Navarre Beach Trip 2009 Part One

We arrived home safely this past Saturday after a 10 day trip. It was alot of fun, but there is truly no place like home. I was so happy to sleep in my own bed. I am slowly getting things unpacked, washed, and put away. I don't have a ton of photos which is so unlike me. I left my CF card at home for my good camera so all I had was my Canon Powershot. Most days, I just didn't feel like dragging it out and as you can see, I have little people who do not like to cooperate. Here are some pictures of our trip that I did manage to snap:

We actually stayed in Daphne, AL for 2 days just to go ahead and get closer to the beach. The kids swam in the hotel pool and I did some shopping. Friday night, we drove to Gulf Shores to meet our friends The Smiths at 'The Hangout'. I Heart that place!!!! We also got ice cream at 'Scoops' and played a round of miniature golf. It was lots of fun!!!

Our Kids



Rebecca and Me:



Our Family:



We stayed in Navarre Beach this year. I did lots of research and found that this beach is known for being less crowded and commercialized. Truly, there are only 2 places to eat across the bridge and it has alot less condos. I still thought the beaches were crowded though and we ran across some snobby people who thought they owned the stretch of sand! The condo was nice. We had lots of space and the view was gorgeous. My parents joined us for the trip and we had a great time. It went by so fast though. We spent most of our days at the pool and/or beach. There was a very short walk to the beach which was probably the best thing. The funniest thing was that there was a lady who my mom and I nicknamed "the hawk", who sat under a covering near the pool and watched everyone as they went by. You had to have a bracelet on to be in the pool area and boy did she make sure that everyone followed through with that rule! It was annoying.



Noah ( the water was GORGEOUS)



Most of the nights we cooked in the condo or got pizza. One night we went to a place called 'Floyds'. It was ok!

Yep, this is what I get when I try to take a picture!!!



Part 2 tomorrow...

Signing off....for now...

We are heading out today for our family vacation. I am excited, but I absolutely hate packing. I always feel like I am forgetting something and my husband is the KING of overpacking. Seriously, he brings more clothes then me and my kids combined. YIKES!!!! Anyway, the last few days have been busy and hectic. I finally made it to get my hair colored and cut. It was in deperate need! Yesterday, I had my first meeting as a member of the PTO board at Noah's school. I have never been able to be an active member since I always had a preschooler around. Now I am jumping in. I will be helping with Fun Fridays which happen once a month. I was told this is an easy job......hopefully! The other woman that is co-chairing this with me seems to be very organized, so I think it will be fun! :)

I should be back in a week to update with pics from our trip. :)

4th of July and a trip to Georgia!

I have been on the road quite a bit this summer. Noah and I went to Gulf Shores, and just recently returned from picking up the twins in Georgia. Before we left, we did celebrate July 4th. We had a few friends over to enjoy a cookout and some fireworks. This is the first year that we didn't actually buy any fireworks. The neighbors put on such a good show, that we really didn't need to. It was great. Here are some pics of our evening:

CC, Lindsey, and Kaleb



Stacy, Madison, Logan, and Cole



Me and Noah



Those were the only pictures I managed to snap. I promise there were some men in attendance, but sometimes I feel like I am annoying people when I walk around with my camera. I just LOVE pictures though! Needless to say, we had a fun evening and enjoyed the fellowship! Two days later, Noah and I hit the road to Georgia. My parents keep my girls every summer for a couple of weeks. It has become a tradition that the twins look forward to. They have such a great time. This year they went to the aquarium, Six Flags, swimming, played nightly badminton games, played the Wii Rock Band with Uncle Nathan, and enjoyed keeping my sisters dog company! Noah and I joined them for a few days before heading home. We went to the pool:

Even though this pic is blurry, I love it. Noah jumping in! He is so active!



Meredith showed us her hula hooping skills



Madeline didn't want to smile but I took her pic anyway!!! Ha!



Here is what they enjoyed doing each night! I even played with them and it was so much fun. I had to run out to Walmart and buy one for our backyard!





I can't believe how fast the summer has gone. We are today at one month exactly until school starts!!!! What???? We have one more fun thing planned and that is our family beach trip. We are heading out this Thursday for a week. I know it will be fun and I hope I can savor the last days of summer! :(

So hard to leave.....

Noah and I had such a fabulous time in Gulf Shores with CC and her kids. It was the perfect getaway and I owe it all to my sweet friend. She was so generous in allowing us to invade her space and time there. I love you girl!!!! :)

We took our time driving home. We stopped for lunch at 'The Oyster House' in Mobile. I decided to leave my camera in the car. We also stopped in Hattiesburg and went to the 'Forever 21' store at the mall there. I love to order from their website and it was nice to know there is one not too far away. We both got 2 super cute, CHEAP dresses. LOVE IT!

