BEACH-a-licious................

These four lucky kids just spent 14 days together at the beach!! And the parents actually survived it!!!!! Although tough at times, challenging other times, crazy many times and LOUD all the time, it really was great...........Memories that will forever be cherished. It was tough trying to pick just some of the pictures to post............with over 500 to choose from and already way late on summer postings, I figured something was better than nothing!

Of course my fearless son goes right for the crab..........

We had barely pulled into the driveway when they were begging to see some surf and sand......So suitcases aside, off we marched to the beach..........

And then bright and early (12pm.......breakfast, cartoons, sunscreen, lunches prepared, cooler packed, dog walked, on and on and on) we got our first full day of beach!!

There was a beautiful and completely empty community right up the street. It's a part of the Watercolor community but unfortunately was built during the NOT SO booming realestate market............so, great for pics, not so great for their busines!

Hmmmmm.......dare devils and sass...........Lord, help me!

Our first week, the weather wasn't too sunny, which actually worked out great for the kids (and the hubby's) skin............

I love this action shot! The kids thoroughly enjoyed playing in the waves................

On Friday, we rented a pontoon boat that we took out for the day...........I am not sure I have ever done that on the ocean but I promise you I will do it AGAIN! It was fantastic.......We anchored at Shell Island and spent all day in knee deep water, finding tons of shells, small sting rays, sandollars and we might have actually spotted a small shark.......and by we I mean Laura, since I was too busy trying to scale up the side of the boat as soon as she thought she saw it!

We really had so much fun!! As was most of the week, we dealt with a few storms........Thanks to our boat Captain, Mr. Jason, We stayed ahead of most of the rain............As we were trying to out run one of the rain showers, we found ourselves in the middle of a pod of spinner dolphins! It was truly breathtaking and I still can't believe the pictures I got! This was no zoom lense......they were this close!

After a full day on the boat, we headed to Dockside for fantastic shrimp and ice cold beer......And shirly temples for the little ones!

Dockside is right at the Marina in Port St. Joe..........so much fun watching all the boats come in with the fresh catch of the day!

It really was great being at the beach.........And I do love me some beach time as well as friend and family time!

While we were walking around, we ran into this little guy. I, of course, thought it was a shark. It was a cat fish......who knew they were in the ocean!!

So on Sunday, we said goodbye to the daddy's and hello to single motherhood..........with four kids............and decided to treat ourselves to a nice lunch at Schooners in Panama City Beach!!

It was just like the old days.........No, it really wasn't. In the old days, I was single, younger, much skinnier and didn't have to even look at the kids menus!!

Since we loved Dockside so much, we decided to go back and it was soooo yummy!

no clue why this is turned sideways, figures, right? it's the one of two pictures I think I am actually in!! ha!

We had a fantastic time, and I really have so many more pics to go through and many more stories to tell..........

My brain is at the BEACH!

so...............tomorrow I am going to the beach with my sorority sisters...........AND I CAN NOT WAIT! Apparently, my mind is already there.......because so far this week, I have turned the hose on to water my flowers......forgot.........never watered them.......however I did water the lawn..........till I remembered at 4AM to go and turn off the hose! I also put chicken fingers in the toaster over............and forgot.................and burnt the hell out of them......................

so..............as much as the hubby isn't too excited about flying solo till Monday, I feel confident he is ready for my spacey brain to LEAVE!!

I am also hoping to get packed sometime very soon..............right now, my list is still long...........laundry, ironing, clean out car, clean kids rooms, clean house, cook dinner, lay out clothes for birthday parties this weekend, gather soccer stuff for games this weekend..............and then pack...................

shew...............better get goin!!

WARNING: This MIGHT be a post with a few beach pictures.....

From the minute we stepped in the door...........our vacation began............And WHAT a vacation it was!! 7 days of quality family time, lots of relaxing, beautiful weather and a GIGANTIC amount of calories .............HA!


Sunday's beach day was truly stunning............The water was crystal clear (no tar balls here) and the day was perfect.................
Check out how I strategically place my children to hide the bathing suit shot!! Of course, after seeing some of the other fellow ladies on the beach, I might as well bust out the two piece!! Oh to have that sort of self confidence...................




myself, the hubby and the kids played all day long........lots of holes dug, sand ice cream served, and buckets filled and toppled over..................

