Alabama Vacay: Day 2

So here we are, Day 2 of our vacation (yes I am writing this post-trip, but let's focus and pretend that its really Day 2).  First I want to share my favorite photo op.  Before our evening stroll on the beach, we found the perfect place to pose together for a family picture.  And we didn't even need assistance.  Thanks to some McGuyver like work by moi, and a little help from the timer on the camera, we got this shot in four attempts.  I love it!

So we started our first full day on the beach by arriving early and picking a place to park our gear for the week.  The beauty of coming after school starts and to Gulf Shores is how alone we were.  There were probably five families on the beach the same time we were all week.  We picked a spot and it was ours the rest of the week.  Here is Kaitlyn announcing that this is the spot for us.  AJ is more interested in pushing cars around in his new huge sandbox.

On the right is a picture of CAMP FRIEDMAN.  It was a happy place, with shade and toys and snacks. 

Once a spot was picked, we did what any beach lover does.  We stuff our toes in the water and appreciated the beautiful view of the ocean.  Then, after a moment of relaxation, we got busy!  It was time to build some sand castles and use these new toys we brought.  First lesson, Daddy taught us how we need water and sand to make the sand stick together.

After some hard work by Daddy (Mommy called herself "management" and read a book while supervising he-he), and some assistance from KK and AJ, our first sand castle was built.  We opted for more of a spread out compound versus a tall tower.  Ariel and Ken were very happy to romp around and destroy the place after we took pics.

Another glorious thing about vacay: naps! And with a morning at the beach, we were even able to convince KK to take one.  Ahhh - it was wonderful!  We ended our day with yet another trip to the beach.  It was my favorite time of day.  The sun setting over the water.. we took a nice long walk along the beach until dark.

Here are the kids ~ stopping for a quick pic before racing for the beach.

Now the picture person that I am, I couldn't resist trying to get a few family shots before it got darker and before we started playing.  I laugh so hard at this one, I am not sure what little man was doing but it cracks me up.

The "real" shot :-)

Below: just a perfect view that we got to walk by every day.

Here are some shots from our walk that night -- notice KK in the water here smiling without holding on to anyone?  Remember that.. by day 4 (thanks to some jellyfish) that won't happen again on the trip without effort.  Below: me and KK dancing in the water.

 Daddy caught a picture of us walking along the sandbar - I love that shot.

Daddy and AJ (AJ is holding a car, one accompanied us at all times because you never know when you will happen upon a place that requires a racecar).

Sunset at Gulf Shores - its a beautiful thing to experience.  G'night, sweet dreams!

Alabama Vacay: Day 1

After a week wondering if Tropical Storm Nate was going to take us down, we were OFF TO ALABAMA! One week, just the four of us, staying at a beach house on Gulf Shores Beach... beautiful white sand, warm waters... we were so excited! KK was even counting down the days every morning as we headed off to work/school. Needless to say, the excitement in the car was pretty high as we said goodbye to Texas and headed off on our first real family vacation just us four! Here is a picture of my babies so excited to hit the beach:



We did have a little trouble leaving when we wanted to, but after a few obstacles we were on our way. While we had been planning what to pack, how to pack it in the car, etc, we never really picked a specific route. It is about a ten hour drive, give or take, from Fort Worth to Gulf Shores, Alabama. We knew we would stop halfway, somewhere, at a hotel to break up the long drive (and for our sanity). But despite being planners, as most accountants are, we decided to wing it and see where the roads led us. We didn't even have a specific route in mind as we left town. We took our iPhones with our maps and travel apps in hand, and decided to have a family adventure from beginning to end :-) It was a fun road trip - below is the route we ended up driving for the most part...



With home in the rear view mirror, Daddy had a request for us to stop at Fuel City Tacos - one of Texas Monthly's top tacos. So less than an hour on our way, we had a pit stop. Can I just say yummy? Best tacos I have ever had! Daddy agreed, he was loving it too.



Yes - it is a taco stand inside a gas station in a not so popular part of Dallas... that said, amazing food and very friendly people getting their taco on! I mean the picture doesn't do us justice - but wow! We are totally stopping by on our way home.



While the kids aren't as adventurous about their tacos, they did get some corn in a cup with butter. Need I say more? It was tasty too. Who knew, best food ever.

