Beach Trip '09

Brandon was able to represent his company at the Alabama Association of General Contractors convention in Sandestin again this year, so the rest of us got to tag along for the fun. We had to really twist her arm a bit (yeah right), but Mama Kaye agreed to accompany us to help with M&E. Once again, we had a blast at the beach. Before we left, I looked back at some pictures of last year's trip. I can't believe how M&E were such babies! I don't remember them being so little just a year ago. This year was a lot of fun with two toddlers who could walk, jump, eat anything and communicate what they wanted.

We arrived on Wednesday and headed out to find some lunch. After lunch, the kiddos decided it was time to cool off. Did I mention the heat index was 110 while we were there and it was really, really HOT? We were on vacation, so there was no objection from me over this...

After they cooled off, we decided it was time to change into our bathing suits and head to the pool, so we strolled back to the condo...

Unfortunately, Eli and I came down with some sort of stomach bug the first night. Eli was up all night with a fever, etc. and Madeline was up all night because her brother was screaming and Mama Kaye was up all night taking care of them. I got a couple of hours of sleep in the early morning before we headed to the beach. Madeline passed out on the way to the beach, so this was how she spent her first day there...

M&E did really well with the beach. Madeline still had some issues with the sand this year, but the screaming got quieter once she had some water to play with. Both M&E loved the ocean and the pool. No doubt it just felt good to cool off! Eli helped keep the fish away from our feet by telling them, "Tish, no no". Madeline also learned to count to three before jumping in the pool. Okay, she won't say "one" and usually skips "fee" to go ahead and jump, but she's got "two" down. Enough talking, on to more pictures...

2nd Tri's a Charm

Brandon competed in his 2nd ever triathlon last weekend at Oak Mountain state park. He did great (especially considering he didn't train at all for it). In fact, he won!!



Well, in our eyes he did.

In neighborhood news... several months ago, we sat in our living room and watched our neighbor across the street pull up with his horse trailer behind his truck. He proceeded to unload a calf... and then to load said calf into the back of a Ford mustang, which he drove away, and we never saw that little cow again. We do love Alabama!! Anyway, a few days ago, he pulled up again with the horse trailer so I gathered the kiddos up in the big arm chair in front of the window to anxiously await what he would pull out this time. It was a teeny tiny pony! Madeline is enthralled with horses, or "neighs" as she calls them. (You know, like the sound they make.) She repeated about a million times "Mommy, outside neigh!", so I decided just to take M&E across the street, knock on the guy's door and go see the neigh.



I guess if we ever decide to buy our little girl a pony, we know where to go!

A Week in the Life

The kiddos are in bed napping right now. Let's hope it's a long one because we got very little sleep last night. An impromptu trip to the pediatrician this morning revealed that Eli has a dreaded ear infection. My poor sweet hot feverish sick little boy is well drugged and snoring away in his bed now. Bless his heart!

Perhaps Eli will sleep better in the future in this. His big boy furniture has arrived!



Surely unrelated to this ear infection, my children are turning into little fish (or a fish and a mermaid in our case). We spend every possible sunny day at the pool and M&E are getting very comfortable with the water. Eli loves to jump off the side of the big pool completely under water and he comes up laughing every time. Despite multiple coats of SPF50, they are also developing some nice little tans. All this time at the pool has forced me to abandon my anti-Crocs stance. The concrete deck gets so hot that I end up carrying both children to the picnic area for lunch every day. While this is good for my biceps, it's getting a bit ridiculous. So, yesterday I decided to venture out in search of some Crocs. Did you know those things cost $35/pair?! I don't think so! I went to Walmart and got these faux Crocs on sale for $1/pair.

I'm always in search of kid-friendly recipes and decided to try out a chicken pot pie on my two the other day. It was super simple to make, delicious, chock-full of vegetables and the kiddos loved it. If you have any healthy meal ideas that you think toddlers would enjoy, please share!

Speaking of sharing, somebody was kind enough to share their Jumbo Rice Krispies with the baby. I found this while I was cleaning up. That's Eli's hand. Shortly after I snapped this picture, he fished that sucker out of her mouth and helped himself to it.

Also, going on in (or shall I say outside) our household... Brandon has been on the city to come clean up the storm water drainage ditch that runs along our property line. They are finally out here doing something. I really don't know how what they are doing will help, but M&E have enjoyed the real live tractor in our front yard the past few days.

That's all for now. Moving on to the mountain of laundry staring me in the face!