Beach Trip to Gulf Shores

We had a wonderful time in Gulf Shores for our family trip...I had to post several times to include all the pictures that I wanted to include. One of our favorite times on the beach was the sunset/cocktail hour, so many of these pictures are from those times. We did spend a lot of time on the beach during the day too...one day Noel found a pool of water that had been left behind by the sinking tide, and it was FULL of little fish. The kids had such fun saving all the fish by filling their buckets with fish and dumping them in the ocean surf. Noel said that they worked VERY hard, and probably saved over a thousand little fish!

Beach Trip Part 1

We spent so much time on the beach...even Tyndale loved it!

Beach Trip Part 2

We had so many beach activities to pick from: sea kayaking, sand castle building, wave riding, swimming, and much more. The big kids even built a "Tyndale habitat," a little pool with water in it under the tent, so that he could enjoy the beach time too.

We took a sunset trip to the lagoon to free a trout that we noticed was caught in a crab trap...it was a success!

Brad and Tyndale flying a Blue Angel jet. We spent a fun morning at the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola.

Here is Meme having a spa afternoon with all the girls...they all got pedicures and manicures. Ooh La La!

Beach Trip Part 3

A Jeep ride to The Track for arcades and prizes and then Lulu's for a snow ball....yum! Dinner at The Tin Top Restaurant in Bon Secour, one of Brad and my favorite places. We encouraged the entire family to go there, and then we were met by 100 degree heat at our outside table, glaring sun, biting flies, and picnic tables with no back support....but when the food came....it was ALL good! We were happy that everyone enjoyed it despite the drawbacks. This last picture is after a long day of beaching and pool-ing....resting in the bed watching tv...or "nuggling," as Kate calls it!

Everyone loves Harley!

Michael and Katy came down for a visit (and delicious seafood) and brought Harley with them, much to the delight of Quinn and Tyndale....poor thing! She managed to live through all of the "love," and I'm sure that she will look forward to the next visit.

Lucy's 4th

Quinn and I had such a fun time at her friend Lucy's 4th bday party. She had a Fancy Nancy theme, and her mom Jenny went ALL OUT! It was precious!! She had manicures, a boutique shop where they could get boas, lip gloss, and some candy jewels. The girls made bracelets and then had a visit from Fancy Nancy herself. They also had delicious food and "tea" served to them by Lucy's brother and friend...dressed as waiters, of course! Then they followed that all up by having cake and parfaits...what an "elegant" party, as Nancy would say!

You can call me a flower if you want to......

I LOVE this picture....even though Brad thinks it looks "girly"...haha! This is the look Tyndale gives when he is shy and I think it is darling!! Had to share....

impromptu beach trip

We had a very exciting weekend in Gulf Shores. Quinn, Tyndale and I were on our way out the door to go to the Country Club on Friday morning, and Brad called to say that we were going to head to the beach instead! So we kept our bathing suits on and packed up for the trip. We had perfect weather, a perfect beach, a perfect house and the perfect company! It could not have been a better introduction to the fun summer ahead.

Lily picture 2009

Time again for our Lily picture... this year we have TWO darlings in it! We take a picture every year when this lily blooms because it was a sweet gift from a very special friend!

Tutu cute!

Quinn had a ballet recital last night and she did a wonderful job! She twirled and danced with the best of them! (You may remember the practice recital around Christmas? Where she just stood in one place with BunBun? Well....we have come leaps and bounds from that...excuse the pun) All the girls had so much fun.

Field Day

Quinn had a super fun Field Day to celebrate the end of the school year. They had several different events set up: a race, limbo, ring toss, hula hoop, sack race...and the list goes on! Then afterward, they all sang happy birthday to the kids with the summer birthdays and ate cake and ice cream! Wow...we are going to miss school this summer!

baby calf

Landon's dad brought a calf to school last week for the kids to bottle-feed...how fun! That was one seriously big bottle, and the calf drank two of them! Quinn had been talking about the calf coming for two weeks, so it was a very exciting morning.

Milestones

Tyndale had quite a week this week! First, he started sitting up on his own...look how proud he is! Then we noticed that his first tooth was peeking through! I tried to capture a picture of it, but you can't really tell. I will get a better shot when it is really out. Such a happy boy!

Meme and Gee visit

Meme and Gee came by for a quick visit right after Easter. Elusive Gee somehow was able to escape from the Mamarazzi in our house...but don't worry....we will get a picture of him next time! Quinn had the most fun playing memory and go fish with the new Care Bear cards that they brought her.

Field Trip to Global Wildlife

Quinn's class had a field trip to Global Wildlife in Louisiana and it was so fun!!! We saw (and fed) fallow deer, reindeer, bulls, water buffalo, llamas, and ostriches. We saw giraffes, and usually they come to eat, but this particular day, they were not interested. It was not long before a huge reindeer took the entire food cup out of Quinn's hands (see video), but we had more, so it didn't slow us down!