So after our pit stop, the road led us on to Louisiana. As we approached the split between going to Jackson, MS for the night or on down through the bayou, we took a chance and decided to go on through the bayou. And yes, we did watch Princess and the Frog in the car to get a feel for the place. The green, vibrant landscape was such a change from the Texas drought we left behind. So neat to drive through. Our only sad moment: missing much of the view from Alexandria to Baton Rouge due to darkness. We drove over an 18 mile bridge called Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, which goes over a huge basin. 14th longest bridge in the world (you have time when driving at night to google what is going on around you in the dark). Next time!

We landed in Baton Rouge for the night, finding an awesome hotel for not much money thanks to our iPhone apps. We love our iPhones, and yes, we might have had a lot of fun with Foursquare and checking into every place we passed by as we cruised on... The hubby and I are cool like that :-)

So the next morning we left Baton Rouge, but not before checking out the LSU campus and of course, the football stadium. As we hit town the night before, we glimpsed the stadium at the end of their big football game. Looked like fun, and hey, they are purple like our frogs, so we can "like" them a little bit, right? There was one more mentionable pit stop between us and the beach... Daddy again had a request: to stop at The Shed. The best BBQ place nearby per Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and any other travel channel show.





It was a Mississippi BBQ version of Joe T's... plenty of fun places to sit outside, amazing BBQ food! Daddy had a great idea when stopping here! And yes, that is me wearing my TCU colors. Between that, Daddy's Rangers shirt and AJ's Mav's jersey... people were kind of clued into where we were from (you gotta love Texas).



Can I just say the ribs were awesome... here is Daddy enjoying it, and a pic of the yummy food.

So about 12 hours of solid driving in total (we did have a fair share of fun stops), we made it to the BEACH! The kids were so excited, they were running the minute our feet hit the parking lot. It was a long long long long long long long long drive (did I mention it was long?)... but so worth it to see their smiles and giggles as they touched the ocean with their little toes for the first time EVER. It didn't disappoint, everything here is beautiful!



When we arrived at the beach (after checking every space within our three story beach house and claiming beds, etc), the sun was setting. Words can't describe it, so I will let the pictures try to show you what we get to experience every day for a week!



Mommy made sure we have the right tools to play!



So happy to be here together!



KK loves it - AJ too! When we arrived, KK was just dancing and prancing around, singing a song she just made up on the spot and twirling for all to see. AJ was a little more subdued... he looked around and then made sure he was still holding tight onto his matchbox car he picked to bring to this big event. He warmed up to it all very quickly though!



Our beach: near a wildlife preserve on one side so its very secluded and private. White soft sand beaches, clear blue waters that are still warm... its perfect!


The sand dunes we cross from our beach house over to the actual beach... we got this as the moon was coming out and the sun was setting for the night.


Of course as a good Mommy, I taped the kids in their first moments at the beach and the first time they ever touched an ocean. I think the squeals tell it all.



That is it from us for tonight... my sweet hubby gave me a cold glass of wine, the kids are sleeping soundly upstairs... its time to put our feet up and spend some quiet time together before our next morning on the beach :-)

Stay tuned for more of our vacay later... when I feel like it... cause I am on vacation here :-)

Sweet dreams...

Our Summer in Review: The Pools

We love our pool. That is all I really need to say that would capture our summer in review enough for you to understand. Our family is a water family ~ the best days for us are days where we can spend a few minutes or hours lounging, swimming, splashing and sliding at our pools. As a kid, I loved the water... loved it so much I almost drown twice trying to get into it before I could swim (thank God Opa can run like lightning when I jumped into our pool without permission). KK and AJ have definately got that love of the water, without the desperate need for anyone to rush to their rescue (very important on a parent's nerves)! They have both been water babies since they were babies. KK went swimming at six months old and loved it. AJ was three months old when he started swimming... We feel that if we enjoy doing something, then they will love doing it with us. And boy, do they!

So we took our white selves out to the pools the moment they opened ~ here are some pictures of one of our first days out and about:



AJ testing out the waters at the beginning of the summer by some jumps into the pool. No fear!

KK loves jumping and diving into the water too!







