Beach Trip 2010

Kenny and I have been planning to take the kids to the beach for a while now. We just never picked a time. Last week, Kenny had his last day of school, and a week off before his summer schedule started. We figured it was the perfect time for a mini vacation. We normally stay in hotels when we go places, but we started looking into renting a condo this time around. It wasn't much more expensive, and the convenience of it was worth the little bit of extra we paid.

We left early Tuesday morning. The kids did fantastic on the trip, and the weather was great for 2 hours and 45 minutes. When we pulled into Gulf Shores, a gigantic black cloud rolled in, and for the last 15 minutes of our trip, it poured. Kenny and I just looked at each other.

Once we got settled into the condo, it was still raining, so we were glad for the indoor pool at the condo. Avery is a fish, so she jumped right in. Braden has become a little more cautious this summer, so he stayed around the edges.

Finally the rain stopped, so we headed out to the beach. Braden's words once we hit the sand were, "oh! It's yucky on my feet!" He must get that from his dad. I was glad he quickly changed his mind. He never did get used to the sand on his hands though. Avery ran up to the water and started jumping over waves. Braden screamed everytime we tried to get close. I finally talked him into sitting in my lap and letting the water run over our legs. Later on that day, he let me carry him into the water deeper. The waves were fun to jump over and through. Avery and Kenny had a ball in the bigger ones.

By then it was close to suppertime, and since it was Daddy and Avery's night to pick, they chose Pizza Hut. What a thrill..at the beach, and pizza, but it was good, and the company was great. After dinner, we went to the grocery store to get lunch for the next day. By the time we were finished there, the kids were falling asleep while walking so they went to bed when we got home. They spent the night in the same room, and they thought that was pretty neat. Until the next morning...

Avery is my sleep in girl, and Braden is my awake early boy. For some reason, he decided he needed to wake up even earlier than normal, and that in turn woke Avery up super early. We started the day at 5:50. Avery said, "Momma; I didn't sleep well because Braden talked all night long..."

We spent the morning at the beach, then came back to the condo for lunch. The kids were super ready for naps by then, and they slept for a good three hours. When they got up, we went to the outside pool, but the water was too cold, so we ended up at the beach again. We played there for a while then got cleaned up for supper. It was Braden's and my turn to choose that night. We went to the Gulf Island Grill. Much more coastal feel...very good food. We took the kids to the souvenier shops and then for ice cream before heading back to the condo for the night.

After another early wake up, we spent the next morning at the beach again. We met some really nice couples, whose kids and our kids had a ball playing with. They had little nets, and spent the day catching fish and hermit crabs.

Around lunchtime, we headed up to the condo, cleaned up, then packed up the car to leave. We stopped for lunch, then stopped again at the outlet mall for some shopping at Old Navy. I was excited to find a Stride Rite outlet and some extra extra wide shoes for Braden, at a very affordable price! We loaded up again, and the kids were asleep before we knew it. They slept for about two hours of the three that it took to get home.

We topped the trip off by meeting Nonna and Big Daddy for dinner, then headed back to their place for some swimming. The kids fell into bed and slept very soundly until this morning.

Then I laughed because Avery woke up before Braden this morning. What a great trip! Can't wait until we can go again!

Fair, Birthday Bash, and Halloween Festivities

To be completely honest, I'm so far behind, and I just don't have the patience to post a bunch of pics here, so I'm going to put more albums on my facebook account. Just wanted to put a few teasers here....

Alabama National Fair 2009

Braden's Birthday Party -- 2 Years Old!

Fall Festival at Church
Trick or Treating


Also going on: Volleyball season has come to a close. We made it to the State playoffs, one of the Elite 8 Teams present.

Kenny's football team is in the playoffs this year!

Just recently spent some time in Texas with my family. Although I was there for my Papa's funeral, it was a treasured time.

I have a lot to say, but I'm not in the mindset right now to say it all. I truly am blessed to have such a wonderful family. This is a joyous time of my life.

Welcome Home, Barlow!

Meet Barlow, the newest addition to our family!

We have been contemplating getting a furry companion for a while now. Today we took the plunge! We found at the humane society a sweet, lab/shepherd mix. He's the perfect size to be an indoor dog, but still be considered a bigger dog.

His name is Barlow; he's 7 months old, house trained, walks well on a leash, LOVES to lay beside Braden's chair when he eats, follows Avery in her room to keep her company, loves to watch tv with Kenny, and helps me clean the kitchen. We've only had him since 5:00 today, and he already fits in perfectly with our family.

We are going to crate train him so he will not tear up the house while we are gone, or be in the backyard to possibly escape. (Avery has decided the crate is also a good place for her to play.) Barlow will also sleep there, but Avery says when he gets older that he will sleep in her bed with her.

I know there will be some adjustments to get used to, but it will be a fun journey!

Happy Easter!

The day started with a few tears from both kiddos....but soon turned brighter. We had a great time at worship this morning. For lunch, the church provided ham and rolls, and we all brought other sides to enjoy a meal together. They had blow-up bouncers for the kids to play on, then we topped the afternoon off with an egg hunt. It was fun watching Avery discover eggs. Braden's trick was to open them up, eat the goodies inside, then throw the egg like a ball while running to find the next treat!

Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter with friends and family!

A Little Fun, Family Competition

The kids and I bought Kenny Mario Kart Wii for his birthday. It has been one of those things that has brought fun to all! When we find a spare five minutes, we all try to squeeze in a game or two. Avery has played so much that she can turn it on and navigate the menus by herself!

This was the scene I discovered after bath time the other night.

A Little Nervous...

