St. Augustine, Florida

After staying up late for way too many nights in a row, our family needed a little pause to catch up on rest and to spend time together, just the six of us.

 



Our kids are always so fabulous to play by themselves or with other children while the adults visit, but every once is a while, I need to some to just play with my kids.

 



 

On our honeymoon, Aaron and I visited the Whetstone Chocolate factory, so during our trip to St. Augustine in 2008 we tried to take the kids on the same tour.  This time, we were able to finally enjoy the tour together.

Sarah thinks we need an industrial size mixer in our own kitchen!

 



 

We got to sample seven different types of chocolate made in the factory,

 

and we learned a lot about the process of making chocolate from the cacao bean.  While in Papua New Guinea, we actually got to sample fresh cacao. 

 



 

After checking into the hotel, we met friends (I'm not supposed to say they are old friends, but we've known them for more than twenty-five years)

at one of our favorite restaurants, the Santa Maria.

 

 

The restaurant is right on the Intracoastal Waterway,

 

 

and you can feed the fish and the birds from your table.

 

Between the two families, we had four July birthdays to celebrate,

 



 

We are so grateful they chose to drive over to St. Augustine and celebrate with us!

 



Friday morning, we took some time to visit the Castillo de San Marcos.

 



I love visiting the same places again and again and watching our children grow and blossom in a history of pictures.

 



Bunnell, Florida

Wednesday afternoon, we pulled into the driveway of a sweet friend.



All I had to do was walk in the front door, and I immediately felt like I had walked into my own home.  The kids quickly settled down and began to play games like Quiddler.



My college roommate (for one semester) dropped by and brought her lovely children.



Among the three families,



thirteen lovely children were running around the house and yard.



Wednesday evening, we shared with Community Baptist Church in Bunnell.



And after church, we went back to the house for a church wide ice cream social.



Thanks, friend, for opening your home to so many!



Thursday morning, the light was streaming in the front windows when I tiptoed downstairs for a cup of coffee.



And I got to sit on the front porch to watch the sun go high in the trees, read my Bible, and listen to a symphony of birdsong.

Can you find the "big kid" in the picture?



Love this sweet family and their mama.

Can't believe she wanted to put up with me for a whole semester.  And she still stays in touch!

And this lovely lady?  She opened her home to our crazy brood.  Love her back porch with its rocking chairs.



Thanks for your hospitality and for making memories with us!



Jacksonville, Florida

In the midst of visiting old college buddies, we got to stop and visit with Aaron's brother and sister-in-law in Jacksonville.

 



They live in a beautiful apartment complex with a huge pool, so we took some time to swim and grill supper.  When the Choate brothers get together, there's bound to be some goofing off, and the diving rings quickly became crowns for our crew.

 



I think Katherine especially latched on to her Uncle Jason.  Reminds me of when we visited several years ago, and Jason's daughter (I think she was two) kept mixing up Aaron and Jason.  Aaron got called "daddy" several times by the wrong child!

 



When everyone had cleaned up from the pool party, we played cards until Aunt Makenzie and I were yawning and dozing off.  It didn't take very long.

 

 

We woke up to find a fabulous variety of creamer to add to our coffee.  I think we drank three pots in efforts to sample each of the creamers.

 



Uncle Jason was a good sport and gave out lots of hugs.

 



I think his back almost gave out, too.

 



While he went to work,

 



 

the rest of us went to the bowling alley,

 

 

where Mackenzie and I discovered that we shared a love for playing air hockey.

 



 

One of the best things about Aaron and me growing up together is that, when I got married, I already felt like Jason was my brother.  Love being part of this crazy Choate family!

DeLeon Springs, Florida

It has just been way too long since we've visited our Florida friends!  How fun to watch our families change and grow over the years.  Now this precious family is beginning to add some daughters-in-law.

 



We spent Monday night and Tuesday morning catching up with our former college Sunday School teachers, and my friend, Renee, has such a pretty back porch for me to drink my coffee and listen to the birds sing while I read my Bible.

 

 

If we're in De Leon Springs, we have to go to the Sugar Mill for breakfast.



 
 

The restaurant is inside the beautiful De Leon Springs State Park, and we ran into some more Stetson University music professors, Bobby and Ann Adams.  I was impressed they remembered us and that we had played cello.

 



Our family always orders blueberries, pecans, and chocolate chips to add to our whole wheat batter as we cook our pancakes in the middle of the table.

 



I love how the batter comes in such pretty pitchers. 

 



 

Never enough time with this amazing and wise lady.

 



The kids decided they needed a dip in the cold, spring fed swimming area.

 



These two are a little scary together, I think they are twins separated at birth.