travelocity

Denver to Dallas to New Orleans. By planes, trains and automobiles. Okay, so I didn't ride a train. But I saw a trolley car. Does that count?

After a wonderful visit with my mom, sister and her kids, I flew to Dallas where I met Kelly & the kids. The heat & humidity washed over me as I stepped out into the night air. My hair, which had been cute for 5 whole days went back to being it's old self and I swam to meet my family. We spent a whirlwind day at Hurricane Harbor and saw more belly button rings, bad tattoos and moms in bikinis than I need to see in a lifetime. We had a blast!

That night took us to The Ballpark at Arlington where Kelly watched his favorite players add another mark in the W column. We had great seats and cheered our hearts out for our beloved Texas Rangers. It was more fun than we can handle in one day, I tell ya. So much so, that we hopped in the car and drove home, arriving at 3:15am, so I could hop in another car and join friends in a quick trip to New Orleans.  Another fabulous time. But you know what they say... What happens in NOLA, stays in NOLA!

I think I'm pretty much recuperated, as I'm trying to enjoy my last week of summer vacation. We celebrated Kelly's 36th, bought a new (to us) truck, ordered some new furniture, plan to paint the study, oh, and relax with movies and video games galore. Come on, school starts in 3 weeks!

mile high

I come to you today from Denver, Colorado! I have enjoyed several days with my mom, sister, neice & nephew. Not having seen them for 18 months, it's been a treat for me to have a solo visit. Hopefully we can make it a family thang at Christmastime.

Today I fly to Dallas where the rest of the Spann Fam will pick me up. We've haven't told the kids yet, but we're spending tomorrow at Hurricane Harbor (Six Flags waterpark)! Kelly is buying the attractive water shoes today. Tomorrow night takes us to a Texas Rangers baseball game - Happy Birthday, Love! (Apparently Cliff Lee is pitching, and if you didn't know, it's a pretty big deal. We got him before the wretched Yankees could get their greedy little paws on him).

Friday is another trip - to New Orleans! We've got the 3 ,
'F's: Friends, Fun and a Free hotel. All squeezed into a little over 24 hours. It's gonna be a blast.

Hey, I can sleep later, right??

not your typical florida vacation

As I was telling people that we were headed to Florida  last week, friends wished us an oil-free beach vacation. Little did they know that the Spann Fam travels to another kind of Florida. The kind that is in the piney woods of the panhandle, where life moves a little slower. The Spann Family Reunion beckons each July and we come calling, for 3 years in a row now.

We visited with relatives, swam in the creek with cousins, ate (and ate some more) with family, and had a new experience: life on the farm. We slept in a barn (a renovated one, with air conditioning, a full kitchen & a pool table but felt like we were roughing it none the less!). The kids experienced some farm living, catching our supper and enjoying hearty, homemade southern breakfasts and homemade ice cream. Here are some of the highlights:

hand-cranking strawberry ice cream

enjoying the spoils of (claire's) labor

{and down 2 teeth!}

a little barn decor

sleepy head

livin the barn life

our view every morning (but not quite this close!)

picking potatoes for our homemade chips

claire had the first catch of the day

my mighty fisherman

supper!

Okay, so we did make it to our beach one day... I say "our" beach since that is what it was!

Blue Mtn Beach is our little slice of white sand and green-blue ocean. This is what we saw when we got there, though:

But this is what we found:

oil-free & beautiful!

It was a wonderful morning on the sand, but the barn was calling...

I think these city kids have a little country in em after all!