Beach Trip: Day One

My sweet momma is generous enough to share her place at the beach with her kids so that we can get away for cheap, wonderful, soul therapy vacations. I blogged earlier that London and I were both long over due for a few days of having absolutely nothing to do. I honestly think this sweet kid needed the getaway just as much as I did. She was completely enamored over the idea of an upcoming beach trip for weeks before we hit the road.

Of course, during the wee hours of the departure morning, London started throwing up and had an awful rotten tummy. However, London has always been a weird, sick kid. The 4 minutes that she's in the action of being sick, she is pitiful and it just breaks your heart. As soon as that is over, she snaps right back into playful, happy as a lark London. So, she convinced me that she wasn't sick anymore and she wanted to go ahead and make the trip instead of staying home for another day or two. 

Therefore, we headed out. We stopped and grabbed Mrs. Bananas and hit the road. London did pretty well most of the way down but her tummy was ill and she wasn't eating much. Shortly after lunch, the poor bottom fell out for Lu and she started getting sick over and over again :(. Once we didn't catch it in time and had vomit everywhere. London was so upset so we swung off to the side of road and I got her cleaned up and just sat rocking her. DARLING Mrs. Bananas cleaned all of it up. Seriously, got in the backseat and cleaned up vomit that belonged to another persons child. She loves us too much, i tell you. What a woman. I was so incredibly grateful for her because I eventually had to trade off driving with her so I could doctor on Lu. The trip took FOREVER but we finally got there and got some anti-throw-up meds in London. 

We rested for a bit but eventually we had to get our toes in the sand. We had all waited for oh so long....

London had strict instructions to take it easy and just get her feet wet....

Which led to this happy kid fully submerged.

She looks like a kid with a stomach virus, wouldn't you say???

 Check out that uber wet diaper that she had to wear! We looked like the biggest rednecks!! This was one happy kid, though!

We got cleaned up and spent the evening blowing bubbles off the balcony, watching them float and fly forever and ever!

My hearts true loves... both of them. 

Barry called and told me that our first night down would have a full moon and we should check it out. My next venture is figuring out how to photograph the moon. Im not sure why it looks tiny in pictures because the moon was ENORMOUS. It was one of those moons that you just kept thinking, 'if I reach out, surely I'll be able to touch it!' I couldn't stop watching it. I was like an illusion. 

Thank goodness the rest of our days weren't quite as chaotic but day 1 deserved it's very own post! More to come!!

Photo Booth Fun

My office computer has a 'Photo Booth' app and you can make it manipulate your picture in all of these wacky ways. Caden and Liz stopped by the office for about 10 minutes today and we had some fun....

The 'Nose Twister'

 Love Struck (truth)

 My favorite. 'The chipmunk.' I wish you could've heard the squealing giggles. 

 'Bug Eye'- it only read Caden and Lizzy tho!

 Lizzy bug eye.. (look at Caden trying to make bug eyes! :) Love it!

 Caden and Taylor Bug Eye...

 Pop Art

Thermal Camera

What an awesome break in the day! I love these little munchkins so much! :)

Beautiful Ballerina

After a whole season of preparation, it was finally time for the big show! Lizzy has worked so hard to learn her ballet and tap routines for her end-of-the-year recital and about 3 weeks ago, it was show time! The whole fam, sans Andaddy because he had to work, came to Birmingham to see the production! They also came to watch one of the Soccer Studs games, but it POURED the night of his game and it was cancelled. Boo!

It was so great to have the whole family in town! We all met up for dinner Friday night and sat thru a fun game of 'Ask Caden & Lizzy how old they think we are.' Turns out they think most of us are ANCIENT!!! I won't call out any names but apparently if you're of grandparent age, you are skirting 100! :) 

Below is a combination of everyone's pictures, but I thought most of them turned out great! Here's sweet Lala making Elizabeth look incredibly gorgeous! 

 Those eyes...

 The only bun I ever had was shoved under a swim cap, but I understand that the perfect ballerina bun is a big deal for the ballet. She looked stunning. 

Her first darling performance. Unfortunately, you can't see Lizzy barely at all here. She is the very last dancer on the left hand side, but from our seats, she is behind the curtain. You can see her at the very end of this video for just a few seconds. This was such a sweet routine! When they are about 1 year older, it turns into a lot of booty shaking, which I discovered that I am not comfortable with. I loved these sweet, little innocent routines like the young girls did! They were precious.

(If you're reading this via email, click the title of this post to get to the blog and see the video of Lizzy's dances. If you click the square-ish icon on the bottom right of the video, it will pull up a separate screen and make the video big so you can see it better!)

Could this little group be any more girly and darling? 

