unforgettable moments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHEN … you never don any bathing suit whatsoever … the locals are wearing uggs and toboggans … you visit the community pool and the only thing getting in is the resident frog … you are trying to find a sunny spot and no shade … you are wearing 2 pairs of pants,  4 shirts and hoods … you’re drinking coffee outside … the only thing seen on the beach is your eyes … THEN YOU KNOW you are on vacation at the beach and it is FREEZING!

WHEN … you are on vacation at the beach and it is freezing but you don’t care … THEN YOU KNOW your kids are happy and that is so what matters to you.

aunt B, uncle D and thomas

we just got back from our first just-us vacation – no parents or extra helpers. brooke, david and thomas joined us for part of the time but since they have a 2 year old of their own, can you believe they were not dedicated to our beck and call?! we loved having extended time with them and especially for the cousins to have more time to play together than they ever have. it was truly special. THANK YOU, aunt b and uncle d, for lending us your condo and making this vacation possible! we wish you could have stayed longer!

so i exaggerated a little. it was only really cold for about 4 days of our week there. those days were spent with lots of toys inside as well as finding any and all playgrounds in the area. the boys loved that! the first and last days, we did put on shorts and had some great times at the beach. we will not forget:

> experiencing the most beautiful sunsets with our children the last 3 nights on the beach  > maddox praising the Lord at the top of the hill at alys beach playground (see video)  > thomas and maddox playing with each other and not just around each other  > cora having such happy times with her aunt b  > maddox getting his clock cleaned by a slide that he whapped his head on at the rosemary beach playground. he was flat on his back and did not move for what seemed like an eternity, but was FINE about 1 minute later. whew.  > maddox running, wrestling don and throwing sand on the beach after something clicked for him and he started loving it after … um … NOT loving it back in may. THIS is what i envisioned.  > cora following in her brother’s footsteps and getting her first taste of the beach (see video)  > uncle d reading green eggs and ham  > maddox sporting cora’s pants (think tight knickers) at a playground after wetting through his. what a perk of having a skinny 2 year old who doesn’t care what he’s wearing or that it’s 50 degrees outside.

praise the lord

cora gets her first taste of the beach. [see maddox's first taste here.]

the 3rd year, it’s a tradition

for the 3rd year in a row, we went along with the douglases, mcbrayers and defeos to courtney’s parents’ beautiful lakehouse in south carolina for the weekend of the 4th. we had such a fun time playing, cooking and relaxing. here are our pics, although courtney’s pics actually have pics of the 3 of us and are much more thorough and all-inclusive of what went on at all times. for this reason, she may be my mom’s long lost daughter.

adults only

so, our vacation away from maddox was glorious; i am not afraid to say it! yes, we missed him, etc, but i was thankful for every day we had to do whatever we wanted at whatever time we wanted to do it. that is such a foreign activity in our real world now. it really does make vacation more special. we were in key biscayne, FL outside of miami, where we spent 90% of the day in the pool or on the beach. we did venture to south beach one night. the highlight was an AMAZING meal and beautiful beach, but the scene wasn’t quite as crazy as i’d pictured. i mean, we were there at prime time – a wednesday night from about 5-10pm. isn’t that the partying hour these days? all our pics here

THANK YOU to our amazing family who made us be able to enjoy every second of this vacation. we knew that your sweet love to our son – and some whipped cream – could solve any problem that might have come up. [pics of the mice's play (maddox, didi, big mo and fam) while the cat was away.] and THANK YOU to our easy and fun friends ron and courtney for letting us have our own time but also for helping this vacation be more fun than it would have been if it was just us 2 bums. you add spice (and kindness) to our lives and we love being with you.

vacation preview

we just got back home from an incredible vacation with our dear friends and faithful blog readers, ron and courtney. we could not have even asked for a more fun, more beautiful or more special time. maddox did great with his didi and mo and we did great with just each other. every parent should do this asap! a better entry is to come, but for now, here are 2 initial favorite pics:

1. my gorgeous friend courtney grew 18 inches on the trip and is loving her new perspective on the world, especially on me

2. playing cards last night in our matching robes.

glorious vacation

things maddox learned to do while on vacation:

- clap his hands on command

- raise his hands above his head on hearing “praaaaaise the lord!”

- say a few new words, but not consistently

- roll a truck back and forth while saying “rrrrnnnn, rrrnnnn”

- partake of his new favorite food, sand (see below)

- walk. ha. just kidding.

- sleep on the beach (big Mo is teaching him well)

- move in on reed’s territory by flirting shamelessly with jessica

- be the star of a zillion more pics. we can’t get enough! and if you can’t either, here they are!!

maddox gets a taste of the beach

we just got to seagrove beach friday night and are already having a great time!

seagrove beach trip – 7 weeks

the beach vacation was a little different this time than past ones, as you can imagine. we had fun, though and took Maddy to do everything with us. he didn’t go to don’s conference with him, but he and i had fun trying to catch up on sleep the mornings don was gone. maddox didn’t always cooperate with that. we spent time at the pool and beach, did lots of walking and relaxed in general. he did really well in the new environment. he hated the freezing ocean water – we only dipped his feet in. here is the web album for more pics than these.