The Beach

We just got back from a week long trip to the beach and had so.much.fun. Because we had so much fun, that meant I had to take lots of picture. Like over 300 something. So, lots of pictures to follow, maybe you will make it to the end without being bored. 

We finally made it to Gulf Shores last Saturday afternoon and took our daily trip to Wal-Mart, along with every other vacationer down there, came back and got ready for some yummy seafood.

The first night we went to dinner at Tacky Jacks. Love this place. As you can see above all the boys decided to get these garbage nachos. I mean a ridiculous sized plate of nachos it is and really like 3 people should share, but they all wanted their own. Good thing we stocked up on tums earlier.

Gotta love a good family photo. Fulton was so into the sand, toys, and boats behind us we just couldn't get him to turn around. He is easily entertained.

The next morning we woke up bright and early ready to play. We quickly left our mark on the condo with toys and junk thrown everywhere.

We put our swim trunks on and headed to the sand. This was actually Fulton's second time at the beach because we went at New Years. But this was his first official summer trip. He absolutely loved the sand. He had free reign to crawl everywhere. He even got to stick his feet in the water.

We did our fair share of sand eating too. I thought after the first time he put his hands in his mouth he would learn it didn't taste good... not so much. He just kept eating it.

We cleaned up and headed to Desotos for dinner. Now, this isn't my favorite place to eat but my family is slightly obsessed with it. I humored them and went along with the crowd.

Fulton got some serious lovin from his KK, Pops, and Aunt Keri and Uncle Pete. I feel certain he will be bummed when he realizes he has to go home with only us.

Don't call the dentist yet, but this little man loves some lemons. Just sucking and chewing on those things like it's no big deal. At least it kept him entertained at dinner.

We came back to the condo for a second and decided to walk across the street to the Island Outfitters-otherwise known as "the store full of over priced junk that no one really needs, but I am sure lots of parents spend their money on."

We played in here for quite some time. We even found the complimentary air hose for floats and really entertained ourselves with that. I think they were on the verge of kicking us out, but we left just in time.

 And another attempt at a family photo. Fulton just doesn't take these things seriously like I do. Bummer.

The next morning the guys decided for the all you can eat breakfast buffet at Hazels. Insert gag here. Let's just say they got their money's worth.

And we didn't forget about this furry little four legged guy. He was loving his beach vacay too and found the one sliver of sun coming in the door. He wanted to come back tan for the ladies.

The next day was filled with beach fun again and Fulton realized he could reach the umbrella pole and that created lots of laughs for him. Not to be confused with pole dancing.

We had dinner at Bubba's Seafood and the ladies called it an early night while the guys went to the pier to watch the fishermen.Or so they said they were watching the fishermen. Hmm.

We went back to the condo and chased Harley around. Harley knows the places he can hide and Fulton can't get to him... looks like someone found the secret spot.

 We decided to spend the next morning at the pool.

Fulton was really sad in this picture, don't let the smile fool you. His Aunt Keri and Uncle Pete were leaving to go home. Boo. They had to go back to work, so we said our goodbyes and then took a nap.

We went back out that afternoon and spent the rest of the evening on the beach. Who cares about dinner when you can stay out until the sun goes down. This is my favorite thing to do at the beach. It was such a nice night.

 I love these 2 boys!!

Wednesday we went to the pool early in the morning, came in for a nap and then back out after lunch. We had to have a wardrobe change in between. No one wants to put on a wet swimsuit. Ugh. Fulton made him a friend at the pool this day, just a month older than him. Later that day we saw the parents back out at the pool, but no where was the little boy. They said something about a high powered monitor... um that is crazy. Really?! We hit up the outlets later that day and dinner at Bahama Bob's.

 Thursday we were back out in the sand, eating it and grinding it in our diaper.

We had dinner at the Crab Tap. It was simply delicious. Best meal we had. Fulton even got his own bucket with the deal. He enjoyed gnawing on some french fries during dinner.

It's right on the beach, so we let him play in the sand for a minute after we ate. He was a little upset that we made him stop. This is the look we got when it was time to get in the car.

As if we weren't stuffed enough, we went for ice cream. I had 2 scoops of chocolate chip cookie dough and it was divine.

No ice cream for this little guy, but he did get his own spoon and learned a new trick. America's Got Talent.. that's all I am thinking people.

