Gulf Shores Beach Trip 2011

As usual we started our beach vacation off with a trip to Ed's Seafood Shack...our fave little Mobile eatery on the way to the beach!

This picture is actually out of place....it was after DAYS on the beach and in the pool..the kids had a restful afternoon in bed watching Matilda and eating popcorn.

Tyndale and Gage...Tyndale drank his body weight in Gatorade daily...as you can see he found a safe spot to keep it. Below: all the cousins!

 Lindy and Eric making their ridiculously rich and sinful Eclair Cake...mmmmm... And below...a Betzhold family picture...how darling!

 We spent a TON of time at the beach..and the pool..and the beach...and the pool...and even the lagoon..but when we were inside getting some rest, THIS is what the kids looked like! Books and games on the IPads! They even had an app that could make your picture look like a zombie..we laughed so hard!

 Even the little ones were on the computer!

 One of my favorite sights of beach trip is the lovingly named "cornucopia" of fresh fruits and veggies!

 Hadley, Maylen and Gage in the "twin habitat"

 all the girls!

 Probably Tyndale's favorite part of the beach trip was hanging out in the Jeep. He loved to pretend he was driving it!

Here is Meme reading a book about the Amish way of life to the kids...they recently visited Pennsylvania.

 Tyndale with a true smile...with a bottle of Gatorade in hand...and on lip!

 Every year we visit the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. We were able to see the Blue Angels flying...it was fun! And loud!

Tyndale needed a haircut the most...so he sat in the barber's chair. Hadley and Quinn got to meet the captain of the Blue Angels! He even signed a picture for them!

Bedtime after a long day! We had such a wonderful time on the beach...celebrating family and fun and making wonderful memories!

Martin Fun Day/Kindergarten graduation

As an end-of-the-year celebration, Martin has a fun day where we have 5 huge bouncy slides and houses for all the kids to play on. Here is Quinn with her beloved teacher, Mrs. Moak.

 Quinn and Georgia above, and sliding down the super slide below.

 Tyler, Georgia, Quinn and LaMelvin

 Georgia, Maelee, Shykearia, Quinn, Montasia, and Charlie Anne. Below is kindergarten graduation and awards day. Quinn got the Outstanding Reader Award and got a 100 A average on her report card...way to go!!

Jacob and Quinn

10th Anniversary New Orleans trip

We celebrated our 10th Anniversary in New Orleans and had a BALL! Coincidentally, we are friends with several couples who also got married in 2001...so we all celebrated together. The LeBlancs, Powells, Huxes, and Smiths all came down from Brookhaven. Mark and Brad surprised us with the balcony suite at the Royal Sonest and it was NICE! Being right on Bourbon St. was so entertaining...we people-watched the whole time. We also got to visit with some of our other friends and family that live in New Orleans and we just love catching up with those people! 

 This was the first thing we saw when we got to the suite...from our friends that unfortunately couldn't make it down that weekend. So sweet! And we opened it right away!! The weekend was filled with champagne, shopping, eating, laughing, people-watching, sleeping in, dancing, a little bull-riding, some dungeon-going, bead-throwing, and more champage...we had a wonderful weekend!

 Here you have a lovely view of all of the strip clubs across from the Royal Sonesta...Ricks, Temptations, Stilletos, and the list goes on...this was not on our list, but we had fun laughing at the people going in and out. We even took cheesy prom pics...

 Wearing a bib at Mister B's..getting ready for their BBQ Shrimp...Mmmm.

I love this picture because we spent much time in restaurants talking and laughing.

 Anna and Chad at Bourbon House. We even hung out by the pool and ate crawfish one afternoon...wonderful! Such a fabulous trip to celebrate 10 delightful years!

Insect project

We had a little insect project this summer...we ordered a praying mantis egg case from a website to learn about them and watch them grow. It sat dormant for several weeks and then one day...there were hundreds of praying mantis nymphs! We learned all about them...they are helpful insects because they eat aphids and other insects that are harmful to plants. They are also the only insect that can turn it's head! We learned all about them!

 Because they grow so fast and need food almost immediately, we had to let them go a day or two after they hatched....or they would eat each other. So we had a fun time letting them go in the yard. They weren't skittish at all and would walk right onto your finger!

 here is one in Quinn's hair!

They are all now released in our yard where they will help keep down the aphid population...hope that we get to see a full grown one in a few months...they get to be up to 6 inches and that would be so fun to see!

Welcome to the world Eva Louise Belk!

Eva Lou was born on May 16th..she was 8 lbs and 8 oz and was 21 inches long. She is adorable! We visited her in the hospital and she is so beautiful!

What a special gift from God...we look forward to spending many happy times with Eva Lou!

Kentucky Derby Party

Mark and Dorothy threw an awesome Kentucky Derby party...so much to do! We bet on horses, ate crawfish, drank mint juleps, enjoyed the beautiful weather, the kids had a bouncy house...and a great time was had by all! We all picked our horses and bet...there was one horse left over so we decided that was the "house" horse....and he won! So the LeBlancs got to keep the pot.

 Quinn decided that she was more of a headband girl than a hat girl, so she picked this one for the Derby party.

 All the ladies in their hats..

 (told you we shared those Cheez Balls!)

My crawfish girl! She can peel them herself! And loves them!

Early May

Here are some pictures of things we have been doing in early May. Big Daddy is running for a Senate seat, so we are in full campaign mode! He has a lot of support and we are super excited for him!

The other day James and Tyndale had a playdate and did practically nothing except mow the lawn! They even got out sticks to "fix" them when they broke. Below...a swim day!

 ....artists at work...

 Here is something that is such a wonderful memory from my childhood! Cheez Balls!! Healthy? No, but it's not like we had 10 lbs of them! (ok, ok...we did...but we took them to a party to share and left them there). These just bring back memories of being at the Country Club, swimming with my sisters...such fun times!

Oh! And the furniture search is over! We got a couch and chairs for the living room...now we just need draperies, lighting....always a project!