Perdido Key, FL - The Beach

Since we were right on the beach, we spent a lot of time down there. I didn't take my camera every time since it fell in the sand once and got sand in it, so I was cautious from that point on. But I got some good ones on the first day!

I was a little afraid at how Jonathan would be with the beach, since the last few times we tried swimming, it didn't go so well. But he loved it, thankfully! Every day he got braver and braver! It was so fun to watch! Once we arrived there, he promptly let us know that he had a new (imaginary) friend, named Crab. Crab lived out in the ocean right in front of where we were staying. Jonathan was constantly talking about how he needed to swim far out and see his friend Crab. Thankfully he never tried!

COWABUNGA DUDE!

Ben was not a fan. Not sure exactly what he didn't like, but he was grumpy about it!  

Jonathan with a Herring Crane.

Ben insisted that I take him back upstairs, so now I am on the balcony peering on my guys!

The Gulf National Park:
There had been a Tropical Storm in the Gulf over the weekend, before we arrived on Monday. So we believe that was the reason the ocean was a little rough. But made for some really cool waves, but not the best for little boys! On the second to last day we went to the Gulf National Park and found us a little beach on the Bay side, which had no surf what so ever, which is perfect for our little ones!

Here is the one and only picture of me! And I will admit, it is a SELF-portrait. I was playing around with my camera when Michael and Jonathan went exploring and Ben was just sitting next to me. I have on my mom's hat and my brand new $3 Sunglasses that I had just purchased at a road side tent!

We found our own private beach by walking down that pier. Michael is searching for Hermit Crabs.

Finding More Crabs! You can see the condo off in the distance.

My buddy. He still wasn't excited about being on the sand or at the beach, but he finally warmed up enough to just sit with me and not cry. I covered his legs in sand to keep him from getting burned, even though we put sunscreen on, you just never know! Thankfully, none of us got burned!

Jonathan and yet another Herring Crane!

He made Sand Patty's for the Hermit Crabs.

Collecting Seaweed.

We saw these guys everywhere, but I thought this was so cute, they were together.

My name is Ben, and I eat sand.

Night Hunting for Sand Crabs:
We noticed each night that people were out on the beach with flash lights just walking and then sometimes, stopping to look at something on the ground. After 2 nights of watching these people, I finally looked it up...apparently you can go hunting for Sand Crabs at night. All you need is a flash light, a net and a bucket. So Michael made a plan to take Jonathan the following night (I wanted to go, but we knew Ben wouldn't like it, so I offered to stay back with him)! I am so glad they went; they both had so much fun! They only found one crab. But they were gone for a couple hours and both seemed to have really enjoyed themselves. Also, when they were down there, a guy was night fishing and caught a 4' Shark!! So that was obviously really cool for them too!!

What we saw every night from the balcony. That is the moon at the top. The lights line across the bottom is all the people with their flashlights. Michael and Jonathan are one of them.

Here is the sand crab they caught! Jonathan named him Fred. They brought him up so I could see him and then Michael took him back down and released him!

I snapped a quick photo of the guys in the pool!! It was a really cool pool! I really enjoyed going there every day!! 

Perdido Key, FL - The Condo

A friend of my mom's called just a few weeks ago and offered Michael and me her beach house in Perdido Key, FL! The people who were supposed to be going, were unable to at the last minute. So we are very happy that Christy thought of us & gave us this amazing opportunity.

It was an adventure to get there, to say the least, but once we did, it was paradise!! An unforgettable vacation - THANK YOU CHRISTY AND JOHN!!!!!! The condo was so nice and had all the amenities that you could ask for and more!

We enjoyed staying close to the condo and hanging out at the provate beach and the pool. We ventured out a couple of times for site seeing and then we ate as much Seafood as we could manage. What more could you ask for?

There were a lot of firsts for this trip. None of us had ever been to this part of Florida (Perdido Key is near Pensacola). We had never stayed this close to the ocean before. We had not had this long of a vacation with the four of us before. And we had never driven for 12.5 hours straight before. It was all a great memory for all of us! 


Here are some photos of the condo and us in it!! (More pictures to come of all the other fun stuff!)

