Thursday, May 2, 2013

Palm Beach Mini Vacation

We just got back from a mini family vacation to Palm Beach and aside from a stomach virus, we had a fantastic time!  One of my good friends who I used to work with, got married this weekend.  The boys have been asking to go to the beach for a few months now, so I thought this would be a fun opportunity to get them to the beach for a few days.
We left last Thursday so we could break up the drive on the way down.  We ended up getting a great deal on a hotel through Priceline in Orlando, so we stopped there for the evening.  Harrison got sick in the car about 20 minutes into the ride, but thankfully said he still wanted to go to the beach and did great the rest of the trip.  We got to Orlando mid-afternoon, so we unloaded our bags and headed straight for the pool.
 That evening we decided to venture out somewhere fun for dinner since we were in Orlando.  We were hoping to find a disney themed restaurant for the kids, but wanted to stay close by, so we opted for Bubba Gump Shrimp, which was located inside the City Walk at Universal Studios, and just a few minutes from our hotel.  As soon as walked up, I saw a miniature golf course just across the way from the restaurant.  I knew as soon as they saw it, they would want to play.    We didn't eat dinner until 7 pm so it was a late night but the kids did great.
It was dark by the time we got to the course, which I think made it more fun for the kids.
The next morning, we got up and headed to West Palm Beach.  Once again, we checked in and this time, headed straight for the beach.
ready to go!
They had a blast
Needless to say, they both napped every day without even complaining!
I love this picture because you can see Davis' little feet curled up.  I'm pretty sure this is how he liked to be in the womb because he always sleeps like this and his feet haven't straightened out all the way yet.
After naps it was time to head to the rehearsal dinner.  Camila graciously invited us even though we had to bring the kids with us.  The dinner was at a beautiful restaurant called Pistache, so we were nervous about the boys, but overall they did great.  Camila's nephew, who was the ring bearer, was there, so the boys had someone to play with which was nice.
The scenery was just gorgeous down there, so I feel like I took a million pictures!
Harrison wanted to take a picture...not bad!
The beautiful bride!
We got home around 11 pm so the boys crashed and slept in (a little).  Unfortunately, Lance had to be on a conference call from 4:30 am - 7:30 am and then again at 9:30, so we ate breakfast together and then I took the boys out for a morning walk.  They loved looking at the boats.
and I liked sitting on the dock with my coffee!
We headed back to get Lance, who was still working unfortunately, so I headed to the beach with the boys and Lance met us there.  We headed back after about an hour in an attempt to get the boys back on schedule and to get ready for the wedding.  One of my sorority sisters who lives in the area was so gracious to help me find a baby sitter so Lance and I could go to the wedding, and we were so thankful!  
 We headed over to the wedding at 5:15, and oh my goodness, was it beautiful! 
Her flowers weren't up in the picture, but the venue was amazing.
The cute couple dancing (sorry T, I only got half of him)...
The next morning, we got up and headed to a Marriott resort that was one island up from Palm Beach, called Singer Island.  It was absolutely amazing and I wish we could have stayed longer!  The resort was right on the beach and had a zero-entry kids pool with a waterfall and a water slide, and a separate adult only pool.
When we arrived these cute little guys were waiting for us on the coffee table
For only $28 each we could donate to the sea turtles and take these guys home!  Thank you Marriott.  At first we thought they were a welcome gift so we let the kids play with them.  Now Shelby and Shelly live in Kennesaw, GA. :)
 Obviously the kids loved the water slide!
Unfortunately, after about 2 hours of playing in the pool, Davis started feeling nauceaus and threw up in the pool...yes, we were THAT family! They closed the pool down and we hung our heads in shame.  The worst part was that our hotel room wasn't ready yet, so we had to sit there for a few hours waiting to take Davis upstairs.  Thankfully, he fell asleep in my lap and didn't throw up any more that day.  Lance took Harrison back out for more swimming that afternoon and I stayed in while Davis napped.  Its hard to complain too much when this is your view!
We kept Davis inside the next day and aside from being tired and lethargic, he seemed to be doing okay.  We knew not to take him near the pool, but it wasn't too hot outside, so we let him get some fresh air down at the beach for about an hour.  This is probably my favorite picture I took...
Unfortunately, he spent the rest of the trip like this...
The other funny thing was that I had ordered a natural sunscreen for the boys faces a few weeks ago.  It had you specify blue or pink and I thought they were referring to the packaging.  I clearly didn't read it well enough...
Davis seemed to be better after our last day, staying in the condo, but he had a rough ride home.  I think being in the car for so long just did him in.  Overall, it was a wonderful trip and we had a great time.  Its always hard to leave vacation but Harrison "graduates" from pre-school next week, so we have a lot to look forward to!


