Cotillion-Sky Zone

 Jackson and Harper had the best time at their first 7th grade Cotillion at Sky Zone.  Such a great kickoff to their school year!  These kids are living their best lives and I'm loving being along for the ride!

First Day of School

The Miller kids are off to 7th and 5th grades!  Crazy to think this is our last year in elementary school!  Not sure how we got to his point already but I have no doubt this will be the kids best year yet!  Go make us proud Millers!

Jackson and Harper are in 7th grade at Central Middle School, team Defender.

Mason is in 5th grade at Redbud Elementary and has Mrs. Classuen.  

The first day of school is always better when you walk in with your friends!  Summer was fun but the kids were ready to be back with their friends everyday!

The first day is even better when you plan to match your best friend/brother from another mother

Turks Vacay

A trip to Turks and Caicos has always been on my bucket list and it definitely didn't disappoint!  A week at Beaches Turks was an absolute dream vacation and just what the Miller crew needed after a super busy spring and first part of summer!  

We loved having the Giordano crew join us!  Vacations are always better with cousins!  Our combined crew is now the Milldanos :)

  All smiles and ready to hit the skies!  Such an easy 3.5 hr direct flight from Dallas.

We've been dreaming of this water for years and the view from the air was amazing!  

Cheers to a week of fun and relaxation!  We booked a family suite in the Italian village which was perfect for our family of 5.  King bed with bunks beds and a pullout in a separated kids room.

First (but certainly not the last) virgin strawberry daiquiri of the trip.  These kids had stained red lips and teeth the entire trip!

Made it to the beach just as the sun was setting!  Just enough time to get those toes in the water!

Of course the kids found the pool tables on the first night!  This became a nightly thing after dinner.

 We got a good night's sleep and were ready for our first FULL day at the beach/pool/waterpark!  

The water was crystal clear which made snorkeling a blast!  The kids snorkeled and tried catching fish for hours everyday!   Our first day was cloudy which made the outside temperature feel amazing!

There was a protected barrier reef about .5 miles from the resort which we walked to on our first day.  Such amazing snorkeling and so close to the resort. 

Our second full day was the 4th of July!  I love the the 4th and I hated missing the festivities back home but Beaches did a great job celebrating America!  We all wore our red, white and blue with pride!

  

Take me back to this water!!!  

I could have floated in this water ALL day everyday!  Best cat naps of my life!

Gotta love matching 4th of July swim trunks for the cousins . . .

Best tie dye ever!!!

All American pool foam party for the 4th!  Brought back college memories!

So much fun!!!

These two sure know how to vacation!!!  Found them in the corner sneaking more cotton candy!

The Millers sure do LOVE the 4th of July!!!  Love my patriotic crew!

 

These two got 3rd place as "most patriotic" at the evening show.  They should have won but lost to a baby and a pagent girl :) 

We ended the 4th with our first silent headphone party!!!  The absolute most fun I've had in years!  We danced, sang and sweated the night away!  The best night!

We kept the fun going the following day with a private boat ride to an amazing sandbar, snorkeling and Iguana Island!  We chartered a boat with Island Vibes and had a blast exploring more of Turks and Caicos.

We had the best time searching for shells and sand dollars on this sandbar.  We could walk out forever in ankle to waist deep crystal clear water!

Mason found the conch shell he wanted as soon as he stepped off the boat!  He was pumped!

Crazy hair don't care!

Next stop was snorkeling and using the boat diving board and slide!  The snorkeling was absolutely beautiful with so many cool fish and coral!  Best snorkeling Tyler and I have ever done.

The kids had NO fear jumping and sliding off the boat!  

Tyler and Mase did back flips off the high dive while the boat was swaying with the waves.  Made me a nervous wreck!  Tyler gave Mase a hard time for almost chickening out on his back flip and then Tyler got up there and about did the same!

Next stop Iguana Island . . . 

We walked across the island from the _____ Ocean to the ____ Ocean . . .

We saw lots of iguanas on Iguana Island and the kids had fun chasing them around

We had 10 mins to spare on our boat trip so the captain let us do one last round of sliding and jumping close to the resort.  Both Steph and I lost our watches in the ocean on our last slides.  The water is so clear we were able to spot both.  Jackson and Tyler each dove about 15 feet to retrieve them.  Never imagined finding my watch at the bottom of the ocean!

Sunkissed from a day on the boat but we all cleaned up nicely for dinner . . .

Cheers to an amazing first few days of vacation!

Our last few days we did all the watersports, spent so much time at the beach, chilled at the pools and hit up the waterpark to end every afternoon.

The boys discovered in the morning you could standup surf on the surf simulator.  They had a few quick wipeouts but after a few tries they improved a ton and actually surfed.  Now they want to go to Hawaii to ocean surf!

The banana boat was a blast because the entire Milldano crew did it together!  Lots of smiles, giggles and some screams . . .

It's like riding a bull, more our Oklahoma style . . . 

Harper went paddle boarding with my sister and they both ended up in the water.  I already made it back to shore and was watching/laughing with the rest of our crew.  Glad it wasn't me!

The kids had all the icecream their little hearts wanted!

Love these 5 so much!

An all inclusive stay isn't complete until hibachi dinner night!

This trio was full of personality and had all the giggles at hibachi . . . I snapped 20+ pics and had the hardest time narrowing down to these  . . .

Mase knew before we left OKC that he wanted braids and beads and there was no way I could say no.  He looks like he belongs on the island!

The kids tried catching little fish for hours everyday.  They would catch one, make an aquarium and then set it free.  

When we were at the pool you could find this crew at the swimup bars!

The best week with my crew on the most beautiful island!  Life can't get any sweeter!

Best trip for the Milldano crew!  Can't wait our next adventure together!

I'm still dreaming of our perfect days in Turks!!!