A view of the Condo building from it's beach. The condo we stayed in is the bottom right.

The living area and the beautiful view.

Ben making himself at home in the bean bags! He knows how to relax!

The balcony. Ben was always a little timid when coming out at first. He would hang onto the side of the building.

The balcony was GIGANTIC! It was by far my favorite place the whole trip. Since Ben is still taking 2 - 2 hour naps a day, I would come back up and put him down, then get myself a refreshment and a book and just enjoy the sights and sounds. It was heaven. I also loved it since I could still see Michael and Jonathan down on the beach and still feel like I was a part of their fun!

Benny getting warmed up!

Michael, enjoying his coffee.

I see you!

Mr. Jonathan and my lovely reflection...do you like my hair?

Jonathan loved playing on the beach!

Heading back up to the condo.

The view from the condo one early morning. I love this shot.

Heading down to the beach.

That's Michael and Ben waving at us!!

Looking up at the condo.

 I thought this was funny. The boys are mesmerized by the movie, rather than enjoy the scenery.

NEW WINDOWS!!

One of the things I despised the most when we moved into this house, almost SIX years ago, was the WINDOWS!!! They were over 40 years old, you couldn't see much out of them, you couldn't really open them, they shook when it was windy...I could go on and on...So we added it to the list of hope we can do this one day!! A new year, a new project! But even more than that, this is one of those projects where we sat down and had to decide if we were going to stay in this house for at least 5 or more years to make this project worth it! So, obviously, we decided that we both really do love this house and we want to stay here and continue to work on it and make it prettier!

We started the process and decided to call one of those companies that everyone knows and has seen the commercials. They sent a salesman out and promised he would only take 1 hour to "pitch" us the new windows, measure and close the deal. *Sigh*. He talked for OVER AN HOUR on just windows. I am sorry, but NO ONE wants to talk about windows for over an hour. Two and a half hours later, he is still here, we have no quote, we haven't eaten dinner, it's the kids bed time - WE ARE DONE! So we ended up basically asking him to leave. We never did get that quote from him...biggest waste of time EVER!

Thankfully, I took to Facebook to vent and ask for help! Three friends came to the rescue and sent me names of guys they had worked with! I called all three and had them come out! We ended up going with the guy that had the best quote and the best product! He was so awesome! I highly recommend him to anyone!!!

Before

After

Two months between photos makes a difference when it comes to the vegetation! Wow! The 2 windows on each side do open. We made the opening 16" from the bottom, which happens to be where the bushes stop. So it gives the appearance of it being a solid window. A very cool suggestion from the Window Guy we used! Also note, the incredibly cool custom black iron planter in between the two windows to the right that my Brother-in-law Brian made for us! He matched the iron columns on the front porch!!

Before

After

Back Porch - Before

Back Porch - After

Kitchen Window - Before

Kitchen Window - After
This window I think is the family favorite. It has made the most difference. It's like a whole new world. We had no idea what we were missing behind those ugly dirty things! We didn't put the blinds back up, and I don't think we are going to. All 4 of us love to stare out this window while we eat. We have a bird feeder that was my parents, you can kind of see it on the very far right of this photo. And we have like a billion birds that come eat while we are eating. The boys love it! Even Ben will point and make a noise!

This is looking out of the Kitchen Window - After. I didn't take a before. You can see the bird feeder better in this photo.

On the big front window, they had to knock out each pane of glass separately. It took forever!

No Window! At least it was a pretty Spring day while they were installing the windows!

New Boots

The other day the boys and I went to my favorite shoe repair shop on Main St in Grapevine. It's a neat shop, I love the smell of leather and shoe polish...or whatever it is. (Okay, so I own like 200 pairs of shoes, of course a shoe repair shop is going to be one of my favorite places!!!)

Anyway, they have a small section at the front where they sell used Cowboy boots. I always look, cause I love Cowboy boots. But I have my mom's red ones and barley wear them, so I just try them on and admire, but never purchase! :)

This time, to my surprise, Jonathan came forward and picked out the only pair in his size! It was meant to be! He tried them on and loved them! As I told Michael, it was the best $20 I have ever spent! He has worn them none-stop since - BUT - they rubbed a little boo-boo on his ankle bone and so we have forced him to stop wearing them for just a little while until it heals. (It kept bleeding every time he would wear them.)

