Day 4 Beach Trip

Day 4 started with a bang; mainly because Erik and my Dad joined us. It's always fun when they join in the vacation. They are both great to play with the girls and, selfishly, it gives my mom and I a wee-bit of a break. By day 4 the girls are usually tired of me and mom and they just hang on Erik. My Dad, Pops, is great at building sand castles---although I promise that mom and I saw him doing "site work" on the sand before he and Ella started building.

I like this picture of Lucy. You can tell how utterly tired she is from all the sun and fun.

Dad trying to catch fish with the orange nets. I have to give Erik total props because he is the only one who actually caught the little minnow. He caught MANY little fish, to be honest. The girls thought he was near heroic.


See, 3 little fish....

Day 3 - June Beach Trip

On our third day at the beach we had to take a break. We were all drained from the sun and needed a change of scenery (although thinking about it from my living room I wonder why in the world I needed a break from the BEACH!!??) We decided to run over to Foley and stroll around the outlet mall. I can say that we covered that mall from top to bottom and got some good exercise, but didn't spend hardly a dime. (If you remember from previous posts, contentment is something I have been praying over for a long time. Thankfully, God is answering that prayer.)

When we got home the girls took a nap and then we went out to the beach for about 3 hours. We decided that we had not tortured ourselves enough, so we got the girls ready and headed out to The Wharf to ride the big Ferris wheel. We had seen the "big wheel" as we came in on the bypass to Orange Beach. If you have never been to The Wharf, I highly recommend it! We will spend a half-day there instead of Foley next time. And there is a fantastic movie theatre if you are stuck at the beach on a rainy day---which we were NOT.

Here are a couple of the pictures I took before we left for the Ferris wheel:

Here is a picture of the HUGE Ferris wheel. It was so much fun. I was a nervous wreck, but the girls and mom really had a nice time. Being a mother has turned me into a bit of a phobic about some things and heights happens to be one of them. I couldn't even enjoy the ride for being absolutely stricken with fear that we were going to fall out of the bucket. (when i have time one day, I should really get some help.....)

Look, I did go on vacation. I asked my mom to take at least one picture of me so that I had proof I actually went to the beach.

Day Two at the Beach

So much for my plan to post every day at the beach. Who knew this year would be so different from last year? Although the girls were much more independant this year, they were much more active. We went from sun up to sun down. You know how I posted about sitting back and reading a magazine the first day? Let's just say its a good thing I finished it in one sitting because I never had the chance to pick it up again.

We had a wonderful week and I look forward to posting more pictures as I go. Right now I am trying to survive VBS and still somehow get caught up with everything else that got put on hold while we were away. And I thought this summer was going to be easy-going.....

On the second day of our beach trip, the girls decided they wanted to try body boards (they had seen other kids with them). So off we go to Alvin's Island to buy 2 body boards. Mission accomplished!

Don't they look like little surfer girls?

After a day in the sun, Mom and I took my sun-kissed girls to The Crab Trap for dinner.

They had a great time eating crab claws (who would have thought it?)

and then they played on the playground for almost an hour while Mom and I enjoyed a slice of keylime pie and coffee. It was such a relaxing evening!

Simple Luxuries

Being away from home can sometimes surprise you with a few simple, unexpected luxuries. For example, yesterday the girls were taking a nap and instead of doing 2 loads of laundry, unloading and loading the dishwasher, starting dinner and paying bills, I grabbed the newest copy of US Weekly and read all about the gossip unfolding around Jon and Kate Plus 8. How could I justify such a selfish act you might ask? Well......

This is what I woke up to Monday morning. My mom, the girls and I left Sunday for a week at the beach! Just as it is every time we come, it is so relaxing and really just does something to your spirit. We spent the whole day in the sun, swimming and building sand castles. We spent a great deal of time gathering sea shells and both girls have completely acclimated to swimming in the ocean. They love it! I can't get over how comfortable they are. I have to admit that it is still rather intimidating to me.

I love the week that the girls and I spend with my mom. We always have such a fun time and we make memories that we laugh about for years to come. I just love my mom. She's the best!

Simple pleasures, right?

These girls enjoyed it, too:

For a special treat, we took the girls to get ice cream after we had dinner in the condo. Quick back story....last year we stumbled across a great little ice cream parlor in Perdido. Mom, Ella and I went in a got a cone with special toppings. Lucy, being allergic to milk, had never even noticed ice cream before. I had always just made sure to get her a kids cone filled with M&Ms. Well, this time she noticed. She screamed and screamed for ice cream. I felt like a dog and swore I would never go get ice cream in front of her again. Over the past year, Lucy has outgrown her allergy and can now eat ice cream. So last night we went to find that same ice cream parlor and wouldn't you know it was not there! We did find Bruster's though.

Placing their order for strawberry ice cream with sprinkles

Sweet Lucy finally enjoying ice cream at the beach!

This is my ice cream sundae. It is only 1 scoop--I promise!!!!

Apparently if we go back Thursday, we can get a banana split for half price.

First Swim of 09

I love these action shots of Ella. You can really tell how much fun she is having!

Our Summer fun started with an early swim at Nanny and Pops' pool. The heater was turned on, but it was still SOOOO cold. Needless to say neither Mommy nor Nanny got in with the girls. Lucy was in typical form at first, only interested in the water hose.

But she warmed up to the idea of swimming and soon was floating away in this yellow float that she called "Duckie."