xoxo

xoxo

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Watersound Days 3 and 4

Good morning, Watersound, we are ready to play today...



breakfast at the bar before heading to the beach




as soon as Lucas' feet hit the sand, he was already scooping it up in his shovel!!!




mandy helps reese down to the water




my sister's family was super smart and took this family photo as soon as they all made it down




our family, well, let's just say we let the kids loose and we never quite got them back for a group shot!  haha!



at least they were busy having fun!!!




lucas and james both loved waiting for the waves, then running from them as fast as they could





sweet lucas' first time at the beach





anthony was non-stop--digging, building, running, splashing--busy!





this is where these 3 boys were 90% of the time--
it was all eyes on deck--all.the.time--making sure no one got swept away!  ;)




and i think 90% of the pictures we got were of their backs!!!  ;)




james and justin playing in the sand




love this of all the kiddos
(we'll have to photoshop that random man out later!)




reese ventures out into the ocean--she has no fear!




michelle and josh join the fun




as do my sweet mom and dad
what a trooper mom was to brave the beach in her leg brace!




i wouldn't quite say our time spent down at the beach was "relaxing", but it sure was fun!






did i mention nonstop action???




back at the house, cleaned up, the three boys play their mobigos




reese had a blast with the magnetic darts from the game room
(and yes, that is my number two son climbing on the pool table in the background! haha!)
one of my favorite things about staying in the beach house is that there is so much to do here, we don't have to leave the house much at all!  we played here; we ate most of our dinners in, taking turns to cook.  i love living with my whole family for a week straight!




next morning, bright and early, reese decided she was ready to go!




we managed to take my sister's advice and got our family shot as soon as we got down there!



lucas loved digging and scooping




cousins




mario uses an app called befunky on his phone to make the coolest vintage-y looking snapshots





reese spent more time playing in the sand than anyone else




justin and james work on their sandcastle




wow, that's something, alright!
(j/k...great job, guys!)




why, yes, i do believe mario snagged a few minutes to read in the shade...the little ones got tired out faster than the older ones



we got out to the beach early enough to have a few hours there before heading back to our beach house around lunch time to get cleaned up
reese is such a little ham--she has several "poses" she likes to do!
i forgot to get a picture of her "yoga pose"




kiddos eat a quick bite of lunch before heading down for naps




here's what we did while they napped...
reading and relaxing



mario could usually be found writing on his computer




later that evening after the kids were down for bed, the whole family except for me played the card game "peanut".  i opted for a long soak in the tub, but i did join the crew later to take this picture and talk and laugh a bit.  if you've never played before, it is super fast paced--a really fun (and crazy) game for a crowd.  oh, and this must have been my dad's one big move of the night!  ;)

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Watersound 2013--Days 1 and 2

On Saturday, June 1, we left Memphis to drive down to Watersound, Florida, for our family vacation.  Mario and the kids and I stopped just outside of Destin for the night.  We couldn't check into our beach house until the following day, and we wanted to call it quits early after a long day of driving with the boys.  Dad, Mom, Michelle, and Josh drove about another hour further on down--they wanted to be just minutes away so they could enjoy the beach first thing in the morning!

This was the picture my mom texted me the next morning as we were heading out to meet up with them...Relaxation, here we come!  :)

We met up with everyone at the pool of their hotel.  We decided to go for a morning swim, and do lunch and a little grocery shopping, and by then it would be time to finally check into the beach house!  We weren't ready to get all sandy with no place to get cleaned up yet!!!


the boys were just excited to get in some water!  



we pretty much had the entire pool to ourselves since everyone else was at the beach!  haha!



sweet sister michelle--
the pool balcony was right on the beach!



None of us have been back to Watersound Beach since 2009 when these lovebirds got married!


We threw on our coverups and headed into town for some burgers at Five Guys.

The boys thought the peanuts were SO much fun!




so pumped that we're spending the week hanging out with the whole fam!




my sister mandy sent us this pic...
this is what her kiddos were doing while we were eating...
they were driving down on this day--
can't wait until they get here!


After our grocery run, we were sooooo excited to finally pull up to Sea 'N Stars--the beautiful home our family rented for the week!

you can't really tell from the angle of this pic, but the home is 3 stories plus a 4th story balcony!
(my mom sure knows how to pick 'em!)



the inside was just gorgeous--simple and elegant



both this house and the one we stayed in four years ago have this lovely beachy pottery barn vibe--
LOVE IT!




here's the room mario and i called our own...
it was on the lower level



and the bathroom--
loving that garden tub!




mom and dad stayed in this room--the only bedroom on the main floor...
we thought it might be easier for my mom not to have to walk up and down the stairs so much in her leg brace...little did we know the boys were all going to wake up at 6:30 am every morning!!!  "shhh...let's not wake up meme and papa" became our morning mantra!  ha!



sweet little reese got a room all to herself...
she didn't even use the pretty bed--just her pack 'n play




mandy and justin's room was on the lower level as well
such soothing colors



michelle and josh claimed the only bedroom on the 3rd level
hmmmm...wonder if they wanted to be as far away as possible from the early morning pitter patter of little feet!?!
this room was full of cute little alcoves




and the precious bunk bed room--
the picture doesn't do it justice...this room was ADORABLE!!!
it had a cute rug which i didn't really get in the shot, plus white shelving in those little nooks in front, AND--the boys' favorite part--each bed had little nautical ship lights mounted on the walls!
(and happily, it was situated right in the middle of the lower level hallway!)




these two have already made themselves at home!!!





bird's eye view from the very top balcony




the home rental included bikes and a golf cart for getting around...
this is where we parked at the beach every day
to get there, we just drove through the neighborhood and down the boardwalk--so easy!




finally cousin james arrives!  hip hip hooray!
in the chaos of getting settled, these guys got to watch a special show--
anthony can't seem to pry his eyes away for daddy's picture!


Stay tuned...our first day at the beach is coming up!!!