This sweet little boy of mine loves his naps..........LOVES them...........no matter where we are, he just knows when to give in!! Of course, had I had the opportunity, a nap would have been great, beachside, breeze and all!!


And when the day was done, the sand washed off by the swimming pool, it was time for snacks and a little lizard lookin!!


Since we don't get very many family shots and it WAS father's day, I had to post this not so flattering family picture............ Oh well!!
We loved seeing CiCi................Always the highlight !!

Here we are at George's at Alys Beach and thanks to that little nap earlier, this little boy was a dream!! The above picture was his "performance" then he'd jump up and want to "see" the picture..........Oh the age of the digital camera!!


Popsicles are always a must! Especially at the beach..........
Did I mention my entertainer??? Yep, he is quite the funny man!
We spent Monday afternoon at Baytowne Wharf..........It was so much fun!!
We ate at Poppy's and saw tons of boats and even a little wildlife!! I look over and standing VERY close to me is a RACOON...........After a minor heart attack, I got our server so they could remove the UNWELCOMED guest.............The kids asked lots of questions and it stayed very much on their minds..........I told them about how my mom chased one off our backporch a long time ago and broke her arm....well, this story was repeated by the kids SO MANY TIMES and rearranged and completely turned upside down! Hilarious..........Oh, and come to find out, it was actually a Possum my mom chased..............HA!


Big Papa helped me crack open the hubby and I's giant bowl of seafood (that unfortunately I had to see about 5 hours later..........ugh!)






After a carousel ride and some cute photo ops, Big Papa INSISTED he do the jumpy thing..........We tried to reason with him and felt pretty confident that we were totally wasting our money, that no way was he actually going to go through with it! And sweet girl new better, didn't even make us buy tickets for her!!

Well.....................
We were proven wrong...........................
Very wrong...............And then guess who had to go!

That's right.............off we went, across the Wharf, to buy more tickets.............
I could not believe it!!

More pool shots............Oh and speaking of pools............You know those Swimmie Diapers that someone made a LOT of money on inventing???? They SUCK! Ha, actually they don't SUCK..........They DON'T hold in the pee............and they certainly DON'T hold in POOP!! Ugh! fortunately, we were quick enough to at least not get busted and force the pool to get closed..........
I can't believe how great this little girl is swimming! No floaties for her!! She did so great.........and had so much fun.............She loves to jump to mommy and kept telling me to go back farther so she could jump and swim to me..............I can't believe what a difference a year makes...........Last year, she screamed for an hour straight at ALL 8 lessons...............But, that's my girl..........it's always got to be on HER terms............So I guess I am glad she decided to SWIM!!


Did I mention my sweet boy likes his naps? Yep, doesn't matter where!


Popsicles, suckers, you name it, they ate it! Well, as long as it was JUNK! Oh well, the hubby's philosophy is it's OK on vacation............hmmmmmmmm


Here they are checking out more lizards.............with some of their new friends they met!
Ice cream............Chocolate, to be exact. You know, in case you couldn't figure that out......


I tell you , we were certainly blessed with gorgeous weather..........And although I will admit to seeing a few tar balls (contrary to ALL news reports), the beaches were GORGEOUS..........Well, at least at the NON public beach access areas...........Thank you, home owners, for those high priced dues you pay to cover things like, well, like TAR BALL CLEAN UP!!



Here we are attempting a very random photo session...........Not very professional but it helps to have beautiful subjects, if I DO say so myself!!





AND look who actually took a nap..........once............all week!!

And look who DIDN'T take a nap...............once.............all week!

Our last day included a surprise visit from Jesse...........such a great surprise!!

And our sweet baby William.................
I was thinking I should send this picture into the UGA alumnae magazine!! How stinkin cute is she?????? Thanks to our friends in Alabama for that hand me down bathing suit! We love the hand me downs!!

Do you think she's used to having her picture made?? ha ha!


This was the view from the beachside condo we stayed at, it was gorgeous!!
And this was our last day, we literally pulled out of the drive straight from this picture........

I think this was our first vacation that was just us............We couldn't get our schedules together to go with our normal group .......... And although it's wonderful for the kids to have playmates, and the adults too, we really had a great week............Thank you to everyone that helped make this week happen.........We count each and everyone of you as blessings.....And boy are we blessed!!