Fourth of July 2013 | Part Two

After the first few days of our vacation, Ava's fever had completely dissipated, but she was still really fussy, didn't have an appetite, and was not sleeping well at all (triple blerg). So it was time to take her to the doctor. The closest option was the clinic in Port Lavaca, so we made the trek over on Wednesday afternoon.

We were happy to have a diagnosis (even though it turned out to be somewhat incorrect...she totally had the hand, foot, and mouth virus again). Ava was very happy about her new gloves. 

Unfortunately, we had to wait forever for the prescription. And, despite her Sonic cherry slush, Ava was not a happy camper during the wait. 

But as usual, her Aunts were able to perk her up once we were back in POC.

And she even put in some manual labor. 

After a loooong day, it was time for Ava to go to bed. And it was time for the adults to kick off the 2013 Dolphin Point Olympics with Round One...trivia. 

Team Shep dominated the trivia. Clearly. 

After trivia, we had a little blood-blister operation on the porch...

(Sara's face and Bonnie cringing in the background crack me up.)

And then the grandparents went to bed while the rest of us busted out Cards Against Humanity. 

Best. Game. Ever. 

The pictures taken during our game are a little blurry, which may be because the photographer had a whole bottle of wine to herself. This may also be why I was so convinced that "Geese" was the best answer...

Despite being exhausted the next day (both from a toddler who woke up every couple hours and having a little too much to drink the night before), we put on our best red, white, and blue in honor of the holiday and spent the day hanging out together at the house.

And it couldn't have been a more beautiful day. 

My handsome husband. He's all mine, ladies. 

Ava even had an afternoon swimsuit shoot. I would like to point out that Josh picked out this itsy, bitsy bikini (we got it on sale at Baby Gap for around $4 at the end of last summer). I'm so glad it fit, because it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen! 

And I'm not sorry for all the pictures I took (the ones below are only the tip of the pictures-of-baby-in-bikini iceberg). 

And since I took a ridiculous amount of pictures of her in the swimsuit, I used it as an excuse to play around with different filters. It is so hard to decide which one is my favorite. 

Ava liked her bathing suit, but I think she preferred walking around in the nude. 

Maybe she just wanted to avoid tan lines. 

Once I convinced Ava to put some clothes back on, we attempted to take some group pics of all the "kids." 

And a couple of the three of us. 

On the night of the Fourth, it was time to complete the Dolphin Point Olympics with our final three rounds: beer pong, cornhole, and ladderball. 

Despite all of the practice that Ava put in during the week...

This was the extent of her participation in the Olympics...

(I'm just glad all the loud fireworks, music, and revelry didn't wake her up.)

But the rest of us were ready for action (minus elaborate costumes this year...we slacked a bit). 

Team Clowder: 

Team Big Kahuna:

Team Gryffindor:

(I love that Rhonda rocked her high school volleyball jersey in honor of the competition.)

And, of course, Team Shep: 

We started the night off with Round Two...beer pong. My Dad even purchased a regulation beer pong table this year. Yep...my Dad is cooler than your Dad.

Josh and I should have rocked this round, but we had a shaky start and ended up in the losers bracket. So third-place was the best we could do. Boo. 

Then it was time for Round Three...Cornhole. 

Oh, hey there Sarabeth.

 And the final event of the night...ladderball.

In addition to the games, there was also a lot of dancing going on (perhaps due to all the drinking going on).

The videos definitely capture all the fun...

In the end, Team Big Kahuna took home the gold medal.

But I was still (somewhat) happy about our second-place finish. 

We will be back on top next year...mark my words. 

Aunt Hannah had to leave on Friday morning so she could pack up for her three-week trip to Africa, and Ava made sure to send her off with some sweet baby kisses. 

The rest of us decided to hit up the beach one last time. And for the first time ever, we checked out POC's in-town beach, King Fisher Beach. 

It is not the nicest beach in the world, but very cool by small-town-Texas-coast standards. We will definitely be back. 

After an absolutely wonderful week, it was time to pack up our bags and memories and hit the road. 

Until next time, POC.