Gulf Shores

The past 2 years we have gone on vacation as a family for the 4th of July. It's a lot of fun to get away for the week and float the river with our little family and a lot of fun friends. But with the drought, there just wasn't enough water this year and we were worried it may be stagnant. So, we decided to go to the beach instead. Josh called me one day and said some friends of ours wanted to see if we wanted to go to Alabama for a few days with them. I was like, "What's in Alabama!?!" Dummy me did not realize there were gorgeous beaches there! So we said what the heck! And set off for a fun vacation to Gulf Shores, AL with friends.





The drive was LONG! And HOT! We drove about halfway at night, got a hotel, and then made the rest of the drive in the morning. It was nice to break the trip up, but it was still a really lobg drive. And this heat is just insane. Even driving down the road with the a/c full blast, it's hard to stay cool. It was over 100 degrees the entire time we were there.

We took a short cut on a ferry. The kids really enjoyed being able to get out of the car for a while and see the dolphins and seagulls. They were so excited to finally be at the ocean. They asked us the entire 8 hours if we were at the ocean yet ;)

Our Condo was awesome and the beach was blissful! The Condo was 3 bedrooms and 3 baths and had a kitchen and living room and wrap around balcony. We shared it with 2 other families, we had a blast! We cooked every morning and every night and spent the day at the beach. Our friends bought the kids beach toys and boogie boards, they were in Heaven! They built sand castles and buried each other in the sand. The resort also had a really nice pool and we went down there every evening so the kids could swim.

One day we went to a go cart track/ arcade. They had 2 seater go carts, so we paired up and drove the kids. Then we realized they had mini go carts! They has so much fun racing each other on the go carts. It was a really cool place with lots of games and rides, but we didn't stay long. Remember, 100 degrees? lol! We also went on a dolphin cruise, just the four of us. It was an old Marine boat, it was really neat. We went out about 15 minutes and found some dolphins and spent about 10 minutes with them and then went back. The guy that was driving the boat told us some history about the area (Flora-Bama) Josh and I are such dorks, we love any kind of tour! We had a great time and I'm so glad the drought didn't keep us from taking a vacation. Big thanks to Mimi & Moose for keeping our Precious Lakyn. We missed her terribly, but it was nice to spend some quality time with our big kids!

Remember Florida...

Okay... we are in late January! A couple more months and I'll be caught up on blogging! yay!

When Josh and I first got together we went to Florida for my cousin's wedding. We fell in LOVE! With Florida and each other ;) We always talk about that trip and say, "Remember Florida?" Well... 7 years later and we finally got to go back! My little brother is going to college there and living with his Dad, so we decided it was time for a visit. And the timing couldn't have been better. We needed a vacation, BAD!

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale and rented a car and drove to Islamorada to meet my little brother, J.D. His Dad let us take his boat out the next day. Here is Josh fueling it up, it's so nice!

We spent the entire day fishing. I caught my very first fish, a parrot fish. It was so pretty and unique. Josh and JD caught a lot of tuna and we even ate some right there on the boat! Talk about fresh sushi! It was so good! I was amazed at how much JD knows about fishing those waters. He knows the Florida Keys like the back of his hand. It's very impressive and so cool to see him in his element.

We stayed at Holiday Isle for two nights, we also stayed there the first time we went to Florida so it was neat to go back there again. We had a blast hanging out with JD, fishing and catching up. I miss him so much already and can't wait for him to come to Texas for Mother's Day.

When we left there we kept driving South and went all the way to Key West. We spent 4 days there the last time we were in Florida and we couldn't wait to get back there. We stayed in a really neat, relaxing hotel that was within walking distance of everything. We walked down to The Sunset at Mallory Square one night and of course, Josh got talked into helping one of the street performers. There are about 10 people who come out every night at sunset and do all kinds of crazy stunts. They are really talented and fun to watch.

Our favorite place to hang out on Duvall Street is Willie T's. They have a great live band every night and just really fun down to earth people. It's an outdoor bar with a huge tree growing right through the middle of it. The entire place is decorated with dollar bills. They will give you a magic marker and a staple gun and you write something on a dollar bill and staple it anywhere in the bar. It's pretty cool! But it would be way cooler if they gave you the marker, stapler, AND the dollar bill, ha!

When we go on vacations we like to do at least one crazy thing. So we decided to go on a bi plane ride. This is the only picture I got because the battery went dead on my camera. (Camera issues... story of my life!) I was a nervous wreck, but I was very pleasantly surprised in the end. Our pilot was awesome, not only was he a very experienced pilot, but he was born and raised in Key West! He knew so much history, and Josh and I are total dorks when it comes to that. We love to go on tours and hear all about the history of wherever we are. We even went on the trolly tour with all of the seniors! LOL! Anyways... I would totally recommend this bi plane ride, we went over all of Key West and the Shipwreck Reefs, it was too cool!

