July 2014 Part 1- Panama City, Florida

July was a fun month! We did a TON of traveling and visited lots of friends and family in new places.  The first weekend of July was Independence Day weekend. We got the opportunity to meet my husband's family in Panama City, Florida for the long weekend.  We were long overdue for all of us being together and it was really nice catching up in person.

We spent a couple days on the beach and Ellie managed to stay out from 8am to 2pm! She, of course, passed out cold after that. Then we all went to Mexico Beach to watch fireworks and it was beautiful! My brother and sister in law were able to take us on a tour of Seaside, FL sans toddler as well. It had been years and years since I've been there and all this time later, I enjoyed it just as much, if not more than I did the first time. We spent one more half day at the beach trying out new activities like kayaking and paddle boarding. Both were a blast! We even got Ellie on the kayak and she loved it. We managed to get some long overdue family pics done while we were all together also. It was so nice to reunite with the rest of the McVays! We are hoping to make it a more regular event. Here's some of our favorites from the professional pics!

We are a pretty good looking group, and, over the years, we're becoming experts at being there for each other when waters get choppy. Whether its multiple (or simultaneous) deployments, moves, moral support, or friendly texts, we are learning the best ways to take care of each other. We may not have perfected it yet, but I think I speak for everyone when I say we try pretty damn hard. I'm proud of all of us.