Our last couple of days in RB

As I mentioned before, we had such an awesome trip. I know the pictures are a bit much, but who prints pictures nowadays?!?! This IS our online scrap book, right??? Ha, I just took a ton of pictures!

Late night snacks 

Luke's birthday night! 

Breakfast in Alys beach. We actually made the bike ride there to get donuts at the donut truck, but apparently they open and 6 and are usually sold out by 8. Umm, ok I guess not. Oh well, we still found some delicious eats and great scenery. 

The "hill" in the park at Alys Beach. The pictures don't do it justice. It is a massive hill that has a foot path that winds around it to the top. The kids love it.

Behind the hill is a sand playground. Very cool and beachy. We must remember for our next trip that the slide is scary fast and to warn the kiddos. Sorry, Kate. 

The thing that stood out to me the most in this post is Evan's facial expressions. I do not think I can take a picture of that kid without some crazy expression on his face. It's hilarious. 

Playing in the fountain after dinner. They were COMPLETELY soaked. All of them. They loved it!

Our last night. Boohoo. No, it was great. We ate at George's in Alys. Amazing dinner and an even prettier sunset. You'll see . . .

No joke. Amazing, right. It was breathtaking. I have never seen anything quite like it. Perfect way to end an awesome week.

Our last night required a little beach exploring. The kids always love it. Flashlights are a necessity. 

And that was our trip in a nutshell. Until next time . . . LOL

Beach days . . .

Our first couple of days in RB

We just got back from another fantastic vacation in Rosemary Beach! It was just the five of us this time, no lovely Lin to help us out. We were a bit nervous about taking the kids by ourselves (not that we can't handle our children, LOL), but we did it! AND we had an awesome, uneventful time doing it! There are tons of pictures on this post and this is only the first few days, so more to come!!!

We stopped in Seaside first to have lunch and to let the kids stretch their legs and burn off some built up energy.  It was much warmer and crowded than expected, so we ate lunch and headed down the road to RB.

After unpacking and getting acclimated to our new digs for the week we put the kids down for a much needed nap. This is a rare moment. Both sleeping soundly cuddled up next to each other. So stinkin' sweet. 

The front porch was amazing and it's where we spent every morning. It had a table and chairs for all of us to eat breakfast at and an awesome porch swing. The kids absolutely loved it. (This picture is quite fuzzy due to the lens trying to adjust to the humidity - I know y'all were totally wanting to know that).

Out to dinner at Pompano Joe's in Destin. Best grilled crab legs, ever. After this trip, we never had to get in our van again. Glorious. 

I'm not completely sure how, but no matter where we are or what we're doing, Evan ALWAYS manages to find something to throw. At our house in RB it was acorns. He stood at the end of the boardwalk every morning and threw acorns into the street. I love his energy and spirit. 

The weather was a bit cooler than we are used to (we're used to spring/summer), so we made the most of our mornings by going to the park and on bike rides. I felt like we got to explore a different side of RB that we usually do. Very fun.

Not sure if it was the time of year or what, but there were what seemed like a hundreds of butterflies. 

Our sweet Lukey turned FIVE while we were down there!!! I won't get too weepy on this post (that'll come later). We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, opened presents and headed to the beach (Luke's pick!). Such a great way to spend a birthday, if you ask me. 

Our sweet boys . . . more to come . . . 

Vacation Countdown

We're headed to Florida for another family vacation very soon! Soooo to help build the anticipation (as if we need that!) I thought it would be fun to put together a paper chain and cut one link off each day and write the remaining number of days on the chalkboard. 
This was a great activity to work on with Luke. He has been taking fewer and fewer naps lately so one afternoon last week I let him get up with the promise of not whining and letting me continue to clean and whatnot until I could sit down with him and work on something. Thankfully, he cooperated. 
All I had to do for this project was crease the paper (and make sure he didn't' staple his fingers). Luke cut, folded and stapled each link himself. He did great. 
Each morning (the boys alternate days) we cut a link from the chain and countdown how many are left and change the day on the chalkboard! They look forward to it each time. In addition to building excitement about our upcoming trip, we're building cutting and counting skills. Bonus!