A girl's weekend!

We had the best long weekend with LaLa at her house in Destin!

We took off early Friday morning and got back today!

We soaked up the sun rays...ate good food....rode bikes with LaLa....shopped and more!

Ohhh....our 1st day! We got down there around ll:30 so we hit brunch at a cafe right beside this pool and then spent the rest of the afternoon with this as a view!

These two played and swam and swam! I sat and watched and watched and watched! ha!

This cracks me up! Look at Alexis....she thinks she is SO grown! :)

We came back to Lana's and rode our bikes! We all love this!

 My favorite place to take a picture of them! I LOVE this!

 I had to take a picture of this! I rode this on our 1st ride! OH BOY...it was just not fun! It was soooo wide and lopsided too! The bell on it made a really weird ring! It was hilarious as I rode it! Lana had just bought it from Nannie....and you know how things got when they are Nannie's! Lily kept getting mad at me because I kept ringing that hideous noise of a bell as we rode! Oh it was funny! 

 Then...we headed to Chick fila since it was late to eat real quick and then we walked on the beach! SOOOOO peaceful and nice!

 Up bright and early...another bike ride! This time...I rode a different bike and not that tricycle thing! ha!
Lily kept trying to be the front biker because she said we were all going WAY tooooo slow! That girl had a ball riding and did SO good as this was the 1st year riding those curves and sidewalks without training wheels!

 OH...the views!

 Then..we hit the beach! It was AMAZING! Like the prettiest and calmest and the temp was perfection as I have ever seen it!

 LOOK at it! OH..amazing! Alexis waving and Lily being a fish! :)

 Two big fish out there!

 We ate a late lunch and then hit the pool before cleaning up and hitting Baytowne Warf for dinner and some shopping! Love here!

 The piers are awesome and so beautiful!

 LaLa and her girls!

 Us three! We went back and played Yahtzee before crashing on this night!

 Our last day! Bright and early...BEACH! It was perfection yet again!

 It rained on us for about 2 hours so we loaded up and swam at the pool the remainder of the day before cleaning up and hitting Surf Hut! YUM! And...it is beachside so the views are great!

 Then...Starbucks for a treat!...followed by some shopping at the Outlets!

 We came back late and they decided to put a puzzle together before they all were so cross eyed and tired that we all crashed! ha! Sadly it was our last night!

We got up early this morning and headed home! As a treat....since we start the groove back tomorrow...we stopped in B'ham and had lunch at our favorite place before coming home to laundry...unpacking..and gearing up for SCHOOL TOMORROW! What?!?! I can NOT believe it is time for them to go back to school!
We had the best trip! Ah....so nice!

Wordless Wednesday!

This cracks me up! Wordless! ha!

Wrapping it up!

Well, the weekend is over....

we...

wrapped it up by spending the entire afternoon outside! I love that we are finally getting to enjoy our backyard! It is almost finished!

The girls could NOT wait to find out who their teacher is going to be! That day FINALLY came! OH...we are soooooooo beyond excited that Lily has Mrs. Nelson! Alexis had the BEST year with her so I look forward to Lily having a wonderful year as well! Mrs. Nelson is who she wanted so she was super excited when she opened her piece of mail!

Alexis was super excited to find out she has Mrs. Hayes! Not only does she have her....BUT FINALLY she is in a class with SK and Carli! This has never happened! What cracks me up is....she is going around telling everyone that she is an 'Elementary Senior!' bahaha! OH...that cracks me up!

Yesterday Lily had Hope's birthday party! They went to the Alapaca farm and then had lunch! We have been before and they are so adorable! Lily loved seeing them again!

Hanging out with sweet friends!

After Lily got home....we headed to the pool for a little while before coming home to clean up and go eat dinner! It was a beautiful afternoon!

And...this morning, our Youth Church girl!

Two beauties!

Little Miss!

