue to study to take his year test, and then he'll be FINISHED with his rookie year! It couldn't come soon enough. He is loving his fire house, crew, and shift! We are so thankful for his job!

These were McK's 18 month pictures...LOVE them!