Beach Vacation 2013!! {Part 2}

The next couple of days of our trip were just as great as the first couple.

The littles really enjoyed watching the beach traffic from the balcony of our condo . We had a small view of the ocean between the hotels.

The littles really took to the beach. Chris made the comment that he had never seen Evan so energetic.

And of course, our little socialite met a few playmates.

I had Chris take a few photos of the littles and I.

For anyone that was watching, I'm sure that this scene was pretty comical. The waves kept knocking us over and every once in a while the tide would take a little with it.

I loved this one, just wish I knew of a photo editing tool that could shave a little off of my sides;)

We also got in a little kite flying. I got a bunch of beach toys from the Dollar Tree before we left for our trip. I didn't want the littles begging for overpriced beach toys while we were there. I was amazed at how well these kites flew, especially considering that there were two in one pack. 

That evening we celebrated Evan's 3rd Birthday which can be seen {here}!

The following morning was the last day of our trip. We had an early check-out and went to the beach for the final time:( Despite the SPF 70 sunblock that we saturated the littles in, Evan had started to get a little sunburn, so we kept his rash guard shirt on him.

After a very short beach trip (I didn't want any of us to get burnt), we went in search of a good place to eat for lunch. My friend Tenesha had been on vacation in Destin a couple of weeks earlier and had suggested a few places to eat. We decided to eat at Pomapano Joe's, one of her suggestions, and boy was I glad that we did.

P.S. If you get the chance to go by Pompano Joe's, go during lunch time. They had some great lunch specials.

We also enjoyed the atmosphere.

The littles grooved out to the music being played by some of the beach-goers. Ha!

And, I was finally able to satisfy my craving for oysters on the half shell, an appetizer that I had all to myself!:)

It was the perfect getaway trip. We were as relaxed as any family can be on vacation and we made some great memories. I love the beach!

Beach Vacation 2013!! {Part 1}

Okay. Where do I start? We had an ah-mazing trip to Destin, Florida this past weekend! It was so nice to get away especially with my hectic schedule over these past few months. I think that everyone in our household has been a little on edge and we've needed some getaway time to relax and clear our heads. After all, " everything is better at the beach," and it truly was!

I took off work early on Friday and we packed up the truck and headed to the beach! Look at these excited smiling faces:)

We got there late in the afternoon, so rather than try to make it out to the beach with our last few daylight hours, we opted to go for a quick swim in the pool before dinner.

For dinner, we chose a place close to where we were staying, Captain Dave's. The food was mediocre, especially for the price, but the view was gorgeous.

This was the waiting area. Not too shabby!

Much to Chris's dismay, I asked our server to take our picture. (For some reason, it embarrasses him.) You can't tell because of the flash, but we had a beautiful view of the beach.

The smell of the salty air lured us to the beach for a little stroll. (It was windy that night, so my hair was wild.)

 
The following morning we couldn't wait to hit the beach!

Ahhh, finally...

After a beach-filled day, naps, and pool time, Chris grilled out for dinner. Yummy!

We did make a late night excursion to the The Donut Hole.

Look at my crumby face! Can you tell that I enjoyed my donut? Ha!

 

 

These were such fun times and good memories! More to come soon:)...





Evan's 3rd Birthday at Fudpucker's!!!

This past Sunday marked 3 years that God has blessed me with the presence of my beautiful baby boy! Instead of celebrating with a party at home this year, we decided to celebrate Evan's 3rd Birthday with a weekend at the beach in Destin, Florida. Evan has a very modest personality and doesn't like a big "to-do" over him, so this was the perfect celebration. In fact, as we were leaving to go out to dinner at Fudpucker's, he made the comment that we should just eat dinner in the condo. However, I knew that once we got there that he would love it. I did a little on-line research when trying to pick a place for dinner that night, and decided that this place had the best kid-friendly setting.

Sissy woke her brother up from his afternoon nap. He usually doesn't nap, but our trip to the beach earlier in the afternoon took a lot out of him. (Beach pics will be posted in an upcoming blog.)

Gator Beach, a live alligator exhibit at the restaurant, was a huge selling point for me.

They even had an albino gator in a tank!

You know that we take advantage of every photo op!;) (The dress I am wearing below was a Mother's Day gift from my sweeties.)

Daddy didn't want to miss out on his chance to take a photo with the birthday boy.

We enjoyed a live show put on by these two characters.

After dinner, our server surprised Evan with a birthday treat! Can you tell that he was mortified?!

Poor baby didn't like all the excitement. As I took a picture of the wait staff singing "Happy Birthday" in their loveliest singing voices, Evan slid under the table.

After all the excitement, he emerged and we were able to snag a family photo.

We had fun playing in browsing the gift shop.

We decided to get the littles a couple of the World Famous Fudpucker's Tees to commemorate the occasion. We couldn't wait to get out of the restaurant before putting them on:)

 
It was such a fun family evening. Fudpucker's is definitely the place to visit if you have children in tow...or not. Happy Birthday to my sweet, inquisitive, handsome, shy, cautious, and thoughtful boy!

P.S. More pics from our our beach vacation will be posted soon!

Rainbows Mother's Day Celebration

In honor of Mother's Day, the Rainbows (Chloe's Wednesday night church group) invited their mothers to a sweet celebration.

 

It was such a cute spread!

 

First, the Rainbows greeted us. (You may notice that a little extra someone snuck into the party;))

 

 

My littles and I:)

 

 

And Chloe surprised me with this super sweet Mother's Day card!

 

 

Thank you Mrs. Dodi, Mr. Jason, and Mrs. Laura for all the planning and prep that went into our special night! It made this Momma's heart happy to have this time with my littles! Y'all truly are a blessing!

Great Strides Walk

The family and I participated in the Great Strides Walk last weekend to raise money for for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and to find the cure for Cystic Fibrosis.

A sweet little girl that we know named Chloe was diagnosed with CF a few years ago. My heart broke for her family when I heard the news. I knew of the disease because of a movie that I watched as a child, Alex: The Life of a Child. It was the first time I that I remember feeling emotional watching a movie and what saddened me the most was that Alex died at the tender age of eight from CF. However, after doing a little research of my own, I discovered that people living with CF today can live into their 40's thanks in large part to research and developments by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation! In addition, I was delighted to hear from Chloe's mom about a new drug known as Kalydeco that has been proven to reverse the effects of CF in about 4% of the CF population with a specific genetic mutation. Guess who falls in that 4%?! God answers prayers!!!

However, there are still several people affected with CF waiting for their miracle drug and research still continues for these people. Therefore we "walk today, to add tomorrows!"

Here are a few pictures from the day of the walk. (I've noticed that from my last couple of posts that I've gotten bad about including myself in pictures, but I was there:))

Someone was a little cranky this morning, but he was faking a "smile" despite it.

My motley crue

Team Chloe!!

Afterwards, we enjoyed a snack.

And, Chloe and Evan took a picture with Chloe. Someone was still a little cranky.

The walk was a success. Team Chloe raised over $4,100! And, the overall walk raised over $41,000!!!

If you feel so inclined, you can still make a donation at 
{http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/EleanorThomas8096}!

Or, if you simply want to learn more about Cystic Fibrosis and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, you may at
{http://www.cff.org/AboutCF/}.