Cozy Cousins

It took a while but these two are finally becoming buddies!

A Totally Rad Roller Skating Party

Our friend Amanda had a totally awesome birthday party complete with bodacious babes and bad dudes dressed in their eighties getups doing a little roller skating! Seriously though we had a blast even though several of us, including myself, came away with some injuries considering we hadn't skated in decades!

To Spoon or Not to Spoon

I can't believe how big and independent my baby girl is getting. She has been practicing a lot on using her spoon and is getting really good although as you can see sometimes she decides using her hands is a lot easier!

So Long to the Yumminess of Summer

We sure have enjoyed the delicious fresh foods of summer, especially Ava and while I'm excited about the foods of fall...pots of chili, pumpkin spice anything, etc I know we are really going to miss the fresh strawberries, cantaloupe, watermelon & berries!

Two Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed

We recently got to spend an evening with the our good friends, Matt, Shelly & Lily! Shelly cooked us an amazing dinner of lettuce wraps & egg rolls. Ava & Lily had a blast together- swimming, playing with baby dolls & finishing off the night with a jump on the bed! It had me & Shelly envisioning the crazy slumber parties that are in our future!

Missing Mermaid Cottage

Well I've got a serious case of the vacations over blues. We had a blast on our family beach vacation! Last Friday we all gathered at grandmother and papa's, cars loaded to the max, Starbucks in hand, ready to make the long drive to Columbus, MS. Before we headed out we circled up for a prayer. Grandmother and papa took their car, mom, dad, Natalie and Ethan took the minivan and Keller, Ava, Justin and I rode in our car. We left about 9am and after quite a few stops for lunch, traffic delays due to wrecks, etc we arrived in Columbus about 7:30pm. The kids were troopers on the long car ride although Keller did start asking if we were almost there before we even got past Eastland! We got settled into our rooms, grabbed a bite to eat and let the kids get some of their energy out in the hotel pool and then hit the bed. We had packed the pack n play for Ava with the knowledge she would most likely end up sleeping in our bed everynight since she has never been able to sleep in the pack n play. Much to our pleasant surprise however that first night we set it up and went through our normal bedtime routine and layed her down in it and she rolled over, snuggled her lovies and went right to sleep and stayed there all night and that continued the whole trip, huge progress for us!


Saturday we couldn't check into the cottage until 5pm and we knew we only had about a 6 hour drive ahead of us so we decided to take our time in the morning. We got up and ate a little breakfast, I got in a little workout and then we got the cars loaded back up and hit the road again. Nathan, Sarah and the girls were coming from Austin so they weren't part of our caravan and had come a different route so when we were entering the tunnel in Mobile, AL and realized the minivan directly in front of us was them we couldn't believe it. We all arrived at the cottage a little early so we had to sit outside and wait while they got it cleaned up. The house was a quirky, colorful beach cottage just one block from the beach. Once they left the keys and we got in the house we unloaded the cars and headed straight to the beach. No one had on swimsuits but that didn't stop us from jumping in the waves and getting in our toes in the sand and water. It was priceless watching the kids see the ocean for the first time. Ava liked it at first until she got clobbered by a wave. The sand was perfectly powdery and white and water was a beautiful turquoise color, as pretty as a postcard! After some fun at the beach we headed back to the cabin got things put away, hit the pool and enjoyed some cheeseburgers.














As you can imagine all we wanted to do Sunday when we got up was soak up the sun! We woke up early and Justin, Ava and I headed out to try out Another Broken Egg for breakfast and pick up some groceries for the week. I was told we had to eat at Another Broken Egg while we were in Destin and have the chocolate milk which was more like a chocolate milkshake. Breakfast was really good, Justin said his french toast tasted like a funnel cake, Ava enjoyed half of the chocolate milk and dumped the other half all over herself. After we picked up our groceries, we headed down to the beach for some fun in the sun. The water was so clear and calm. It was so relaxing to just lay on a float and let the waves take you for a ride. The kids buried each other in the sand and built sand castles. We spent all day at the beach and the pool. We decided each family would take a night to prepare dinner so mom, dad and Natalie prepared a crab leg and shrimp boil for dinner complete with corn on the cob and red potatoes. It was excellent and I ate way too much! After dinner everyone headed down to the beach for some crab hunting which became a regular event most evenings. The kids loved this!








Monday morning we woke up to find out that grandmother and papa had been up sick all night with some kind of stomach bug which was a bummer! After a workout at the local gym, I hit the pool with all the kids. We spent all morning in the pool to try and give grandmother and papa some quiet while they caught up on the sleep they didn't get while they were up sick. We walked to the beach for some more fun playing in the waves and sand after lunch. For dinner we decided to try Pompano Joe's which is a seafood restaurant down on the water. The food was really good and surprisingly we didn't even have to wait for a table. I got to try Amberjack fish for the first time and it was great the first time. After dinner I started feeling really full and a little sick. We did some more crab hunting when we got back from dinner and I went to bed feeling pretty queasy.















By 1:30am Tuesday I knew I was going to be sick and boy was I. Natalie also woke up sick that night and so she and I spent the day in bed with the stomach bug. Everyone else spent the day playing in the pool and Sarah made what smelled like a delicious dinner of popovers, greens, cheeses and corn. After dinner everyone was heading down to the beach and I was tired of feeling like I was missing out on all of the fun so mom drove me down to the beach where I sat with my feet in the water.










Thankfully Wednesday morning we all woke up feeling good again! We spent the morning playing in the pool! After pool time all the girls decided to take a shopping and sightseeing trip. First we stopped off for some Starbucks and had a little adventure when the power went out in the building. We had a great time shopping & admiring quaint, colorful cottages in Seaside, the exquisite European architecture in Rosemary Beach & the Hilton mansion & swanky resort at Alys Beach. We topped it off with dinner at The Red Bar at Grayton Beach, a very eclectic little place with a jazz band and a set menu on a chalkboard. The food was excellent and the music was a lot of fun, Ava was really getting her groove on!



















Thursday morning we woke up to rain! But on a sunny note we had friends coming to visit for the day. We have known the Tyus and Trosclair families for a long time, both of them used to be stationed at Dyess AFB and went to church with us. Now they both live close to Destin so they came over to spend the day with us. It was fun to visit with both families and their kids and grandkids! We got to see the most beautiful rainbow after the rain and got to enjoy some more pool and beach time. We also stopped by the Donut Hole for some donuts and the best key lime pie I've ever had! Thursday night was our night to cook so we made two pans of chicken spaghetti and Gwyn brought one of her delicious peach cobblers for dessert!





Friday we woke up to rain again and it ended up raining the majority of the morning and early afternoon. We played inside and started packing reluctantly. Because of all the storms the waves were so big that there was a red flag warning so we couldn't really get in the water the last couple of days. The ice cream man drove by and we had been wanting to stop him all week so we finally did and enjoyed some sweet treats. Justin, Ava, Grandmother and I decided we wanted to get out so we went out and did a little shopping and then went to the Baytowne Wharf to explore a bit. Before dinner we all headed out to the beach one last time for some family photos and a little more fun in the sun. It was a bittersweet night, I think we were all feeling a little blue about having to go home the next day!























































Saturday morning we packed up and cleaned up and we all headed our seperate ways, grandmother and papa headed off to South Carolina to visit friends, Nathan, Sarah & the girls headed back to Austin, we headed to Houston to stay the night with Grandma & mom, dad, Natalie & the boys headed towards Abilene. We all loved spending so much time together and the cousins especially couldn't stand that they had to go their seperate ways again. We're hoping to make this an annual trip! So many special family memories were made!