We came home....grilled out and watched TV...jumped on the trampoline...swang. Lily {big Lily}, Alexis and I took off on our bikes to the trail from our house! We had the best ride to Germania Springs! It was a complete spur of the moment ride but it was perfection! The girls waded through the creek to cool off before heading back! We rode home and then finished up the night out back!
Lily and Hope played and played while we were gone!

My view! Almost there with the backyard! We got a new patio set and I LOVE it! We enjoyed dinner on it tonight! LOVE!

A mid-week what's up!

So, havent posted a life lately post...so thought I would catch us up on what has been happening!

We met some new friends on this day! Sunday we met the Soriano's at the REC center and brought the Fritts girls and SK so Sydney could meet some friends before the big 6th grade starts! I met,Ashley {the Mom} and she is so awesome and found out that her daughter, Sydney, will be in Alexis' grade and her other daughter, Pearson, will be in 1st grade! Lily and Alexis had a great time getting to know them and having fun with everyone swimming! I see alot more play dates with Ashley and her girls!

They all had a blast swimming both outside and inside! Here they made a train and kept going around and around and around! ha!

Tuesday Lex had Caroline's birthday party at The Tea Room! It was perfection of a place for a bunch of 11 year olds who think they are grown and cool! :) Lex enjoyed sipping her tea like a lady! ha! Lily enjoyed lunch with Nan while Lex was doing this! They all did a little shopping before heading home! It was a great Tuesday!

And today...Alexis started gymnastics! She was nervous....but understandably because she hasnt even done a back bend in months!....BUT....she ROCKED it! She did awesome! I was so proud of her as I watched from above! She said she had a great time and is so excited about it and to get her back handspring!

She flipped and flipped! She worked hard!
So, it is mid-week...........and that's what's up!

Wordless Wednesday!

This is my MOST favorite quote of ALL time. NO matter what, there is something! You may have to look a little harder but it is there!

Number 14!

WOW....

14 years today!

Tyler and I had the chance, this past Friday, to celebrate our anniversary early.

All day, that day, I was thinking 'what plans, what can we do?'....as Tyler asked me to decide. I had a little black dress that I had planned on wearing. Went back and forth whether to wear it, whether to decide on a movie date night......what yummy place to eat.

He texted me asking if I had decided anything. Said he had some ideas..

and that we would talk about once we were home from work.

Well, once we got home, I was secretly hoping that we could just curl up and have a staycation just because it was Friday, it was a rainy day and that just sounded nice.

To my surprise, he said, 'you know what sounds great...me going to get items to cook dinner at home and picking up a Redbox movie.

How does that sound?!!?'

It was perfection!

As I have been {feeling like} a counselor to a friend of mine...and as I just have been feeling like...we dont have to 'go big' to make memories, etc.... having a staycation was just what we both needed!

14 years and there was no little black dress. There was no fancy dinner reservation...

there was two people who enjoyed each other's company.....in our pj's...curled up watching a great movie with a yummy home cooked meal.

To the one who stole my heart 14 years ago, {technically 19 years ago if you count us dating} Im so thankful for you and no matter if we are 'fancy' or comfy in our pj's, as long as you're beside me, it is perfection. Happy anniversary! I love you!

Salads....and dessert! The best strawberry cobbler! YUM!

This was a great movie! We actually ran out and rented two more movies {in our pj's} after watching this one! We had a full night of lounging watching movies!

Steak for the win! This guy knows how to make a good steak! The girls had a blast spending the night with Gran and Ben and watching the new Lion King movie too while we had our date night! It was a win-win!

Today

Soooo....

today comes every year.

Every year I always pray that today is a beautiful, blue skied day as that is exactly how it was the day my Dad died.

Im thankful that he died on a day that was beautiful and that the last thing he did was something he loved as that helps me know that he was truly happy and carefree!

I was off today, with the girls, and we had a great 'girl' day together just running some errands and having lunch.

We talked about Pops. Rode by where he used to work, and then Lily asked where he was buried.

See....I just have not been to his grave.

I can not bring myself to go.

He is not there, I know he is not there and I just cant get my body to go.

