once upon a beach

We are saving to take a cruise next summer.

Amanda and Mark invited us to have

Family Vacation 2016

at their new home this year

in exchange for a little home decorating help.

We had a blast, and

the house ended up looking just fabulous.

The "POP" of color was chosen....

tropical green.

Erika hung the curtains in the common room.

She is really good at this,

but it is a very frustrating job...

mainly, everything drops to the floor,

and what you need at the moment

is always somewhere else.

In spite of, 

she did a beautiful job.

Bubba tore out an ugly old wine rack

that was part of the kitchen cabinets.

Amanda & I wept when we saw the results.

Erika knew just how to fix,

what to buy,

and how to make it a reality.

Decorations by Cathy.

I just love open shelves in kitchens.

We all fell in love with the finished project.

As you can see from the first picture,

our trip wasn't all work. 

Here, the boys are having breakfast with Granddaddy.

Uncle Mark cooked waffles and bacon.

This is David with Archie.

I bet you didn't recognize him.

The kids found the costume box and had a ball.

My favorite is Captain America...

they know, and he always makes an appearance.

There is a banana tree in the backyard.

Fascinating.

We had a most wonderful time

all being together

laughing,

remembering,

counting our blessings.

This travel blog will be continued at a later time.

Probably tomorrow.

Too many pictures for one post, :)