Back to the Beach

We were lucky enough to get to return to the beach for a second time this summer. This time we went for a quick weekend trip with Matt's parents, Bebe and Grandad. Our view from the condo was absolutely beautiful...

The water was literally swimming pool clear which is how I like it - no wondering what is underneath your feet. Unfortunately, Hannah got sick while we were there and she nor Lily wanted to sleep. I spent a lot of time inside trying to coax one child or the other to sleep and not much time photographing. I did get this one of Lily...

The girls got some quality time with their grandparents and that is what is important. Matt and I did get to sneak away for about an hour Saturday night to the outlet mall. I heard a rumor that Restoration Hardware had opened a clearance center at Silver Sands and I had to see if it was true. If you are in Destin I highly recommend that you stop by...it is fabulous. You need some time to rummage through everything but we were able to find some great light fixtures and bath fixtures. They even had a chandelier I have been looking at for the past several months for 60% off! Definitely worth the visit if you are in town.

Since I didn't get an opportunity to take many photos I thought I would share these that I took at the zoo last week. We went so that Hannah could play at the splash pad. It was a little busy and Hannah took it all in from here...

She also spent some time sitting on her friend the lizard...

We took a quick spin on the carousel...

before it was time to go home. We always love a trip to the zoo!

This is Hannah and Lily's last week of school until September so we have plenty of adventures planned for August. Be back soon!

Home again, Home again

Well we are back from a fantastic week at the beach. To be completely honest I was not ready to come home but all good things must come to an end and so here we are back in Birmingham. As I mentioned in the last post every year we spend a week at a little hole in the wall part of Florida known as Port St. Joe/Mexico Beach. My family has done this for as long as I can remember and it is a treat. Thanks to articles like this one and several others it is not quite as quiet anymore but we love it. This year we were there with my wonderful mother...

sister Rachel...

sister Bekah and her fiance Hugh...


and my aunt Beth and uncle Eddie (who I forgot to get a pic of) and their 3 bathing beauties...


otherwise known as Julia...


Rebekah...


and Ella...


My aunt, Susan, lives in Port St. Joe with her family so we spent some quality time with them....

We had a blast. Hannah has been talking about this trip for the past 6 months - seriously - and I don't think she was disappointed. She played in the water...


she played in the sand...



she had daily popsicles with her cousins...


she held the sand beetles her aunt Bekah dug from the sand...


she ran from the Hugh alligator who kept terrorizing the little ones from the ocean...


she flew a kite...



Lily had a big time too...


Those of you who are mothers know that there is nothing like having an extra pair of hands around to help with a baby. Well I was lucky enough to have sometimes more than 5 extra pairs of hands. It was great.


When Lily wasn't being held she was playing on the beach. She started scooting while we were there and I am expecting her to be full out crawling any day now. I had a big blanket on the sand for her to play in but she kept scooting to the edge and trying to eat the sand...


We got smart and put her blanket in a baby pool and she had a big time - without the sand...


This was a much needed vacation and Matt and I are back feeling much more rested. There is nothing like the beach and family for a little summer pick me up. We are counting down the days until next year!!