We ended the week with a trip to the pier. The guys just kept talking about how cool it was and of course I never want to miss out on coolness, so we made them go back. It was pretty neat. We saw some neat sea life (that sort of makes me never want to get back in the ocean) and watched lots of crazy fishermen that were very stinky. You have to watch your face as you walk down. Those people will sling those rods back and don't even look. They will catch your lip and fling you over in a second. It was a great week at the beach, spent with people we love. Fun times!

Dressing Like A Cow

It's that time of year again. Cow Appreciation Day. You may remember a few years ago where Matt and I made fools of ourselves and dressed like this to get a free meal. Well, this year we of course got our child involved. Well, I can't really say "we" because Matt couldn't make it and I didn't really participate, but I sure had fun with Fulton's attire. 

 We had to wait until we got in the parking lot to finish our costume because he was trying to eat the spots. Apparently masking tape tastes pretty good too.

 We met our sweet buddy Laylee there. Yay!! The next few are attempts to get their picture together and I just kept trying with not much success.

 Fulton was proud of his sign. The little sweet lady at the counter thought he was such a cutie she took his picture. Gonna post it on the ole bulletin board in the lobby. Ain't that somethin.

 After pinching and pulling on each other, they decided to start showing some love back and forth.

And there we are the 4 of us. Fulton is looking pretty rough by this point. He finally ripped the bandanna off, I guess he had had enough. Sweet friend Whitney came too, she was our photographer. There's still time left in the day if you live near a Chick-fil-A. Put on your cow bell and run on down and get you a free combo. Hooray!

8 Years!

Today is the day....8 years ago I married my college sweetheart. It's been a fun 8 years, and this past year has definitely been the biggest change as we added our little bambino to the fam. What a joy it is to walk side by side with this man. 

I could write lots and lots about how much I love this man, but since this is year number 8, why don't I list 8 reasons. 

1. He is a firm man of God. Matt loves the Lord with everything he has and is daily challenging me in my walk and to keep the Lord the center of our marriage. This guy knows the Word.

2. He is so stinkin funny. Even when I am trying to be serious, he just looks at me and laughs or says something silly and well, you can forget the seriousness after that. He knows how to make me laugh. 

3. He is smart. Matt often wonders where I was during my school years, because I seem to be missing lots of facts. Particularly those in the history area. He is teaching me lots of good knowledge, that may or may not help me one day.

4. He is a hottie. This boy is gooood lookin. I loved those curly locks when we first met and I couldn't wait to gel them up and play with his hair. Probably not what Matt had in mind. But thankfully Fulton got his looks from his daddy. 

5. He is an amazing leader. He can take any job, task, or position and lead like nobody's business. He has recently jumped into a new career challenge and I cannot wait to see the Lord use him in this leadership role. 

6. He can fix anything. And most of those include things that I have broken or messed up. Oops. Here's a recent example. The other day I accidentally let a very important necklace slip down the drain and I freaked. He took the whole drain piping apart and rescued it. Maybe this doesn't seem like such a big deal to you, but I barely know where to locate the drain.

7. He has discernment. He is so keen on knowing when a situation is, for lack of better words, good or bad. He knows when to call it quits and when to keep pushing. 

8. And last but not least. He is selfless. Oh my goodness... I could list so much here. The guy is constantly putting others before himself. Let's just talk about what he does for me (like you care, right)-the guy makes my breakfast and lunch everyday, puts the toothpaste on my toothbrush, lays my towel out, folds clothes, washes my car, changes diapers more than I can count, opens my car door every single time, gets me a sip of water at night when I am already in bed, washes bottles, unloads the dishwasher, cleans (and he is good at it), cooks dinner, and geeze I could keep going. See what I mean?  I really ought to be more like him. 

Anyways, Happy 8th Anniversary to my man, my best friend, and my partner for life. Can't wait to celebrate 100 with you!! I love you !!

4th of July

Happy 4th!! It was a good week for our fam and we spent several days at the lake enjoying the holiday.

On Wednesday the Taylors came up and enjoyed some time on the water with us. The boys had fun playing together and Peyton got to experience his first time in the water.

KK has been teaching Fulton to clap and are finally starting to master it. Although he will not do it on command, maybe for a puff or something though.

We enjoyed Aunt Keri and Uncle Pete  because they had to go back to work and couldn't stay and play with us all week.

Thursday and Friday were filled with relaxation, boat rides, swimming and absolutely no schedule. Don't let this frown fool you, we had fun.

