Thursday, April 28, 2016

Spring Break on 30A: Day Six - Home Sweet Home

And our last and final moments at the beach!  Boy do I wish I was there right now.  It was such a fun trip - I cannot wait to go back!  We got up earlier that morning and got to packing.  Everyone was up and dressed and we were loaded and ready to go!  I let the kids walk around a little bit and see the ocean one last time.  Here we were venturing up the boardwalk to the ocean...
And there it was! Clearly it was a little rough.  And apparently it rained pretty much the rest of the time - glad we left when we did!  And it meant that there was little to no traffic while headed home...definitely made for a more peaceful drive!
And this was about as good as it got with these three!  Ryan did not have time to stand still :)  The other two were tolerant (and I use that word loosely - ha!)...
I love watching Ryan sleep -- I can still see that tiny baby in him.  In fact, he looks exactly the same here as he did in the 4D ultrasound when I was pregnant.  Kind of weird, but I can totally see it! 
And we actually got lucky enough for a short Jack snooze!  It definitely didn't last long, but I'm glad he got a little rest.  He had a big time at the beach!
Sing it now...."Reunited and it feels so good...." Ha!  This is one of the best parts of coming home...everyone getting to love on Sadie!  I don't know who is happiest in this picture! :)
What a fun spring break we had!  A beautiful condo that was perfect for us, lots of fun family time, and a gorgeous beach.  I'll take that any day of the week :)
 
Photobucket

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Spring Break on 30A: Day 5

Boy am I dragging out these spring break posts!  Fine with me - I get to relive it and pretend like I am there now!  It is certainly my happy place.
 
It seemed that each morning was spent lounging and relaxing so that it could try to warm up some!  Here we have the boys watching something and Brad and Katie relaxing on the couch!
 And then everyone decided to sit on the couch - love this picture!
 Once we finally made it to the beach, the kids were ready to soak up their last day there!  It was a bit windy and chilly, but once again it didn't stop any of these folks from enjoying it all!
It was a little overcast, so I think that is what made it feel chillier - that and the wind.  Here is the three ring circus - who knows what they were working on in the sand!
And a family picture!  Love it!  The waves were definitely bigger this day too!
After some time at the beach, we headed back in for lunch and then straight out to the pool (just like every other day).  Katie made a friend while we were there - they played together every afternoon (and even some at the beach)!
Here they are :)  They swapped addresses so they could be pen pals!
 We got a quick group shot before heading out to dinner that night. Not too shabby of a picture!
And I got one of Katie.  She was so tired and hungry at this point.  Not a good combo!
This is the typical reaction to me asking her if I can take her picture :) Well...maybe not this bad.  But throw in the hunger and tiredness and this is what you get.  Real life, folks!
And a pretty good shot of the three crazies - except it is focused on the bushes and the kids are kind of blurry.  Oh well.  I'll take it!
Then there's this.  Jack is typically the most cooperative for pictures, so I find it funny that this is how I captured this moment.  What would be even more real life would be Katie pouting and mouth wide open because she's whining about it - Ryan would be a blur because he is constantly moving - and Jack would just be standing there smiling.  Or maybe he'd make a silly face or angry face.  But I have to say that I do love this one!
 
Once Katie ate (magic, I tell ya!), I did get this cute picture of her outside the restaurant we went to!  I want that jacket for me!  I wonder if I found it in the biggest youth size if it would fit in the arms and shoulders.  Hm...
Love this shot of these two!
And when they cooperate and act nice, it calls for a goofy picture!  They sure do love that part!
Sweet boy! I don't even remember what he was doing with the stick, but I do know he wanted to keep it.  I said we needed to leave it for birds and squirrels - totally worked.
And I snapped this just before we got in the car after dinner!
After we got back, it was time to commence the packing.  Yuck.  I always hate that part! We had such a great trip!  Can't wait to be back on those beaches again soon!  Check back soon for day 6 - traveling home!
 

Photobucket
 

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Spring Break on 30A: Day 4

The Tuesday of the trip was perfection - it was warmer and sunny and less windy!  The water was amazing! Here are the older kids out on the sandbar!  Since it was warmer, it made it alright to walk the few steps through the ocean to get to the sandbar (and when I say few, it literally was only like 3 or 4)!  They were so excited to be in the water splashing around!
And I got a picture in the gorgeous water with my crazies!  And all smiling - a true miracle! :)
And of course a picture of them with Brad!  I mean just look at that water - there is no photoshop or filter or anything here...just pure beauty!
It amazes me how clear the water can be!  I can handle getting in the water there - as long as I can see, I am good!
And the sandbar area was pretty big!  We all walked around out there!
The boys!  Jack was having fun jumping in the little waves - and who knows what Ryan was laughing at!
And a girl picture!  I didn't dare ask Brad to take our picture since he was holding Ryan - that would not have ended well for my camera!
Katie thoroughly enjoyed jumping in the waves too - love this action shot!
Sweet picture! Ryan was loving being out in the water - as long as he was being held.  It was shallow enough for him to be able to get out there, but no need for that.
Brad and his momma!  Love this picture!
And here we go - I have to get one of these each time we go to the beach.  Love these pictures of the kiddos looking out at the water!
I sat down for a few minutes and this was my view.  Brad and the big kids were hard at work, and I think Ryan was filling something with sand!
It was nice seeing Katie and Jack work as a team (rather than pick at each other) while they were doing things on the beach!
And oh my word - cute boy!  He was playing peek a boo while he was checking out the castle...and I caught this!
I think he decided more sand needed to be dumped in the middle of the castle :)
Team effort!  They were pouring water and watching it drain all the way out into the ocean!
Jack thought it would be fun to make dams with the shovels (and then he used them to make bridges)!
Not sure what Brad was showing the kids, but they all seem pretty interested!  That is where we walked across to get to the sandbar area...
Oh! We did get a girl's picture on the beach since we didn't get one splashing around on the sandbar!
And a mommy-daddy selfie!
And I sat down again.  Love that the kids were so entertained!
After lunch, Katie and I headed out the pool! Here was my space - sunscreen, wine, and my book!  So nice.
Jack got to come out too!  Here they are about to jump in!
Jack reverted a bit after doing so well in the pool by the end of last summer - he wouldn't go in off the stairs!  He would throw the dive stuff and then Katie would swim down and retrieve them all.
Katie even tried to get him out off the side of the pool and try to kick and swim - he may be smiling in this picture, but he was less than impressed!  Thankfully we are doing swim lessons early this year :)  Hopefully he will be confident enough to do some swimming on his own!
That night, Brad and I actually got a date night! At the beach! Thanks to Grandma - it was such a treat!  We walked out to watch the sunset - it was pretty dang chilly though, so we didn't stay to watch the whole thing.
Brad and the sunset!
And me with the sunset!  Clearly it was pretty windy out there too!
And we did a selfie!  I love this picture of us!
We ate at The Perfect Pig (like a block from where we stayed) - we were starving and didn't want to drive very far to eat!
After we ate dinner, we got them to take our picture (I know, aren't you surprised?!)...
Afterwards, we headed back to The Great Southern and sat at the bar - more of my very favorite drink!  I need to find a good bar here that can make a coconut mojito - delicious!
And of course a picture at the bar :)
And before we left, they told me THEY CAN DO ROADIES!  As in - you pay for a drink and they put it in a to go glass for you.  For the love.  Talk about perfection (obviously as long as there is no driving involved).  I was so excited!
I'd call day 4 a success.  It is so fun going through all of these pictures from our trip.  It makes me ready to go back!
 
Photobucket