Hello there! We were at the beach this weekend. If it looks like we were just here, we were three weekends ago. This time we came with two couples, one from Dallas and one from Austin.

We beached, pooled, ate, and shopped a little.

Best friends forever.

My favorite activity, as usual, was our evening in Seaside. I love Seaside.

It is just the cutest little community on the beach with kids running around, cute homes, and great and casual restaurants.

All six of us.

At a restaurant in Seaside called Great Southern.

The last night, we cooked in. We made grilled snapper, grilled corn, green beans and roasted potatoes. It is fun to cook in! So relaxing and easy.

Jeffrey on the grill.

And Sharon made guacamole to start the night.

Corn on the cob on the grill. We used an Ina Garten recipe. Peel husks halfway and brush with melted butter. Replace husks and grill five minutes per side for 20 minutes. Peel husks and sprinkle with salt. Eat!

Hanging out and enjoying the night!

We are done with the beach this year, but not trips! That never ends. We are, however, home for three weekends! Hooray! Hope you had a great weekend too!

It’s tough being us…

We’re back in Florida! See you when we get back!

We spent July 4 weekend in Destin with all the cousins on Jeffrey’s family’s side. There were 12 of us from Dallas, Austin, Houston, Birmingham and NYC. We ranged in age from 23-34 (I think.) There were 5 “in law” cousins and 7 originals.

If you haven’t been reading my blog for too long, we go to Destin often. This trip was just the cousins, no parents! We’ll be back in three weeks with friends again!

Side note–this was my first maxi dress! I thought short people couldn’t wear them, but then I found a good one! Different look for me.

You just can’t get tired of that view.

I also rocked the horizontal stripes in a new Polo cover up from the outlet mall.

And a hot orange strapless one-piece with optional neck strap. I realized it’s better to cover up and feel great then try to wear a two piece just because you think you’re supposed to.

I also spent most of my time in the shade. No sense burning my precious skin. I get very red splotchy.

In the late afternoon, we had some active fun on the beach. There was jumping–that’s me and my sis-in-law.

There was paddle ball.

All the girl cousins on the last beach day.

And all the cousins with the grandparents, they came to visit for an hour on the last night.

For the last of the vacation posts, this one has some amazing scenes. We took the gondola to the top of Aspen Mountain and found so much snow! The temperature wasn’t too cold but snow was still on the ground. We went sledding in June! So glad I finally got to see snow this year.

Seeing snow when it’s in the 50s on the top of a mountain is much cooler than sludge in your front yard. #fact

We had some fun sledding over some moguls. The hardest part was climbing up the moguls in tennis shoes!

Then we walked around the top of the mountain snapping photos. The views are just amazing.

Hi from Aspen.

One of the best pics. Tagged on Facebook as #nicetush.

That concludes pictures from Aspen. The other two posts are here and here. I am most sad that I won’t wear a jacket until November!

What a pretty town this is. We were in Aspen about a week before their peak summer season starts. It was great weather with cool mornings and warm afternoons. The sun was strong. We walked to restaurants and shops and along trails. We relaxed with books and walks through town. Here are some pics of the trip.

We had dessert at a restaurant called “Junk.” It was comfort food served in quirky ways. We got a s’mores plate served on a block of wood. I think this pic is so cool with the fire on Shelley’s marshmallow.

Also an ice cream sandwich. The ice cream was good, the cookie was too hard.

How cool to live on the mountain like that? You know I don’t see mountains often.

It seems that every weekend in the summertime, there is a festival or activity. This weekend was an outdoor expo with a race.

At night, people go paragliding from the top of the mountain. Looks pretty scary! They looked like they were just hanging in place at times.

Snow on the mountains! Way at the top.

Big trees.

Pretty flowers.

Their biggest weekend is this coming weekend. The Food and Wine Classic. Big deal! Huge celebs. They start building the tents over a week ahead.

I had some fun taking pictures of a fountain with different camera settings. A fast shutter speed makes a lot of difference!

Restaurants at the bottom of the mountain. Pretty great dining scenery. We ate here on the last night.

Again, snow on the mountains!

One more Aspen post tomorrow, and one yesterday if you missed it!