I'm Back

So, like a week ago, we got back from Florida. And I have been working on this post for like 5 days. Not because it's anything special or clever, but because the thought of sitting to blog makes me have a headache. John pointed out tonight that my last two post have been about how I'm not blogging. Whatever, it's only temporary I'm sure. And no one really cares anyway, right.

Ok, so back to our vacation. It was really fun, nice weather (super humid though), and great company! We went with John's parents and his sister Andrea and her husband Nick, John's business partner. We stayed on Amelia Island which is near Jacksonville. It was a really neat place and great hotel. We spent very little time there however, there was just too many other things to see near by, like...

Savannah Georgia. Seriously gorgeous, romantic city. Didn't spend enough time there, it was such a cool place.

Side note, in this post you will see a few attempts at a group photo using my handy timer. However, with this particular lens, and the size of our group, I had to position the camera pretty far away from us, and it made the 10 seconds I had to get to the group and get in position, somewhat hilarious. Especially in a dress. Just thought you should know.

Isn't it so pretty? Love it.

St Augustine. This old town had some fun things to do and see, like an old fort, and a gorgeous college campus, and some cool shops. This is one of the oldest cities in America, or something like that. One of the fun things we did here was rent some coupes to ride around town in. It was really fun.

Ok, this deserves and explanation. Nick and Andrea were looking for cool souviners to bring home for their kids, and they found this insane shop that sold every kind of weapon you could imagine. I put on all this gear and called myself a Lamanite. I'm funny like that. But seriously this store was creepy and not for the casual shopper. More like sadistic killers. Oh, and I didn't know when John took this picture that you could see my mouth ? I thought it was covered by the mask, so don't laugh at my face.

Or laugh, cuz I look ridiculous.

We took our fun little coupes on a tour of this island off St Augustine. We found an awesome beach in a State Park and got some ice cream there. This was such a fun day, but riding in those coupes on main roads, when you can't go over 40mph, and merging into traffic, was seriously scary.

Grease Monkey Convention, Amelia Island Plantation. Ok, so I wish this trip was all for pleasure, but really it was partly for work. You see, John and Nick are franchisees, and we have never attended a convention before - but this year was different, because John and Nick were being honored by the company with a huge award. They attended the seminars and events throughout the trip, and the last night was the Awards Banquet. Our 2 stores were chosen for the President's Award, Store of the Year. Out of about 200 stores across the country, this was a big deal, so we went out there so they could personally receive it. I'm really proud of them both. They totally deserve it.

Besides all the fun we had on the trip, and the lovely break from reality that is 60 hour work weeks and 2 kids under 2, one more highlight was the keynote speaker at the Banquet. Mort Crim. He gave an awesome motivational speech and so much of what he said I found very relevant and moving. We all really enjoyed it.

The next morning we headed home on an early flight. We missed our babies, but they were in excellent hands with my mom. In fact, I think they had a great time too, other than Boston breaking his arm the first day we were gone. My poor mother. But he is just fine and will be in this cast for about 3 more weeks.

On this trip, Nick and I decided this should be a new tradition for us. Except next year we will have our own convention, and bring all our kids. Thats 6 adults and 6 children. Grease Monkey Convention 2010. I say Hawaii.