Later that day we went to The Aquarium and The Shipwreck Museum. Josh fed this bird out of his hand and we saw so many cool animals and learned a lot about the history of Key West. BUT... our hearts were totally not in it. There were kids everywhere and as much as we wanted to enjoy our last day, we missed our kids so much! It was neat seeing all these cool things, but we were so ready to get home to our babies.

The last thing we did was go on a Sunset Dinner Cruise. This was also something we did on our first trip to The Keys and we had to do it again. A small taxi boat picked us up from the hotel and took us over to a private island where there is a restraunt out on the beach. The food and the service are wonderful and the view is amazing! It was an awesome way to spend our last night in Key West.

As we walked from the dock to our hotel, we saw a Disney Cruise Ship! We were so excited to get home and tell the kids THAT will be our next vacation!

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a very eventful Thanksgiving this year! Harleigh got out of school at 1:10 the Tuesday before Turkey Day, so we picked her up and headed straight to Carthage. Josh's Grannie moved there last year and his cousins live there too, so we stayed with them and all went to Grannie's for Thanksgiving. His cousin has a little boy is 4 1/2 and he gets along so good with Harleigh and Trey. We had so much fun staying with them, I wish I had taken some pictures. I have noticed that the more kids I have, the less pictures I take. ha!

Lakyn was so good! Here is her Nan, Josh's Mom, holding her. She had the cutest little turkey dress on and afterwards she wore a onesie that said, "I'm Stuffed!" Too cute!
Yes, she is that fat! And I love it!!! lol! The day after Thanksgiving we went to Lubbock with some of Josh's other cousins, Downey and Melissa. It was a LONG trip but so worth it! They are so good about coming to see us anytime they can and I'm glad we finally made a trip up there to visit.

We had a great time laughing, talking, and catching up. Josh and the other guys were at the Ranch on Friday and Saturday. So on Saturday, I drug Melissa and Mackenzie around all day looking for the girls' Christmas dresses at every Boutique in Lubbock, and we finally found them at Dillards :) They were both so sweet and understanding about the kids and they helped me so much! We ended up at Chick fil A and the kids had a blast! They traded in their toy for an ice cream, I had no idea you could do that. They were so excited! The next day the guys came home and we went bowling at Main Event. We had a ton of fun and we will definitely be taking the kids bowling again very soon.
Monday morning Josh, the kids, and I headed toward Amarillo to see the Palo Duro Canyon. It was sooooo neat! Trey was too afraid to sit on the edge so I only got a picture of Harleigh. She loves this Eskimo jacket and refuses to take the hood off.

Here they are in front of the museum. This creepy cowboy had a motion sensor and when you got close, he would give you a little intro about the museum. They were afraid at first, and then they kept trying to talk to him. It was so funny!

So, we survived our first one week vacation as a family of five. We had so much fun, but I sure am glad to be at home and not living out suitcases. I think we will stay put for a little while :)

GSP

The Saturday before 4th of July, we loaded up the camper and headed West to Garner State Park. This was our second year to spend the 4th on the Frio River and we plan to do it every year. We actually stay at a campground across the river from Garner. Last year the river was low, so we hung out at the campground and swam every day. But this year we had two good days of rain, so we took the kids tubing for the first time. They loved it and did awesome! I got out and walked a few times so I could be extra careful for the baby, but they went down every rapid and most of them twice! Here is a picture of our little River Rats headed down to the water to swim. Going camping and floating the river is something I grew up doing, and it's so neat for me to share that childhood memory with my own kids. We can't wait until next year when Lakyn will be with us!

Spring Break 2010

We had a really fun Spring Break! The kids had no Mother's Day Out, Dance, or T-ball, so we had the entire week to do whatever we wanted! The weather didn't cooperate at the beginning of the week, but by Wednesday it was beautiful and perfect for a day at the Beach! So we went and picked up Mimi and met Leigh, Gigi, Landon, and Madeline in Galveston. We packed a lunch and Gigi bought everyone a bucket and shovel. It was so nice to enjoy some Vitamin D. I feel like we have been cooped up all winter!





After the beach, Mimi, Harleigh, Trey and I headed to Kemah! We ate some Joe's crabshack and spent the night at The Boardwalk Inn. On Thursday the kids rode a million rides and played in the water fountain. It was so much fun being near the water for two days!