 Thursday we went for a really long ride and it turned out to be this little guys nap time.

He woke up all smiles Friday morning and we spent some time watching Pops and daddy put together a play set. We'll just say right now you have to turn your head a little to the left and it looks completely straight. Matt keeps reminding me that it's a work in progress.

We also got ready for lunch time boat ride and wanted to stop somewhere and swim. Fulton's float was no where to be found. The darn thing had blown off the pier. Argg. I was a little sad that my 19.99 float was gone. We went one direction, slowly riding along the shore, hoping to find it... a good 20 minutes. We came back to the pier and I said just give it up, it's a goner. We headed out in the other direction and it was floating on the shore behind the pier next to us. Gotta love that. Matt jumped out, risked his life as he would say, and rescued the float. Hooray.

We stopped out on the lake and had lunch. Fulton loved it. Or well, he loves everything about the water and the boat, but food is always fun too.

 And then we both snuck in a little cat nap on the way back.

So this past week we gave Fulton a graham cracker for the first time. Ugh... it makes a huge mess... but he likes it. I mean how did he not feel it all up his nose. Gag.

Saturday our sweet friends the Tapias came up with the twins. David and Victoria are about to have a birthday soon. They are too much fun.

Fulton and David had a blast playing in the back of the boat while Victoria got some sun time in with her daddy.

Let's just say these two boys are sneaky and they are both paci stealers too. David had already stolen this paci from Victoria, but it was just a few minutes later that Fulton had his turn with it. Good times celebrating the 4th of July!

First Timers

Well, we finally did it. We had our first mini vacay away from our sweet Fulton. After a few mild heart palpitations, a family meeting, 4 page Word document and a quiz, we were off for Chattanooga to celebrate (early) our anniversary. You heard that right... I typed a 4 page Word document on "How to Care for Fulton" and made each caregiver take a quiz. Thankfully they all passed. Now Aunt Keri was touch and go and I thought we were going to have to do some remedial courses, but she just likes to see me squirm. 

 

My how the trips have changed now that there is a little bambino in the picture. Poor Matt didn't have many options because I had a limit on how far away we could travel. So, we packed it up Friday and took Fulton to my parents and headed to TN. We really went without any reservations or plans (mainly because this meant I could back out last minute if necessary :) and just drove around until we found a hotel we liked. And we picked a good one. You got a warm cookie upon arrival. My kind of place. 

We were within walking distance of everything so we headed over to Sticky Fingers and dug into some yummy chicken fingers. Delish!

Saturday morning we were up bright and early with our swim attire on because we were heading here....

Whitewater rafting. I know... you are probably thinking geeze, they are getting too old for this kind of stuff. It was so so so much fun. Speaking of old... so our little (and I mean just a mere year out of high school ) boat guide asked how old we were and I said.. as I coughed... 30. He gasps and says, really?! Gosh I thought you guys were a lot younger. I told Matt to tip him big. 

One quick picture before we suited up in our gear and signed our waivers --yikes. No more pictures of this excursion, and it's a good thing I didn't take the camera because I didn't have a dry thread when we finished. Let's just say I didn't fall out of the boat, but someone else did. It was a blast. The river calmed slow and deep at one point and we all jumped out of the boats and just let the current take us. Loved it.

 So we drove back to Chattanooga, cleaned ourselves up and went around the town. It was a hot one.

But we did stumble upon this fabulous little Moon Pie General Store and I personally can't stand the things,  but someone with me loves them.

Matt was a happy little camper after a quick stop in there and several different moon pie flavors later. Uggh.

 Good thing I didn't bring my bike, because they had these puppies ready to rent.

We opted for a movie... gasp.. I know. We never ever go to the movies. It has definitely been over a year, at least. I simply cannot stay awake. But it was a cool spot and we got to do something that our newest addition doesn't allow for us to do very often. After a delicious dinner at this Big River Brewery, no brew for us, only H2O, we took it to the ole hotel and crashed. Long fun day. We came back in town today and were so excited to see our little Fulton. I was worried he would forget us... that is why I did schedule time in his daily activities for him to look at pictures of us and talk about how much he loves us. Hope my family followed the schedule. Thanks to my super awesome fam... KK, Pops, and Aunt Keri rock!! They took such good care of our little man while we were away and we really appreciated the time to get away together and relax.