This summer the kids and I took off on a little road trip! Summer is SO busy for Josh so he wasn't able to come with us (boo!) but we had a great time visiting our family and friends back home! We left early on Friday morning and made pretty good time to Chattanooga. We spent almost a week with my family in Chattanooga and had a great time!
Happy boy at Gleigh and Bo's house!
One of the first things we did (and one of Annie's favorite things) was hit the lake! Last summer Annie LOVED the jet ski...she and my dad would take off for hours and just ride and ride. Emma T. would not even sit her fanny on it last summer BUT this year....
BOTH girls rode with Bo! Emma didn't ride for too long AND we could hear her screaming from the dock (ha) but I think she had a pretty good time and we might see her on it again before too long! :)
Annie got really brave and even went for a ride in the tube!
Uncle Matthew had to help get things untangled before our girl could ride.
Another thing we did while we were in Chattanooga was celebrate Emma's birthday...AGAIN! This girl had more celebrating and partying than any four year old I know. It seems like every time we turned around we were having another party for Emma T. This might have been the best celebration yet because Gleigh and Bo had the much anticipated ballet costume (uniform? not sure exactly what you call it)! Emma has been wanting to take ballet for quite some time and Josh and I decided to give her Ballet classes for her birthday BUT mom and dad gave her the good stuff! She could not wait to try those suckers on...especially the shoes! Adorable!
Blowing out the candles!
Happy 4 year old!
We got another opportunity to head out on the water one night with Mom and Dad's friends the Wilsons. We jumped on the chance to take an after dinner cruise and had a great time on the water! The kids were already bathed and cozied up in their jammies...it was a perfect way to end the day!
Jack and Uncle Daniel about to get on board!
The girls and Kristen checking out the scenery!
Check out that tiny life jacket on that super cute boy!
Emma's turn to drive!
Uncle Daniel and Gracie!
Captain Annie!
Even Gracie got to drive! What were we thinking?!?!? ha!
Having fun!
Emma snuggled up with dad!
Gracie and Mark! What a fun night with fun friends! Thanks Mark and Annie for a super fun night! :)
We also got the chance to go to a Lookouts game with Dad and Daniel and my dad's baseball team while we were in Chattanooga. My dad coached an inner-city baseball team this spring and as a treat at the end of the season they got the chance to have lunch with the Lookouts and then go to the game that evening. Most of these boys had never been to a baseball game (or played themselves) before this spring. We had a great time at the game and the girls were SO good....we almost made it to the end of the game!
After a fun-filled several days in Chattanooga, the kids and I hit the road for our next stop.....Grandmother's house! We got to Gadsden on Wednesday (just one day after my grandmother got back from her 75th birthday trip to Italy!) and were able to squeeze in a little trouble......
Emma after seeing my reaction to her "make up". That's Grandmother's lipstick all over her face in case you were wondering!
AND a quick visit with some of our FAVORITE folks!
Annie reading to Uncle B! Check out those earrings! What a fashionista!
Jack snuggling with Aunt Jane!
After our visit, we loaded up the car and headed for...
THE BEACH! This is the view off of our deck! I could definitely get used to waking up to this!
We left Grandmother's house on Thursday afternoon (GM was such a trooper to just hop in the car with us and GO just one day after coming back from Europe! I'm so glad she did too!) and started making our way to the beach! My grandparents have had a place at the beach for as long as I can remember....seriously my whole life...and I'm SO glad my girls get to grow up going to our beach. I have such special memories from my childhood and I KNOW they will too! We FINALLY got to the beach around 11:00 Thursday night and went upstairs to go inside. Well if you know anything about the beach you know that the salt is just terrible on EVERYTHING! When I put the key in the lock, nothing happened. We tried and tried and tried to get the key to turn but had no luck! Thankfully there were some people sitting on the deck of the house across the street who were able to help us get inside (not without taking the doorknob off though)! First thing on our to do list....get a new doorknob! ha!
After getting a good (but short) night's sleep, the kids got in some playing time with the new coffee set brought back for them from Italy! Grandmother had been looking for a plastic tea set for ages....my girls can be a little rough on things...and they found the cutest one on their trip! The girls set up a coffee shop in the living room and served us the coffee and croissants! Delicious!
The coffee shop!
The sign! :)
After playing our fair share of "coffee shop" and taking turns ordering and serving, we decided it was time to hit the beach! I don't know about y'all, but I just think the Gulf beaches are beautiful! There is nothing like them!
See what I mean! White sandy beaches and sparkling blue water! LOVE it!
Emma and Gracie checking out the water!
My sweet (and tired) girl! Most days Gracie really fights me about taking a nap but at the beach she slept like a champ EVERY day! It was AWESOME! :)
Like most people I knew I had to make sure to get some good pics of my kiddos on the beach! The minute I saw them I knew these crab dresses (and shorts for Jack) would be the perfect thing for our beach photo shoot! I took WAY too many pics to post but thought a sneak peek would be appropriate! :)
Are those kiddos ADORABLE or what?!?!?!
Since I knew the kids would want to see their cousins while we were close I invited Becca and Walker and Laynee to come and spend a few days with us in paradise! Those lucky ducks! :)
The kids had a great time together and Becca and I had a great time just hanging out and catching up! It made for quite a crew, though! Grandmother sure was sweet to put up with all of us!
The kiddos minus Jack. They were so cute eating at the bar together each day!
We had great weather almost the whole time we were there. One morning I heard a little thunder and a quick little storm popped up. I walked to the window right as the rain ended and ran in to grab my camera because this is what I saw......
It's kind of hard to see but that's almost a complete rainbow! It was beautiful and such a neat reminder of God's promises to us!
After only a few hours, the sky was blue and we were back to doing this...
Becca and the kids playing in the sand!
Our house! One of my favorite places EVER! :)
Such fashion plates! Love those bathing beauties!
Playing in the sand with cousins!
What a cutie....even if she is a grouch!
The littles! What cuties!
Laynee loved the swing.
Another impromptu photo shoot!
Sweet brother and sister!
Grandmother and Jack playing in the sand.
My cutie enjoying the sand!
We were so sad to see our week at the beach come to an end but we were able to squeeze in one more visit before we headed back home to Virginia. Leslie and Jeff are some of our best buddies from Auburn and we LOVED reconnecting with them and their sweet kiddos while we were in Birmingham. I just couldn't pass through town without stopping for a short visit! We were able to meet them at CFA (another favorite!) and grab a quick bite and catch up a bit! We sure do miss them!
Les and Jack!
Sweet Greenlee! What a cutie!
The kids and I had a great summer adventure (almost three weeks worth!) and made LOTS of sweet memories with family and friends but we sure did miss Josh! We were so excited to be reunited at home! :)
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