A Very Eventful Vacation

We just got back yesterday from our vacation to Alabama and Florida. We were busy pretty much the whole 10 days and are all trying to recover a little from it! We headed first thing to Alabama to see Aaron's family. It was great being able to see everyone. One big reason we were glad we were able to go at the time we did was because Aaron's brother, Madison, is in the Army National Guard and they got activated. We were able to go to the deployment ceremony before they all headed to go to training before heading over to Afghanistan. Here are some pictures from the ceremony.


These guys on motorcycles were there to show their support for the troops and led the "parade" as the buses left.


Ashlyn ♥loves♥ her Uncle Madison.


After the ceremony, we went to lunch and Aaron and I knew the PERFECT place! A few months ago, a few chefs that were featured on Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" on Food Network and a chef that competed on Top Chef came to GTMO to cook and sign autographs. There was also an "invite only" dinner that the three of us got invited to because Aaron gave the guys a fun tour around the bay. The food was awesome! One of our favorites was the paninis. Come to find out, Pete who made the paninis has his shop (Panini Pete's) in Fairhope, Alabama. Guess where the deployment ceremony was! Panini Pete's ended up being maybe 2 blocks from the Civic Center where the ceremony was held. We went and were able to talk to Pete and take some pictures and everything.


(That young man that Ashlyn is looking at is Pete's son. Notice the Radio GTMO shirt he's wearing?) The food was awesome, of course, and they are some of the nicest people. If you're ever in Fairhope or somewhere close by, you MUST GO!

I'll post again soon about our trip to Tallahassee and Disney! (You didn't really think we could step foot in Florida and not go to Disney, did you?)