Sunday, April 21, 2013

Spring Break

I'm about a week late in posting, but we had such a fun spring break this year.  I actually started the break off a little early thanks to the help of my in-laws and my awesome husband and took off for Sandestin for my good friend Amanda's bachelorette party.  It was a little chilly when we arrived, but thankfully it warmed up on Saturday so we got to have a nice day at the pool and some fun celebrating that evening!  Her fiancee surprised the group when we all got there with strawberries and champagne for everyone.  Perfect way to start off the weekend!
Most of my college friends were able to make it and there is nothing better than getting to spend a weekend with some old friends!!
It was so fun and we can't wait to celebrate the big day in June!
I got back that Sunday, did some laundry and then left on Monday morning with Oakley and the boys to head to Tuscaloosa since they were out of school for the week.  This was the first trip that we have made to Tuscaloosa since my parents bought their house where we actually had nice weather, so we spent most of our time outside on the docks.
As soon as we got there, Harrison and Davis headed straight for the water.  The previous owners of the house left a boat at the house when they moved out.  They said they were going to come back for it, but they never did, so my dad put some work into it to get it back in working condition, so the boys immediately wanted to go for a ride. (We only had adult life jackets at first, but thankfully the next day, Julie brought over some children life jackets that they no longer use 
As soon as they headed out, someone got a little upset and decided to follow them!
After she got in, I figured, I might as well let her enjoy the water, so she found a good stick and retrieved it over and over and over and....
Before we had kids, we used to take her to a lake by our house to go swimming all the time, but sadly that faded out once we got busy.
She was in heaven...and a little sore by the evenings, but she would sneak in the water the next day and do it all over again!
On the second day that we were there, we headed out with my dad to get some small cane poles for the boys to fish with and some crickets.  Harrison got to fish with a real hook, but we just attached a fish, minus the hook onto Davis' pole.  They both loved it and waited patiently for a fish to jump on.  We weren't having much luck, but during Davis' nap time that day, grandmommy took Harrison back out to the dock to practice fishing some more.  Two fishermen pulled over while they were fishing and asked if they had caught anything yet.  They had caught quite a few fish that day and asked if Harrison wanted any help. 
They said that they had some "special bait" on their boat, so they took his pole, put the "bait" on and then put it back in the water for Harrison.  They handed him the pole and almost immediately, he felt a tug on his line.  He pulled it up, and low and behold, he caught his first little fish!!

Grandmommy was so proud!
Grandmommy also took Harrison out for a boat ride to do a bit of exploring.
Each morning, we would get up, get dressed and head right here
but mostly they like to make me nervous, and stand here, throwing pine cones, rocks and acorns into the lake

We also went to eat lunch with Jack and Trey at their school throughout the week.  This was a big highlight, especially since Harrison will be starting Kindergarten next year.  After our lunch with Jack, we got to go to his classroom and listen to grandmommy read a story to the class.  Harrison joined right in with the class.
It began to feel like groundhogs day after a few days...
It was so nice to be able to enjoy the beautiful view
I decided to sit in the boat with my feet on the dock while drinking my coffee one morning...guess who wasn't a fan of me getting in the boat...
that would be my little nervous nelly.  I had to have my mom keep her on a leash when I took the boys out because she kept trying to follow us into the water.
She was so happy all week and loved being outside with us all day.  At one point, we were sitting on the upper deck and I saw her walk off.  I stood up to see where she went, and she was just sitting on the side of the house, enjoying the scenery!  It is such a quiet street, so its nice that I don't have to worry about her chasing anyone or getting close to the road.
Lance ended up coming to Tuscaloosa for a last minute work trip, so we stayed a day longer than we had anticipated.  It was perfect, because we were able to spend more time with our cousins and grandparents.  On our last day, we got up for an early boat ride (Davis!  The camera is this way!)...
Then had lunch with Trey
then picked up Lance from his meeting and headed back home.  Poor Lance had to work that night until around 2 am for a software deployment, so he had a very long day. 
We had a busy week once we got back, that started out with getting all of our vegetables planted.  We are venturing into some new ones this year, but I had two big helpers throughout the week!
It was spirit week at the boys' school, so they had fun wearing silly socks, having silly hair and getting to play on jumping castles throughout the week.

Next up was our first swimming lesson for the boys.  
 I am undecided on how long we will keep it up.  I really just want to make sure Harrison gets back to being comfortable swimming.  He did great last year and it would be nice if Davis can learn a little, but he wasn't a big fan of the first lesson.  I think they were pushing him to far too fast and it scared him.  I am going to ask them to go a little slower during our next lesson, but if he doesn't get into it, I may hold off for a while longer with him.  A few of our friends will be in our lesson this week, so hopefully that will help him feel more at ease.


Yesterday was a long day that started with the Big Shanty Festival
 and ended with a baseball game.  We are enjoying the mild weather that we have been having and hope it sticks around for a while!