So Long Beach.....

Hello cruise! We left the beach around lunch time today and drove to Baton Rouge where we are spending the night with family. Matt, GiGi, and Aunt Lou should be here shortly and we head to New Orleans tomorrow for a four night cruise to Cozumel.

The beach trip this year was by far the best it's been post-kids. They are now old enough to really enjoy the beach and waves. The company helped out tremendously as well!! My kiddos loved hanging out with Cameron and Grant. We were all sad to see them go today but are looking forward to the second leg of our vacation. Look for updates!

Jackpot!

Yesterday we had another good day at the beach! A small miracle occurred when both kids napped under the tent. Why I hadn't thought of doing this before has never occurred to me. Last night we went and took beach portraits, even though not everyone is here. It's hard to get all of my family together with work schedules and what not. We did not hire a photographer but got some good ones!

Day 1: Da Beach!

There are 2 kinds of beach vacations: before kids/after kids. Totally different and never the same after kids! But today we had a milestone moment. We stayed on the beach or at the pool from 9:30 to 3.30 ish. That's huge for my kiddos and we're finally at the point where we all enjoyed our day today. My dad, who NEVER sets foot on the beach, enjoyed most of the day with us! Mainly due to the fact that Mandy brought her dad's large tailgating tent. And Landry Grace even took her nap under the tent. I even got to enjoy the sun for an hour from a beach chair....!!!! Our condo has a pretty neat pool area, complete with lazy river and waterslide that the kiddos are all taking advantage of. What a great day and hope I'm not jinxing the rest of our trip!

The (Bad) Toothfairy

Tonight we thought Landry Grace was ready for the tooth fairy to come for her teeth(yes, I know this is primarily done when you loose a tooth). We got dressed and ready for bed. LG is super duper into wearing leotards and tutus. Like everyday for the past week....but I think it's pretty cute. Except Jake then wants to wear his Buzz Lightyear costume to bed as well, and that's just too hot. But we made due with his t-ball "jersey".

Back to story! Of course I have to take a picture. They were in Jake's bed as the plan was for TF to come to his room to leave "the stash". Of course Jake had generously planned to split whatever TF left...25 cents was going to be hard to split but I wasn't gonna argue since it was a well thought out plan;). Well, then reality started to set in.....

She started crying uncontrollably and was petrified that the TF would come to her room instead of Jake's....she even asked me if TF could smell the teeth, sending her to Jake's room instead of LG's. It only went downhill from here. She is so afraid of anything resembling a character. And then I couldn't resist:
She was in full tears at this point. I had to promise that I would call the tooth fairy and tell her not to come.
Thus we will not be having a visit from TF tonight. Love my baby girl.

Encouragement

Mrs. Loralu posted this on her blog and I just had to share this powerful song. It's so easy to get caught up in our everyday struggles but yet this video gives encouragement. God is always there, never changing and always offering his unconditional love. Thanks for sharing Mrs. Loralu! Love love love this.

VBS

My two cuties sporting their La Tech blue headed to VBS this morning. They had such a fun time this week!!

Swimming and Papaw

We finished up our 2 weeks of swim lessons last Friday and today we are finishing up VBS at our church. It seems as though we've had something going on everyday since school was out. Looking forward to a down week next week before heading out on our 11 day beach/cruise/ New Orleans zoo/ aquarium trip. I'm tired just thinking about it, but it will be a lot of fun!

Daddy surprised the kids last Friday by stopping by Mrs. Linda's house to see them swim their final lesson. They were thrilled! I love seeing how excited they get when Matt shows up unexpectedly.

Landry Grace swimming with her arms. They are now loving the pool!
Mrs. Linda and Jake....she's the best!
And last weekend Matt and I took the kids to Bossier to stay with GiGi while we went with Aunt Lou to Dallas to find a van for her. On the way to GiGi's house, we stopped by Papaw's grave. This was the first time we'd taken them to the cemetery since the headstone was put in place. LG had many questions. She is my inquisitive child. Jake just sat back and took it all in.

We sure do miss him!