Catch-up Post

I've been such a blogging slacker these past few weeks, but I think getting back from vacation and trying to adjust back to everyday life took us a while.  Just because I haven't posted much doesn't mean we haven't been up to much.

Last week we had several playdates and I love summer because it gives us the chance to see so many friends!  The kids have become fast friends with some sweet kiddos that I just adore, too.  The girls danced together last year and their little brother and Hudson always played while waiting for big sisters to finish up.  They also go to the same pre-school.  We have sleepovers planned for later this week and next, but last week they were here for a playdate and after lunch the kids decorated cookies!

That day just happened to be a day we were babysitting Sophia, too!  She is such a doll and we were all excited we got to help out Trey and Stef by watching her for the day.  She loved playing with all of her cousins and my three were all over her all day.

Hudson is quite the mama's boy, but that boy also LOVES his daddy.  As in, he wants to watch every move and be just like him.  On this summer night, he saw Robby mowing the grass and immediately ran to get his mower and be just like daddy.  When I asked him what he was doing, he told me he was "lawn mowin."

Last weekend we were at the lake with our friends the Atkinsons.  On our way up there on Friday afternoon we hit up a roadside stand for boiled peanuts. I knew Harper loved them (and always begs to stop and get some) but on this day in particular, I called it a southern success.  All three of my kids were chowing down on them!  Yummy!

The lake was so much fun and wonderful weather.   We don't see Tiara, Trevor, Avery, and Dylan near as much as we used to, but we always pick up right where we left off.

The biggest news from this weekend was Hudson wanted to go on the tube for the first time this summer and he LOVED it!

Yesterday afternoon the kids were trying to build a fort in the playroom and when Robby got home last night they recruited his help to really make it work. After it was complete they had big plans to sleep in it and who was I to ruin that fun?!?!  They all fell asleep and 2 of the 3 stayed there all night long!(Harper snuck into my bed sometime during the night.)

Also, just a little note to remind everyone that I'm still writing at my house blog, www.makingthishouse.blogspot.com, and have a lot of updates with our mudroom, my summer front door and tomorrow I plan to share a fun project I just completed!

4th of July at the beach

Being at the beach over the 4th of July made it a really busy and crowded time, but it also made it a really fun time because there was so much going on.  The hotel had all sorts of fun things going during the week and they really amped it up for the actual day of the Fourth.

First up during the day at the pool there was a carnival for the kids.  All sorts of carnival games and prizes and fun things like cotton candy and this man wearing stilts making balloons.

After hanging out at the pool all day we went back to our rooms to rest and get ready for the big evening.  We wanted to stay at the hotel and not deal with traffic so we just ordered room service and had a party in our room.

Then we decked out the kids with every kind of glow bracelet, glow necklace, and glow wand we had and got ready to head down to the beach.

The fireworks were amazing, set to music and a really spectacular way to end our vacation and go out with a bang!

Off-Property Dinner and Night Swimming

Thursday we knew it was our last day to go out to eat and we had spent every other day eating either at one of the restaurants at the hotel or at the Baytown which is still SanDestin property. We decided to go off-property this day, but knew we had to go early or it would be a disaster waiting with all five young kids.  After talking to a lot of people who were also staying there that week, we learned that most waits at most restaurants off the property were at least an hour.  We came in a little earlier from the beach that day and let the kids watch a show to rest before getting ready for dinner. One thing I love about this hotel is the set-up of the rooms.  It is definitely a family vacation destination and the rooms are equipped with these cute bunk-beds that are off by themselves making it feel like a different room.  They also have their own TV, which the kids just thought was the coolest!  

We got to dinner just before it got crazy and didn't have to wait at all.  Since it was the day before the 4th they were passing out all sorts of patriotic necklaces, footballs and goodies to the kids.

Handley and Mackenzie bonded on this trip and she is just such a doll!

Since we ate so early we decided it would be a good night for night swimming.  My kids think it is the coolest thing to swim at night when the lights are on in the pool.  This pool had all different colored lights so it was fun for them to swim around and see the different colors.

After night swimming we took our three down to the beach to go on a crab hunt.  Each night we would watch from our balcony at the dozens of people who were on the beach with flashlights looking for crabs.  Robby brought a giant flashlight for this purpose and the kids loved it and we even found a little crab for them to see.  Just as we got down to the beach there was a firework display and they loved getting a sampling of what was to come the next night.

Day 3 and 4

The next few days we spent lots of time doing mostly the same things.  We spent mornings and early afternoons on the beach. The kids boogie boarded, jumped waves, dug holes, and did lots of playing.

These boys are so funny together.  They love each other dearly, but sometimes argue like siblings.  I like to think they have a love/hate relationship.  Parker is usually great about sharing, but Hudson is used to being the youngest and getting his way most of the time with the girls, so he has a little work to do on the whole sharing thing.  They were busy at work digging holes each day though.

After lunchtime we would make our way back to the hotel pool and swim there for a few hours before heading up and "resting" a little before dinner.  

All of that playing wore everyone out so we made it our mission to sleep in each day!

On Wednesday the dads played golf so the moms and kids just made a day of it at the pool.  Before the guys left that morning they got us the coveted front row pool chairs and it was such a fun day.  We took a break from swimming to eat lunch at the outdoor pool restaurant.

 That night we went back to Baytown for dinner and the kids were begging to do all of the fun stuff there again.  However, we had other plans so we ushered them back on the shuttle and off to play putt-putt.

It was late, and everyone was tired, and the dads thought we were crazy to take this crew at almost 9:00 to play putt-putt, but we had promised and everyone had such a good time.

Day 1 and 2 at the Beach

We arrived at the beach on Sunday afternoon after a pretty uneventful car ride down.  The kids were so excited to be there and loved getting to see the pool and ocean view from our balcony.  As soon as we got settled we changed into swimsuits and got right down to the beach to play and swim and then had dinner by the pool that evening. 

The next day we spent all day at the beach and we were all having too much fun to take pictures.  That evening we got ready to head to Baytown.  The best part was we could take a shuttle from our hotel, which the kids loved!

Hudson just loves Mackenzie and was so sweet to hear all week!  I think the feeling is mutual.

After dinner we walked around and got to explore all of the fun things Baytown has to offer.  The boys fed the fish while the big girls did the zipline!

Next we let them ride the carousel and Hudson was so sad when it was all over!

It was a great ending to our first full day of vacation and we couldn't wait to go to bed and do it all over again the next day!

Beach Trip 2014

We are back from our annual beach trip and we had the best week!

Late last night when I was finally getting the kids to bed I asked them each what their favorite part of the trip was and they each listed about 10 things!

Hudson said he wanted to "do all that again" and the girls' lists were almost identical and almost in the exact same order.

*going to the beach and the pool
*making new friends
*boogie boarding
*sleeping in the bunk beds
*zip-lining
*riding on the carousel
*playing putt-putt
*watching fireworks on the beach
*crab hunting

It was so much fun and I have about a million and one pictures to share from our fun week. I'll be doing a little recap of each day of our vacation and will share all the fun stuff we did!