I was sad to say goodbye to our lovely vacation, but glad to get home and see Greg. This week has been a time of getting clothes washed, keeping Noah entertained, and being lazy. I have to pack back up again on Monday and head to Georgia to get the twins. I have enjoyed my 2 weeks and I know they have had a blast with my parents!

Gulf Shores Day Three:

It was another gorgeous day in Gulf Shores. We got up and ate breakfast and then headed back to the pool. Amazingly the entire time we were there, it was never a problem finding lounge chairs. It was busy but not too crowded.

CC and I at the pool:



Me and Noah in the pool:



CC and Lindsey on the edge of the tiered pool:



We stayed at the pool for a few hours and then headed back up to the condo to get our beach gear. Time to hit the sand....



CC and Lindsey on the boogie boards:



This was Noah most of the time...crying that his eyes hurt. I think the salt in the water was bothering him:



So he decided to help Kaleb and dig in the sand:



We spent a few hours at the beach and then packed up and came back to the condo to get ready for dinner. We decided to go to 'The Hangout'. CC and I had to pose for a picture before we left. Cute, huh???



'The Hangout' is an awesome restaurant/attraction that has open air seating, a sand area for the kids, live music, etc. It is THE place to be on a Friday night. They have really good pina coladas too!



CC and Kaleb:





The food was DELICIOUS! I had shrimp again and so did Noah. He LOVES it!



Of course he spent most of the evening in the sand area where they were having a contest to see who could build the best sand sculpture. Lindsey and Kaleb won free tshirts. I should have taken a picture of their creation!



Another FUN day and a great place to spend our last evening in Gulf Shores!!!

Gulf Shores Day Two:

We started the next day off bright and early. CC made us breakfast ( how nice is that...her vacation and she is making ME breakfast)!!! Then we sunscreened up, put our suits on, and headed out. First stop...LAZY RIVER:

The Lazy River is FABULOUS. It is about 1 1/2 ft deep so it is perfect for kids. The bottom is made of metal so you literally can sit on it and float along, but it doesn't tear your swimsuit. I could have sat on that tube for HOURS!



Noah and Me:



CC and Lindsey:



Then it was off to the pool! They have THREE slides in the pool that we went to. There is a really big one that most of the older kids monopolize and then there are two smaller ones.

CC and I with the big slide behind us ( yes we actually went down it too):



I tried to get Noah to go down the slide, but he did not want to. I begged him and he agreed if I stood in the water and caught him sooooo:

***Note to self...not a good idea to stand beneath a slide that propels its riders into the water with alot of force. So long hat!



I was so proud of him:



And folks that is all it took! I showed him that all he had to do was swim to the side and that was it:



Over and over all by himself. I got to sit on my lounge chair and read magazines about fashion tips, summer movies, and how much Kate Gosselin spends on her manicures and tanning sessions....ahhhh ;) :



Lindsey ( CC took this pic and I thought it was so neat.) She was the daredevil going down backwards, on her tummy, etc:



Here is CC going down the slide! I went down it too, but my pic is just a HUGE splash of water. Not something I want to share. We actually raced a few times, proving the slides are definitely not just for kids!!



After dragging Noah away from the slides, we headed up to the condos and ate lunch, showered, and got ready to go. We went to a place called the Wharf. CC and I saw 'The Proposal'..super cute movie. Noah and Lindsey saw 'Imagine If' and Kaleb saw 'Transformers'. After that, we rode the ferris wheel.

Noah and Me:



CC and Lindsey:



**Funny note...when we were circling around on the ferris wheel, I thought I saw one of my neighbors children. When we got off, we saw that it was them. Small world!

The four of us waiting for Kaleb to get out of the movies:



We ate dinner at a little Mexican place. It wasn't the best I have ever had, but it was quick and easy. After that, we headed back to the condo. It was nearly 10pm, but Noah and Lindsey weren't through with their day. It was back to the slides:

There he goes climbing those stairs. I am quite sure he burned off at least 1000 calories. He went up those stairs a million times. I knew he would love it once he tried it!



Swimming at night is the best:



** On a side note, while we were in the bathroom at the movies we heard someone say that Micheal Jackson had died. I quickly checked my iphone and found out that it was true. I can't believe it. I remember in 6th grade how infatuated I was with him. We all tried to do the moonwalk and dance to his songs. One of my very favorite movies is '13 going on 30' and the best scene is where Jennifer Garner and Co. do the Thriller dance. It makes me sad, because I truly believe he was a very lost soul. :( It makes me feel old too!