Orange Beach = FUN!

We are back from our wonderful vacation and we had a fabulous time! The kids were good travelers through the very long trip and well behaved at the beach! Our condo was perfect...right on the beach, I sat on the balcony every morning and listened to the waves, it was pure paradise.

We spent most of our time where else but the beach! The kids just loved the sand and the waves! Cortlyn loved snorkeling and boogie boarding in the ocean, Collier loved dry land! He did get in the ocean a bit, mostly with Momma or Daddy holding him, and he also would sit on the shore and let the waves come up on him, but he was mostly my sand baby! Of course we had all the fun essentials for beach vacations...sand buckets, shovels, rakes, sand molds, goggles, boogie boards...the list goes on, so the kids had plenty of wonderful times! They also brought home lots of seashells, I believe at Cortlyn's last count she had 124 shells and she also found a sand dollar, such a scavenger!

We ate some wonderful seafood while there, at some greatly entertaining places! Flippers was our first night, we sat outside because the weather and the view were both spectacular. Eating shrimp and watching the sunset on the water...honestly made me want to move! Second night was Live Bait...I got my coveted crab legs (love 'em) and the atmosphere was quite fun! The next night we opted for pizza and Lillian's was by far some of the best pizza I've had...and trust me we eat a lot of pizza! Tipseas was our Thursday night stop...a very eclectic place to say the least, some of the strongest Bloody Mary's I've ever drank in my life, and we were pleased to have live entertainment courtesy of Rhonda Hart (which I'm told has won a Grammy!?) Last but certainly not least was DeSoto's....the cream of the crop as far as I'm concerned, it was the best food I've ever had and the service and atmosphere couldn't be beat!

We did all the fun tourist things...pictures by the big shark and pirate ship, mini golf and go karts, even a trip to find a WalMart (can't get away from them for a second I swear)! We also took a Dolphin Cruise, which was so much fun for the entire family. We saw dolphins swimming, jumping, playing, it was so cute! We had so much fun honestly. We've decided that God willing we hope to make this an annual trip, we loved the area that much! Hands down...best vacation ever!

Vacation..here we come!!

We will be leaving on vacation this weekend, heading to Gulfshores, AL with both kiddos and my MIL! I couldn't be more excited about this trip for multiple reasons! First, both Mark and I can really use this time away from work...we both have been swamped lately and it leaves us both drained. With both of us as working parents, we really need some time away to recharge our batteries! Second, this will be our first BIG family vacation...we've gone on vacations before but mostly within easy drive time of our home; not this year, we are embarking on a 13 hour trip! Wish us luck! Third reason I'm so excited is because neither of my children have ever been to the beach before and I'm glad we will get to be the ones to experience that with them! I'm looking forward to the reactions when we actually arrive...priceless I'm sure! And last but definitely not least, we invited my MIL to go with us and I couldn't be happier that she's going! I think it's rare these days that children get to have these type of memories and experiences with their grandparents and I'm glad my children are so fortunate!
So I will be MIA for a little more than a week...I shall return with great stories, lots of wonderful pictures and hopefully one heck of a tan! 'Til then...

Happy Fourth of July!

We had multiple Fourth of July celebrations over the weekend, which was really pretty fun! We started Friday night at our house with BBQ and Fireworks with D.H.'s mom, sisters, brother-in-law, and nieces. D.H. cooked some really good hamburgers and brats for all of us, we had great side dishes to munch on and then D.H. and BIL put on a good fireworks show for us. It was a really enjoyable time!

Saturday it rained most of the day but by mid afternoon it cleared up enough that we went out to my FIL's for a swim. The kids enjoyed hanging with their cousins in the pool and again when us Hendricks' get together we are usually eatin'...so more BBQ on tap. This time we had ribs and steaks...yummmy! Then we all headed over to our "soon to be BIL" and he had one heck of a fireworks display and perfect timing to go with it...the last firework went off as the skies opened up and we all scattered to our cars!

Sunday was a nice relaxing day of laying by the pool and leftovers from all the great BBQ-ing! We all had a really great weekend!