I find it interesting that I am okay with being solely responsible for the well being of my children during the day time hours daily. However, when there is a tiny presence of danger, I get a little nervous when I am the only adult present.

Case in point. The tornado sirens just started going off. There is no rain, no thunder, no lightening, just bruised and swollen skies accompanied by an eerie silence.

Kenny is stuck at school with all of the kids that he is responsible for there. I am huddled up in our home, with two kids napping, wondering if there is a point that I should get them out of their warm beds and have a campout in the hallway.

It's a little nerve-racking being the one that is responsible for keeping everyone safe.

When Kenny is here, I don't feel this way. I guess it's because I am confident that he will take care of us.

Bless his heart if he feels this way all the time!

Glad the Lord is on our side. That's keeping me calm right now (as I sit blogging!)

Thanksgiving

I wanted to blog about what a fun time we had during Thanksgiving, but keep putting it off. My friend Stacy blogged about it so now I am going to steal her blog. If you want to know what we did. Go here.

Viva Vacation!

So this is long overdue, but I thought I would go ahead and write about our trip to Florida.

We drove down on Sunday and were able to spend that evening and the next day with Kenny's mom, dad, brothers, sister (Tom, Jon, Kirk and April) as well as his grandfather. We were also able to visit the High School campus where Kenny graduated. He attended three different high schools, but I think he claims this one as his "home" because he went there his freshman, sophomore and part of his senior year. We also were able to catch up with some friends that Kenny went to school with. I feel like I know them because I met them when Kenny and I first started dating; then Barry was in our wedding, now 10 years later we still have kept in touch.

Tuesday and Wednesday we went to Disney World. It was truly a Magic Kingdom for Avery. It was fun to see her face and watch the joyous expressions as she discovered new things. I found myself, along with everyone else, 'overloading' her by saying, "Avery look at this! Wow! Look at that!" I finally backed off because I could tell she was getting a little overstimulated. I then realized she is her own little person who can observe things all on her own.


We waited in line to see Pluto, Donald Duck and Goofy. We also met Snow White, Cinderella, Belle and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty). Avery explored Minnie's house and the Swiss Family Robinson tree all on her own. We enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean, Pooh Bear's Book, Dumbo, Aladin, and the Jungle Cruise as a family. An all time favorite of Avery and Braden's was It's A Small World. I still think the little figures are a little creepy, but by the end of the ride, both of my kids were hypnotized by the colors and happy tunes. Avery sang "It's A Small World" for days.


Kenny and I were able to sneak back to the park one night without kids to enjoy Space Mountain with his brother, Jon, and April. It was a great ride, but I realized how my focus has changed to my children instead of my own wishes since becoming a mother. I would choose to see Avery and Braden's faces on one ride rather than ride an adult ride 10 times.


The next day we drove to Kenny's 'home' town, Palm Bay. He doesn't really claim it as home because his family moved there when he went away to college, but I think of it as his home because that's where I visited him during our dating years. While there, we enjoyed a day at the beach!


On Friday we drove back to spend another day with Kenny's grandfather and family before heading home on Saturday.


This trip was so much fun, not only for our kids and the fun in all the hotel pools, Disney park, beach, etc. I especially enjoyed this trip because of the time we were able to spend with Kenny's family. It's been too long since we've spent quality time together, and I feel like I grew even closer to all of them. (And of course it didn't hurt that they were more than willing to watch the kids for us while we snuck in a date/movie one night!)


So, after seven days, six nights, two long road trips, millions of laughs, a few tears, Cuban food, Italian food, Chinese food and way too much fast food, we were home safe and sound.

MIA

Thanks to those who are concerned that I may not be among the living...things have been crazy lately.

After we got home from our Disney vacation, volleyball and football started full swing. As things seemed to calm down a bit, I received news from my family that my grandmother suffered a stroke.

So, I've been in Texas for the past week with my family. I will be home Wednesday. Hopefully Kenny will not have learned to love bachelorhood too much and will welcome us home with open arms.

Until then I'll leave you with these teasers:

Disney was fantastic. We enjoyed Kenny's family and some fun and sun. We all came home with tans...even Braden...and Daddy. ;) Well, Daddy's was more of a sunburn, but he could definately say he got some color!

Volleyball was fun. I started a camp for little kids this summer, and it was a huge success.

We've enjoyed time with Kenny even though he works at school, he's home sooner than normal.

We have a new video camera and regular camera! I have not had time to get the video camera out of the box, but I LOVE our new camera. This trip to Texas has been a great opportunity to have fun with it. I look forward to posting pictures of the kids when I get home.

As for news of my grandmother, she seems to be recovering from her stroke, but is still suffering from her nerve pain in her leg that began shortly before her stroke. She now lives in the Christian Care Center instead of her home. This has been an adjustment for my mom and dad as well since my grandma used to live in the house in front of our house. They were used to popping in and out to help as needed. It's been hard to turn over the caregiving to someone else, but it's necessary since my parents work full-time and she now requires full time care. The Lord has answered our prayers for her to make it past the effects of her stroke, and we hope He will continue to bless her health. He has already blessed her with a wonderful roommate in her new home. Her name is Mrs. Davis, and we hope she will be a piece of the puzzle on Grandmom's road to recovery.

Happy Easter!

We had a nice Easter weekend. Saturday was the easter egg hunt at church, complete with bouncers and slides. Avery enjoyed them all until the big kids took over and got a little rough.

Sunday morning before church we had a mini egg hunt in the house. Avery ran around saying, "another one!" She picked each up, one at a time, ran to put them in her basket before heading back for more finds.

That evening we went to small group at Brooke and Jerry's house. They were so kind to have another egg hunt for the kiddies.