KK and AJ's swimming skills were impressive after the summer was over. KK was a great swimmer last year. She was able to jump into the pool and swim back to the wall with no help from us. She could swim several feet, take a breath and then go a few more feet to get to us. After this summer, KK was swimming across every single pool we had without any help from us. She is a SWIMMER! Wow! We are so proud of her!!! Between swim classes last fall and playing so much this summer, our little guppie turned into a mermaid. She even started going down the slide by herself at the beginning of the summer. While my heart swells with happy pride, my mind wants to know if she could just remain my dependent baby a few more years... such is life I suppose. She loves to be in the deep end of the pool, fine tuning her skills and diving to the bottom. The waterfall pool is still a favorite. She always wants to go behind the falls and dive through the falling water in the deep.



AJ has gotten so big since last summer. And he is a wild little man at the pool these days. He loves when Daddy takes him down the slide ~ they go all the way under the water, and then pop up and AJ is all smiles and begging to go again. A majority of AJ's summer was spent in the resort pool between the 1 foot and 3 foot water. With his trusted "coc-co-dile" boogie board, little man would spend hours jumping to and fro on his board, dunking himself under the water again and again and laughing when he surfaced. The rest of his time was spent at the bucket pool, where he discovered he can go on the slides there all by himself like a big boy. Up the stairs, down the slide, giggles, then back up the stairs over and over again until he was worn out. The joy on his face when we are at the pool, it makes it even more fun!

Here are my little guppies waiting not so patiently to hit the pools! They are already smiling and jumping for joy and we aren't even in the water yet:



Another fun part of our summer at the pool: Movie Nights! We got to have family movie night at the pool twice. Our first night was "Tangled". As you can imagine, KK was in heaven as it is her favorite movie. With her newfound independence in the pool, she loved being allowed to go out a few feet and watching in the pool while we sat out. (It helps that she is tall like her Daddy so she can walk so much further out). Our second movie was "Gnomeo and Juliet". We packed our snacks and swam in the dark while watching the movies and looking at the stars ~ not many people can say they did that this summer!



A picture of the resort pool with the screen up and playing the movie.



KK and Daddy taking a snack break at the movie. Below: AJ and Mommy warming up (we tend to snuggle during the movie more than swim, and I love that about us).





Above: some silly pictures of us together for our last movie night of the summer. I think the smiles tell you how we feel about our evening.

Okay so aside from bragging endlessly about my kids impressive skills in the pool (I did hold back and not compare them to the next Michael Phelps once thus far), there isn't much less to share except for some additional pictures and of course some bragging videos to show their skills and their cuteness... Is this a blog or a brag? Hmmm... its late and who cares, its mine :-)





Ahh the dreaded bucket... while AJ loves the slides, he avoids the big splash. KK on the other hand runs to it and does a happy dance every time she gets caught underneath it.



Pictures from our almost last day at the pool. This one is AJ and Daddy after a splash on the slides.



Me and the kids as the sun goes down... as this is our last year (sniff sniff) to close down the pool the night before school starts. It was a tradition started a few years ago by accident. We couldn't understand why the pool emptied one Sunday night. We just enjoyed having all five pools by ourselves and staying until we could see the stars and when the lifeguard blew that final double whistle the signaled the pool was closing. We liked it so much, we made sure to do it again every year. This year was special, as it was our last. Next year we will have a Kindergartner (why I am tearing up at the thought of something a year away, this does not bode well for me, I need to practice saying it out loud and then laughing or something). Anyway - we took some pictures to capture it one more time.





It was a fun night. KK and Daddy did some diving in the dark while AJ and I sang little man's favorite song "You are my Sunshine" while watching our stars come out. We were the only people there by the time we heard that double whistle :-)

Now for some fun videos of our summer. If I were cool, I would know how to make them all into one video... but I'm not.

My little dinosaur at the pool:



KK swimming across one of the pools... she did take a break mid-swim to have a talk with Daddy while bobbing in the water... I'm not sure what that was about, but she was fine the whole time... just wanted to chat.

(Due to technical difficulties, I will publish a follow up post with her video sorry)!

And so our summer at the pool ends.... While KK understands it will be back next summer, AJ struggles a little bit with time. So we told him the pool was going to be locked forever. His parting words to the pool as we walked out on Labor day: "Bye pool. Bye lifeguard. Forever." Well it will feel like forever until next summer, but we have lots of fun memories to have until its time to go back and make more.