Vacation, Part 3

If you missed Vacation Part 1 and Part 2, you can check them out here.

To pick up where I left off…

 

Tuesday night, when we took beach pictures, was Hayden’s first encounter with the beach.  He really seemed to like it.  I really didn’t know what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised with his reaction and love for both the sand and the water.

Wednesday morning, Jeff and I decided to hit the beach as a family!  The weather was perfect too!

 

Whew!  That was one big wave Mommy!

Matt, Cole, and Brooklyn came out to play with us too!

 

Cole didn’t want to get into the water because he “forgot his towel.”  Well, that wasn’t a very good excuse.  This is what happens when you “forget your towel”.

 

Round 2…

A little Frisbee time…

Jeff, Matt, and Cole headed out after lunch for an afternoon round of golf at Kiva Dunes.  Jeff called me when they got the the hole we could see from our balcony.  Can you see them?  :-)

Amy, Barrett, Hayden, and I went to see our friends, the Cannaday’s.  It was so cool that we ended up going on the same week and they were staying just a few miles down the road!  Wish we could have spent more time together! 

  

 

Amanda, I hope you don’t care that I “stole” a couple of your pictures.   =)

Then, we were off to eat at Sea n’ Suds, a low key seafood restaurant on the beach. 

  Little did we know that 5 minutes after these pictures were taken…we would get THE call. 

We literally didn’t know what to do.  Whether we should pack up and leave right then?  Fly?  Get up early and drive?  We all decided that flying out early the next morning was the best decision!  So, Hayden flew for the first time!  It was about an 1 1/2 hour flight.   He did GREAT!

 

Although it was cut a few days short, we had a fabulous time on our vacation!  I can’t wait to do it again…without THE call. 

Summer Sunday

Today was my idea of a classic summer Sunday!

First…breakfast was biscuits, sausage, and scrambled eggs with my MIL’s homemade blackberry jelly.

Second…church and lunch at the in-laws.

Third…nap time!

Fourth…pool time!

Fifth…summer veggies cooked on the grill!

   

Sixth…we went from saying “No, No Hayden” 216 times a day to saying it 345,078,999 times a day.  Ha!

We had a good weekend.  I hope you did too!

6 years

Today, Jeff and I celebrate 6 blissful years!  I am so blessed to call him my husband.  We have been through so much together and it has made us so much stronger.  I love him more and more each day.  I didn’t know that was possible!  I feel so lucky that we have such a special relationship!  Happy Anniversary Jeffery!  I love you so much!

Vacation Part 2

After leaving Northern Mississippi on Saturday, we embarked on our 7 hour journey to Gulf Shores, Alabama!  I have to admit, Hayden was not the greatest traveling partner.  He was not feeling well and had run fever Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  He did not nap well either travel day.  So, we (I) had to pretty much entertain him the whole time or feed him snacks.  He literally cried the last 30 minutes of our trip because he was so worn out and not feeling well!   So, we were all so thankful when we finally arrived! 

Jeff, Hayden, and I and Matt, Sherry, Cole, and Brooklyn were traveling together from Mississippi.  Matt, Amy, and Barrett left their house Saturday morning early to meet up with us.  What is so cool is we just happened to actually meet up in Mississippi at the same place only about 10 minutes apart!  It worked out great and we all were able to get there at the same time. 

We actually stayed at the Gulf Shores Plantation Resort in Ft. Morgan about 15 minutes from Gulf Shores. We rented a 3 bedroom/2 bath beach house for the week.  It was great because we were able to cook meals there, have lots of room to move around, one of the six pools was right outside our door, and the beach was a short walk.  We loved it! 

The Pool View

Our Room…

The view from the second floor balcony…

The Kiva Dunes Resort and Golf Course was right outside our back door.  Jeff, Matt, and Cole got to play a round of golf there on Wednesday.  Jeff said it was a hard course but they had a lot of fun! 

Guess who learned to climb the stairs the first day we were there?

The first morning we were there, we had to go check out the beach.  We had heard that the oil had hit the Ft. Morgan beaches the day we arrived.   Here are some pictures from our first view of the beach…

In one spot…quite clear…

About 100 feet down…tar balls!

The beaches and water looked better each day we were there.

Every night, we challenged each other to a game of Phase 10…

Hayden is getting some Aunt Sherry lovin’ while we get ready to go to the pool!

Pool time!

Hayden’s cousins, Brooklyn and Cole, were GREAT with him on our trip!  They kept him entertained! 

Barrett LOVED for his Daddy to throw him up in the air!  I love these shots!

 

Hayden and Barrett playing together…

Hayden thought it was fun to get under table and play.  I am not sure if Barrett was trying to figure out why on earth he was under there, or wanted to join him, or was telling him to get out from under there. Ha!

 

On Monday, we got to celebrate Amy’s birthday!  Jeff cooked spaghetti and we enjoyed cake and Matt’s homemade ice cream.  YUM!

Barrett kept saying “Happy Birthday Mommy” over and over.  SO CUTE!!

On Tuesday, Jeff and I decided to find a pediatrician to take Hayden to because he wasn’t getting any better.  Turns out, he just had a cold.  Glad it was not something wore, but we couldn’t really do much to make him better other than wait it out.  After we took him to the doctor, we went to LuLu’s to eat.  This resturaunt is owned by Jimmy Buffett’s sister.   It is a really cool outdoor place to eat right on the water.  They even have a sand area for the kids to play in.

LuLu being interviewed by a news station…

After lunch, we thought we would go to the zoo.  Well, when we got there, Hayden had just fallen asleep and it was really way too hot for him to be out, so Jeff and I decided to go for a drive and explore Gulf Shores while Hayden took a little nap.

We all wanted to take beach pictures, so we decided we would do one family each night.  Tuesday night, Hayden was feeling a little bit better so we decided to go for it.  Just in case we didn’t get good pictures we still had a few more nights to give it a try again.  Sherry took most of our pictures and I think they turned out great!  We did have Amy and Brooklyn as our assistants!  Unfortunately, because of our unexpected early departure, the other two families didn’t get to take their beach pictures.

Here are some of my favorites with no editing.  I do want to spend some time doing some cool things with editing.  But, that is when I have a little more time!  Ha!  Sorry there are so many.  I had a hard time choosing just a “few”. 

 

 

 

 

Part 3 coming soon…beach time, dinner at Sea n’ Suds, and Hayden’s first plane ride!