Part of the cheering section!
Ya'll. Caden Rhea.
When the very first act opened, it was a group of probably 3 year olds in these majorly frou frou costumes. The audience started laughing because they looked so stinking cute! Caden looked at all of us and said 'don't laugh at them.' He was so upset with us for laughing at them because he thought it was mean. He is the sweetest child alive. So incredibly caring and tenderhearted. 

 This is not Lizzy's class but these were 'Annie's' dancing to 'The Sun'll Come Out'. The red wigs were too much!

I moved to a new seat so I could get Lizzy in the shot but then my camera cut off too early! Here's a little snippet of Lizzy's second dance. SHE DID AWESOME! She knew her routine so well and she really got her arms into it!! I loved it!! Lizzy's the first one in line, all the way to the left. 

 DO IT BIG, LIZZY!!

No doubt telling her something wonderful that would have left all the rest of us teary eyed. G-Daddy is an amazing man. We are all lucky to have him speak his goodness into us. What a blessing he and MeMommy are to us all. 

Isn't this adorable?? Beautiful girls!

This picture makes my heart swell inside. Such beautiful, loving people. It was amazing to be around each of these folks all weekend. It always reminds me how important family is. There is no love or bond like family. Nothing compares. 

Back to G-Daddy. He's a GRAND-DAD. Making laps around the house with two 5 year olds riding on him. We all treat him like he's 19- not 45! :) (Do I get brownie points for that?) I had him moving washer/dryers into my house the day before! He is the best!

We had such a fun day making a big fuss over this beautiful child! I am so very proud of her hard work and poise on stage! She did a phenomenal job and it was great celebrating her!

A few other pictures from our weekend. Pinkberry with momma on Friday. Cute pic of mom, right?! I love this woman. 

Typical day at our house. Light up princess dress, cinderella slippers, and an accordion. I love our life!

This little grinning monkey scored FIVE GOALS at his last soccer game!!! FIVE!! Way to go, big guy!! He had a blast this season and I can't wait until his next activity so I can capture all those smiles again! :) 

Mother's Day 2013

We had a lovely Mother's Day!  My amazing brother called Saturday night and said, "I'm on my way to pick up London. We've got an errand to run." An hour later, they came back bearing gifts and the sweetest Mom's day card ever. Cue the thankful tears over being blessed with the greatest brother alive.

Sunday started out just perfectly! I woke up and decided to put some effort into my appearance so I rolled my hair and had rollers all over the crown of my head. I peeked in London's room to find her just waking up. I walked in quietly and she said, 'momma. You look just like an angel.' (because of the roller 'halo' and all!)  Ha! Sweet kid! I'll take it! :) 

The day before, we went to a festival a few minutes from our house and had a good time just roaming around and playing on the blow up toys. We pulled out a towel, kicked off our shoes, and drank some fresh squeezed lemonade (priced at the meager price of about $6 for a small cup. Good grief.) But I loved lounging with this sweet face for a bit!

That night, while London was out shopping with Unc (Barry), I got to work and broke down Lu's crib and moved her into her big girl bed! She was way excited when she got home! So far she's doing great in it! Her room looks so cute and roomy too!

At one point in the weekend we were pulling out of our driveway and I screamed, "LONDON, LOOK!!!!' We threw the car in reverse, parked, and jumped out- camera ready! We had 2 canadian geese and their 3 adorable goslings taking a stroll through our front yard! They were in no hurry, so London and I had a good long picture taking session with them! 

Sunday night we went to Barry's for a burger cookout (and champagne and cheese for the ladies!! Woo hoo!!!)

Caden and Lizzy made Mother's Day books at their school. Let me see if I can interpret these now that my memory is totally gone!

"I love because you are: 1. Because you give 2. Beautiful 3. You give makeup 4. Sweet" Lizzy

Lizzy's pic of she and her momma! 

This is Lauren saying 'Don't do it!' and Lizzy saying 'Yes, Mom.' :)

'My Mom is the greatest because: She is pretty and she helps me.' Caden

Thank you for: putting me to bed, taking me to school, doing the dishes, & making cakes!' Caden

(Im with you on that 'making cakes' son! Thank you, Lala!!!)

Caden's picture of his beautiful momma!

This is Monday after school but London LOVES to play in the water hose. Most afternoons we come home, turn that joker on, and she is good to go for the next hour or so. This day morphed into yard work and bird catching. I caught this picture at the perfect time. This is London mad as a hornet, stomping back to the house, because the blue bird she was chasing 'wouldn't let me hold him.' FROWN FACE. Check out that bottom lip!

gardening...

This was her yard play outfit of choice. Tutu swim suit, rain boots (because she wears them with every single outfit), monkey socks that are doubling as gardening gloves, and a 'shubble' (shovel). Gah, this cuteness is too much for my momma heart. 

So, happy belated mother's day to all of our mom's out there! Thank you for the immense amount of love you pour in to your little ones... your little one's of all ages! We appreciate you so very much!