Family Friendly Vacation in Florida

<![CDATA[I realize I’m jumping all over the place with my posts this month and I realize this is from the 4th…of July! Haaayyy! But there are a few posts from July I HAVE to jump back to because they were so sweet, fun and memorable. This year’s family vacation in Florida was one for the books. We lake house for the fourth of July was like nothing else because we were all.there.togetherrr. for 10 whole days! And didn’t harm one another (or even want to *gasp) the whole time we were there. ???? My other memorable post from July was a special girls’ weekend to Palm Beach! You can read more here.
Full disclaimer: all these pics were taken with my phone so they aren’t of the same *er caliber as most of my posts. ???? But I wanted to share them anyway and figured y’all wouldn’t mind the lower quality for the sake of..well, keepsake and sweet memories.

Family Lake House

First stop, the family lake house. This was honestly such a sweet week because the whole family was able to be there: both my sisters and their families all under the same roof. That’s 13 people, y’all. THIRTEEN. We’ve been joking for years that we’re going to eventually out grow the ‘humble’ lil lake house we grew up going to…but for now the kids sleep on the floor and they’re just as happy to be with each other, having’ fun with their cousins while the adults do adult things and have our own fun. We swam, sunned, boated, skied, tubed, laughed and played endless amounts of games…It really is a home away from home that I’m SO thankful to have and bring Brooks and Geoff into a little slice of heaven I grew up knowing.

Panama City Beach – Parents’ Night Away

Geoff and I took an overnight reprieve thanks to the help of ma’ sister wives (and mom) who watched our pups and Brooks. We were really needing some adult time to ourselves so we drove over to Panama City Beach and lived as the locals tourists live. We hadn’t had a night away from B ever I don’t think, which isn’t tragic or anything, just made our time that much more appreciative and…absolute heaven. We sunned ourselves, day drank, ate fried shrimp (and fried pickles and raw oysters and…), saw some old friends who were coincidentally there in PCB too. We walked the beach with the rest of the kids  on vacation looking for crabs and gaining a little independence from their parents. ☺️

Florida Engagement Session

Since I was already planning on being gone to Palm Beach the weekend after our lake vacation, I just extended my Florida vacation to Jacksonville for the week! Which deemed to be even more sweet time for memories and firsts. A few months ago my girlfriend Lauren asked me if I would take her and her fiancé, Eric, engagement pictures. Now, that sentence just came out super casual-like, but real life it was beyond a special moment for me to be able to use my photography to capture such a special time in my best friend’s life. We’ve been through ermm…alot y’all, dare I say everything together. We met in the 8th grade and our hours-long conversations haven’t changed a bit, the only difference is we use cellphones instead of those clear Unisonic house phones that lit up when the phone rang. (please tell me y’all remember those, hello 80s babies!) I can’t wait to share with ya’ll their engagement session. It was beautiful, magical and we found the most perfect location on Big Talbot Island, not too far from where their ceremony will be on Amelia Island. Here are a few pics from our shoot together and a few sweet ones of Brooks and me out by the pool at Mimi and Pops’ house.

Friday I’ll be sharing with y’all the full engagement session. Is it weird for me to say it was almost as special for me as it was them, even though I’m not the one getting married?? ????????‍♀️
For similar posts from our family trips to Florida visit here, here and here. And follow along more day-to-day life and photography on Instagram @lindsaygcottrill
What special summer memories have y’all had this year? I’d love to hear! Leave me a comment below and share what fun you’ve had!
Lemons to Love,
Lindsay]]>