As usual, I have snapped a few pictures of him in his oh-so-cool boots! There are more pictures than what I have included on this post, but you have seen them on previous posts, like the Batman one and he's wearing them when we are looking at my VBS mural.  

I love this. This is the first time he tries them on! Super sharp don't you think?!

Wiped out from our adventure.

Just Johnny and me out shopping for a gift for a friend! I turned and caught him dancing! He just cracks me up!

He said, "See look, I can run super fast in my boots!"

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree...and/or...this is when my shoe/boot obsession began! :) This is Amy and I, I was probably almost 2, which would make Amy 6. And yes, that is a wig, I had no hair. Wouldn't you agree my sense of style is pretty keen even for a 2 year old? I wish I still had the clutch. Sadly, I do still have the wig! :)

Batman and Robin

The boys and I went to see our friends, Angela and her two sons Grayson and Connor.They live in Dallas, so we don't get to see them as often as we would like, but when we do, we all have such a good time! Jonathan and Grayson love super hero's and Grayson had a costumes that he shared with Jonathan!



Jonathan and Grayson - or should I say, Batman and Robin?!



Show us your moves Batman!

Your turn Robin!

Their true identities are revealed!

Now it is time for chocolate covered banana's! (This is the only picture that I have of Connor, that is his little face in the top left...sorry, I'll get more next time!)

Yummy! (He only ate the chocolate off the banana!!)

My boys playing in the sand box!

He is about to fall asleep!

Ben's Sound Bites

Ben has been a pretty quiet boy for most of his life. He doesn't really cry to much or scream or anything like that. Even when he wants something he just points and goes "ummm?" People will always ask me if he ever makes a sound, because he is pretty quiet or observant when we are in public.

He still loves saying "Da" or "Dada" for just about anything. He calls me "Maaama" but only when he is at an extreme. Like extremely hungry or tired. Otherwise, I'm "Da". It's okay, it makes me laugh! He did start saying "Wawa" for water and pointing to his cup just this past week! We thought that was pretty cool!

Yesterday morning he found an empty bowl brought it to me, then took it away, walked to the kitchen door and stood there, pointing at the kitchen table with the bowl. No words needed...I got the hint! He was ready for breakfast!! :)

So, when he does make a sound, we all respond by watching and laughing, because it is usually funny! BUT, I will say, that this boy is definitely finding his voice lately, and it wouldn't surprise me if this "quiet streak" is soon over for good!

So here are a couple of my favorite things that he does...

Ben laughing at Jonathan! We are on our way home from Pat's house in Dallas. Michael is driving and we are stuck in traffic. We are listening to the Bumble Bee song and Jonathan makes a funny Buzz noise that sets Ben off cracking up! He is so tired, which you can tell, and when he is tired, he laughs so hard at just about anything! I love it!

Ben singing himself to sleep. Ben has a "tell" when he is tired. He will singing this little song. It is always the same. So when he is awake and out with us, I know I need to get him into bed ASAP! Or, like on this video, we listen to him sing himself to sleep each night. I love it! 

The VBS Program

Here is the video of the Kids VBS Performance last Thursday night. You can also see me in action, leading the kids. The first song they sing is, "Do you know that God loves, me?" They did such a good job!!! The second song is "Operation Overboard", the theme song of the week. All the kids do Operation Overboard, my preschool group and all the elementary kids (who have already preformed and just moved to the back of the stage so they can be there for the final song).
Jonathan is the 3rd little boy on second row. You can hear Michael, who is videoing cheering him on! :) ***You can fast forward through the first minute of this, we don't start until 1.11 on the video. It a 6 min video! :) Enjoy - and don't make fun of me!
PS - sorry for all the typo's on the last post! I typed fast and furious while the boys where napping and when they were waking up, I just submitted without proof reading! :) Oops! I am going to go back and correct it, and when I resubmit, it will probably re-send it to the email subscribers. So just FYI! :)