Guys, I hope as you’re reading this the weather wherever you are is sunny and warm. It’ll make reading this post feel just a little more authentic. 🙂
Every year the NFL officials get together in the spring for a big meet-up. Typically, this occurs every year over Ebby Lee and Nixon’s birthday weekend so Tab and I have never been able to attend. This year since their birthdays were over Easter, the meeting was held several weeks later in sunny {well, typically it’s sunny} Orlando, Florida. We immediately knew we needed to try our best to make it! We’d also been talking about when we were gonna head out of town for my 40th Birthday Trip. My August birthday is a difficult time to get away with school starting and Tab being gone for football {do you remember last August he was away more days then he was home?}. We decided to turn this weekend football trip into a longer vacation and celebrate early! We didn’t have to ask the Shulls twice-they were ready to celebrate too! The perfect little week was planned!
Tab and I left Thursday evening. There happened to be storms in Orlando making it even touch and go if we’d get out of Texas, but we made it! Our bags were stuck on the plane for a while thanks to the storms but the NFL Draft kept us busy.
Friday our only plans on the agenda were getting to see people we hadn’t seen in ages! And we had a cocktail hour/dinner that evening. We slept in because #lateflight, had a two hour breakfast because people we hadn’t seen kept popping in to the restaurant, and then we hit the gym. {Sweatshirt, shorts, and shoes}. We laid out by the pool {it was kind of cloudy}, took a nap, and went to the festivities.
For NFL officials, you’re assigned to one crew each season. And you and those six other guys {plus a replay official and an assistant up in the booth} travel each week to the same city to officiate the same games. There are a couple instances where there might be a substitute for a specific weekend for some reason but for the most part you’re with the same eight people each week. It kind of becomes this fraternity/brotherhood/family during the season and especially if you end up with the same guys multiple seasons in a row. But other than those nine guys that are traveling together each week, you don’t get to see any of the other officials officiating the other games. That’s what made this weekend so special! Guys I hadn’t gotten to see since Tab officiated with them in college were there and so were their wives!
Saturday was pretty much a rinse and repeat kind of day…we slept in, had a long breakfast, worked out and spent the rest of the day poolside. That evening was the awards dinner where they honored all the retirees for the season. The guy pictured above, Perry, was on Tab’s crew the last two years. Perry doesn’t have any children of his own so anytime our kids attended a game, “Uncle Perry” made it special. He has a big place in all the Slaughters hearts so getting to hear his speech was extra special.
We love this guy and are so excited for him! But he’ll be missed! And I’m cracking up because I just noticed Stacey in the background of that picture. haha!
These two ladies are also extra special. They took me under their “football officials wives wings” and were so encouraging over the years. There were a few years in there were fall football led into spring games, clinics, XFL, and more. And let’s just say I needed their words. :). We’ve attended many college football games and bowl games together so fingers crossed we’ll get to attend some NFL games together one day too!
We stayed up WAY too late chatting with many friends and our flight to Miami on Sunday to meet the Shulls came way too early. hahaha!
But arriving to these views made it all WORTH IT!! We arrived in gorgeous Turks and Caicos Sunday afternoon and were ready to hit the beach!
The beach was absolutely STUNNING!
One of my FAVORITE things about Turks {outside of the gorgeous turquoise waters} was the fact that we headed out to a fun dinner {off property} each night. We could walk into town from our resort. The people were so nice and it just made Turks feel extra special.
We popped into this stop to have a few appetizers before our late dinner and the NACHOS WERE SO GOOD we might have gone back another evening for said nachos. 🙂
Monday morning we awoke to sunny skies and new neon hats. hahaha! I don’t have a picture but Shay and Andrew surprised us with fun hats on our flight to Turks. That particular flight was waiting a bit for us coming from Orlando to make the connection so when I got on board they started singing…super sweet and everyone in attendance made it fun! I’d brought hats too so we had options! ha! {Our hats came from this shop and the lady was AMAZING to work with!}
My view for a big part of the day!
Love getting away to vacation with this guy!
Our lunch views didn’t disappoint either!
I’ve been to some really pretty beaches but this water was unreal…absolutely gorgeous!
When your kid sends you a crazy selfie, so you try to send one back. #failed {My Amazon dress}
Every late afternoon Shay and I would push back the amount of time we really needed to get ready only when I got up to my room and didn’t have enough time to do anything with my hair I’d immediately regret it. That’s the sign of a good vacation though-not wanting to go in because you’re having so much fun!
Our room had the most gorgeous views with a huge balcony.
It was pretty much paradise!
And just like that…all the fun was over and we were heading home! What a TRIP!! It was such a great way to get away and celebrate my 40th birthday! Thanks to the Shulls for joining us to celebrate! I can’t wait to see where we go next!
{And my top is this one.}
If you’re interested in a nice, relaxing Caribbean beach vacation, I HIGHLY recommend Turks and Caicos for your next adventure. And guess who would love to help? Mix and Match Travel Agency! Please reach out to us to learn more!
XO
