The Washington Monument

We finally got tickets to go up to the top of the Washington Monument. We called back in May and the next available time was July 25. The tickets are free but you have to have a ticket for a certain time of the day to be able to go up to the top. It was really neat and not as scary as I thought it might be. It only took 70 seconds to get to the top and the view was amazing.


The Monument.


Getting ready to go in.


The White House.


The WWII memorial, reflecting pool, Lincoln memorial. This is the pool where Jenny jumps in and runs after Forrest.


The Jefferson Memorial.


The Pentagon.

Inside the Monument.



Tucker and Jacob!

Last Day

This is our last day at the beach. I was really anxious about going to the beach for 8 days but the kids did great and we all had a wonderful time. We had a few early mornings but overall the kids slept great and totally adjusted to all the craziness that comes with a Hinely vacation. We made many good memories and look forward to next July.


Jacob had sunscreen, sand, and salt water in his eyes. He was over it!

Aunt Catfish's

This year it was really hard for all of us to go out to dinner together but the one place that we all wanted to go was Aunt Catfish's. This restaurant is over in Daytona Beach and in my opinion the best place to eat . There is always a really long wait but they have a play area for the kids which they all really enjoyed. We always look forward to going to Aunt Catfish's. We had great meal and the kids had fun.


The kids are patiently waiting their turn to go down the slide.

The idea of this picture was great but it didn't really go as planned.


What a crew!


Brooks & Mary Raines


Jacob and Mary Raines really love playing together. They are always picking on each other. He doesn't do this with anybody but her.


The famous Catfish.



This is Danny and his wife Colleen. Danny is Johnny and Beau's first cousin. They were at the beach the same time as us and joined us for dinner.



What cute little boys!

Short Money Jet Ski

Every year Mr. Hinely brings his jet ski's to the beach for all of us to ride. Sounds fun but it never ever ever ever goes as planned. He has two that he usually brings and only one of them ever works once they get them out into the water. I have so many horror stories about the jet ski's but I won't get in to it. This year Mr. Hinely decided not to bring them so the guys decided to just rent some for the day. There weren't that many options to rent from but the one place that really grabbed our attention was called " Short Money Jet Ski Rentals". The guys called and reserved a jet ski and we were on our way. There motto is that if you are short on money you can always rent from us. Um, ok sounds good to us. I wasn't sure if I should take the boys but of course Johnny had other plans and said "of course Tucker can ride the jet ski". I thought he was a little young to ride but of course Tucker loved it and did just fine. We had a great day and I know Tucker is looking forward to riding again.


Suited up and ready to go.

If he is with his daddy he will do anything.


Yes that's me poking along with Tucker. I didn't go as fast as everyone else.


At least I got him to ride with me.

I wanna go to the pool.

The kids enjoyed the beach but after just a few minutes all I heard was "I wanna go to the pool". We did the beach everyday but spent most of our time at the pool. Tucker has become quite the little swimmer. He can almost swim without floaties but not yet. He jumps in on his own and swims all over the pool. He is such a natural in the water and I am sooo glad. I don't know if I should be proud or scared but by the end of the week Johnny taught him how to do a front flip into the pool. He is pure Hinely. I really do love that he doesn't have any fear but it does scare me at times.


Tucker was so sick of taking pictures. He was ready for the pool.

Off he goes.


My little swimmer.



Jacob is ready for the pool....


but would rather play on the edge.


Mary Raines was quite the little swimmer. I think she liked the baby pool but she did really good in the big pool.

These two had so much fun playing together.

Fun in the sun (part 1)

This is the first day we went out to the beach and the boys loved it. I knew Tucker would be super excited but I wasn't sure what Jacob would think about the ocean. He actually really liked it. He had fun just splashing around and especially playing in the sand.

4th of July Birthday Extravaganza

After our visit with Nana & Papa Hinely we headed to the beach. Tucker was so excited to finally see the beach. He has been looking forward to this trip for a long time. We got to our room around 3:30 and got settled in before heading out to the beach. We went out for a couple of hours before heading in for the birthday extravaganza. July 4th is not only a day to celebrate our Independence but it's Papa John's birthday. Jane Lou had prepared a yummy dinner and a very special flag birthday cake for all of us to enjoy. After dinner we headed out to beach to watch the firework show. It was a great 4th but Jacob hated the fireworks. Maybe he will like them next year.



Happy Birthday Papa John!


This little guys loves his Papa!


What a good-looking bunch of Hinely's.


This little guy is starting to get really attached to his daddy!


"Hinely Fireworks Summer 2008"!


We were so proud! Not really more like embarrassed. This is the result of cheap fireworks from Publix!

Day 1 - Visiting with Nana & Papa Hinely

We left for sunny Florida a day early so we could go to Orlando and visit with Nana and Papa Hinely. Nana had dinner ready for us when we arrived and it was soo yummy. The kids had so much fun playing and getting into everything at the house. We had a wonderful visit and look forward to seeing them again real soon.


The John's.



Hey look, someone besides me or Johnny is holding Jacob and he isn't crying!


The three musketeers! I'm sure Nana loved the fact that these three were banging on her piano ALL NIGHT!





I love the mischievous look that is always on Jacob's face.