Whenever I need to talk to him, need to say hi, need to feel like he is there, I look to the sky. Any day...any time. I dont need his grave to feel close to him.

Every time I have tried to go, I literally start getting anxious and dizzy and just cant breathe.

Well, when Lily asked, I asked Alexis and she wanted too also, so we headed to Alexandria.

The whole way there....I just couldnt fight back the tears. I held them in and slightly wiped when I had to. I started getting anxious. It is just the oddest/strangest feeling that I just hate.

So, we turned into the cemetery. I was wondering if I would find it as last time I tried, I got so upset and dizzy that I left before even getting to it.

But, I remembered the tree around 2 curves so I pulled up beside the tree. We all got out and we walked around and there it was. We found it. It is such a peaceful cemetery. Its really nice and clean and well kept.

The girls asked about {what seemed like} 10,000 questions. I just stood there, not able to speak and told them to ask me again when we got back into the car. I was glad I took them so they know and can say they have had a chance to go. I explained to them how Pops is in Heaven. I explained how I felt and I feel they understood. It was a good day.

I know my Dad is looking down on me. I know he is in a better place. I know he is happy there. I know he is smiling down on me. I know he is protecting me. I know I can speak to him and feel him any day and time...no matter where I am. I know that my Dad may not be fully happy with the way the world is down here and for that, my heart hurts. But I also know, that God is in control and I know that I can give it all to Him and I can follow His path he as made for me and have my Dad help me along the way. For that, I am thankful. This day comes every year but every year I know, my Dad loves me and one day I'll see him again and oh what a day that will be!

I chose not to look down at him....as he is not there. I said hello to my Dad today as I looked above. I smiled and I know he smiled!

A fun filled girl's day!

So, we ventured to a new water park today and had the BEST time!

Our Church went to Pirates Bay with their daycare kiddos coming too...so we tagged along!

We had the perfect weather....and the rides were fun and the friends were icing on the cake!

I feel like most of my 'off' days, this Summer, hasnt really been just me and the girls....so today I enjoyed us doing something fun together!

Pearson, Maddie and Lily had fun swimming and playing with each other!

We have another 'big' Lily as we call her! Alexis and her were partners going down the slides! They had the best time!

Lily has NO fear! She did slides alllll by herself..and loved them!

Little FISH!

'Big' Lily and Lex going fast!

Alllll smiles! We had a great day!

Then, we came home...cleaned up and I cooked dinner! A surprise guest stopped over...so she stayed for dinner..followed by a HUGE tournament of Phase 10! :)

Loving the field trips!

Both girls were SUPER excited about today!

They went bowling with alllll their friends from the Community Center!

They said they had a blast!

We came home and had a yummy family dinner before doing a little spa time! A perfection of an afternoon!

Lily showing off her Summer Camp shirt! :)

These two said they bowled 2 great games! They love bowling!

Lily cracked me up! She said...'Mommy...I love doing these...but I cant move my face!' ha! :)

Wordless Wednesday!

Thisssss....

was sooo long ago!

OH my at the bubbles LaLa made for them! They were in Heaven!

{AND...I just love their smiles!}

Wordless!

Swim days are the best of days...

We had a low-key weekend. We ran errands on Saturday which included back to school supplies!

WHAT??!?!?!

How is it THAT time?!

And then today was full of Church, lunch and then another birthday party! Several of Lex's friend's Moms and I had a conversation the other day that all the girl's birthdays are super close together that we should start having birthday parties together! We especially decided on their 16th! It will be cheaper {hopefully!} :)

So, Alexis had Willa Kate's 11th birthday so Lily and I had our own special afternoon full of picking up Ella and heading to the REC center to enjoy the pool!

We soaked up the outdoor and indoor pools before coming home and relaxing the rest of the afternoon!

My view! It was a perfectly perfect overcast day {for the girls to swim} I could have used a little more sunshine but I took what I could get!

These two didnt want to pause for a picture! They swam and played and swam and swam!

Then, I let them swim inside for awhile before we left. They had the pool to themselves which they thought was super cool!