Our first family vacation.....well sort of

Jay had a conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL and we lucked out that it was over the kids Spring Break as well.  We drove down a couple days early so we could spend some family time together before Jay had to attend the conference.  We were a little nervous with the drive since it was going to take us about     25 hrs to get there. We weren't sure how the kids were going to handle being in the car that long especially since we were going to drive through the night. Well, we couldn't have asked for better children on the whole trip.  They were FANTASTIC!!!  We had a lot of fun in the car and down in Florida. We will definitely being doing it again. 

The first day we got to the beach.
Brett was not so sure about the Ocean.

Drew loved the ocean and jumping in the waves.
He had no fear at all!

 The view from our hotel room a little bit of the ocean and a little of the pool. We were at the end of the hallway, so we only had one room even near us, so it was so nice and quiet.

Loving all the sand!

Look at the excitement on his face.

So relaxing!

Building one of many sand castles.

I couldn't keep these 3 out of the ocean.

Chasing the waves.......

The waves chasing them......

That is about as far as Brett would go.

Much happier here.....

Brett chasing the sea gulls. We really had to watch him as he would just keep chasing them.

These portuguese manowar's were all over the beach one of the mornings. They are a lot like jelly fish so the kids had to be very careful not to touch or step on them.
We also saw a squid and a jelly fish!
The kids loved all the little creatures that would come up each day.

Check out those waves!  

Reed finally taking a break from the waves.

So exhausted couldn't even finish his lunch.

Home....SWEET......HOME

So many of you have been asking to see photos of our new house.  These were mostly taken before we moved in so the house is pretty empty and the furniture that is pictured is not ours.  I have not taken any recent photos with our stuff in it, mostly because we really haven't decorated yet.  

Just a little background:

  

This massive neoclassical revival style house, built in 

1903, is the only one in Marshfield.  The house has a 

tile roof and there is a large garage behind the house 

that is also clad in clapboards and has a tile roof as 

well.  The main façade is dominated by a two-story-tall, 

colossal order portico whose flat roof is upheld by 

paired, fluted Ionic columns.  Just above the main 

entrance is a balcony supported on console brackets.  

This house was built for successful mercantile business 

owner and insurance agent Peter J. Kraus and his wife 

Anna.  

The back yard!  It is even bigger then it looks. We are on a corner/double lot so we have a ton of room.

I am so excited for Spring, as I have been told that there are amazing perennials in the yard. The yard is partly fenced.

Huge 4+ car garage

Dining room

Butlers Pantry

Sun porch or "human checkerboard room"

Guest suite with full bath attached.

Kitchen

Billiard room and we got the pool table! We have had so much fun with this.

Living room some empty and some with previous owners stuff.

Master Bath

Hallway upstairs

built in dresser in hall closet

Built-in in hallway

Master bedroom

Master closet

Brett's room

Drew's room

Boy's bathroom

Front stair case

hallway other direction

Reed's room

back stair case

Front door

View from billiard room to front door

The three fireplaces up close.

We are so excited to be in our own home!  I can't wait until we really start to decorate and make it "our own."  We have done a few little things but nothing major. We did take the wall paper down in Reed's room but he still has not decided what color he wants to paint it.

We have plenty of space for guests, so please come and see us.