Memorial Day Weekend in Amabama

***WARNING: this post contains many pictures and may be hazardous to your health (just kidding on the health part, I think). Just remember you've been warned!

Here it is--finally--the run down of our weekend trip to the beach. It seems we hit the ground running once we got home and have been busy, busy, and throw in a delightful round of teething--blogging just hasn't gotten done. But alas, we did make it back to Dauphin Island, Alabama. Tyler called it Amabama and therefore, we've all been calling it that. We went six months ago, dressed in our jeans and sweatshirts and vowed that we would go back again when we could wear a bit less clothing. So, my parents gave us some money for Christmas with a card that said "go do something fun and take lots of pictures." So, I put that money aside with the sole purpose of having it be our "beach fund" and we have added some to it ever since and finally figured that Memorial Day weekend was going to be as good a chance as we were going to get to go back. And before we left, I talked to Garrett's mom on the phone and she said "take lots of pictures!". And you know me, I'd never dream of disobeying my parents or disappointing the mother-in-law, so that's right...I took LOTS of pictures. I've always been obedient like that, what can I say? It took some courage, but I finally got brave enough to go through them and decide which ones to post. So here they are, some with commentary, some without. :) (oh yeah, and these are just pictures of us actually at the beach...believe it or not, I have more pics of other things we did while we were there. Maybe I'll have to throw another post together or something...)
Tyler was so excited to go to the beach, it was so cute! We didn't even tell him we were going until the night before and his eyes lit up and he said "that will be our berry fun adventure!". He was actually a little leary of the water at first and was pretty happy to just sit close to the water and throw sand. He was just close enough to have the waves splash his feet a bit, but not much more than that.

And Sam...he was a bit scared of the waves at first and did not like walking out into the ocean. But after a little while, he warmed up to it and relaxed and enjoyed every bit of those waves and walking out into the water. We slathered up this little fair skinned chub with tons of sunscreen, and I was just sure he was still burning. But miraculously, he did not. His skin just turns pink as soon as he gets in the sun, so it looked like he was getting burned, but he fared pretty well.


Then we built and wrecked a sand castle all within a matter of a few minutes...
And then Garrett showed Tyler how fun it was to really play in the water and from that point on, we couldn't get him out. He ran in it, sat in it, laid in it, etc, etc. He was a fish and LOVED it. I don't know how he could handle the salt water in his eyes!

He even licked it??? That's real love, right there. Sam ejected his binky and went for fistfuls of sand. I am pretty sure he ingested a gallon of sand or so. It made for some pretty exciting diapers later on.
Look closely, you'll see sand running down the front of his belly from trying to shovel it in his mouth. Yuck!

My two favorite beach bums:


This was the second day we were there and Tyler would run as fast as he could into the water and jump up and land in the water on his bottom. And then he'd stand up and run out as fast as he could. Strange game, but very very entertaining for him apparently. He did it for the longest time. And it was just funny to watch him running so fast.
I loved seeing Tyler's reflection in the sand.

And of course we built up a pretty impressive seashell collection that is still occupying a cup holder in my car.

And then we buried Tyler in the sand. He kept wanting to do it over and over and he'd say "bury me up, please!".

And then, he broke away.

And oh, the amounts of sand that one comes home with from the beach. Even after baths, I was still finding it!
Two different times, Sam was getting tired, so I just picked him up and walked out into the water and he immediately relaxed and laid his head on my chest and fell asleep. It was so sweet. He does not fall asleep in my arms EVER, so I was surprised he did that. I guess those ocean sounds just put a baby right to sleep!
And then...the ugly obligatory family picture. You're on a family vacation, so you must have at least one picture that everyone is in, but nobody looks good, right? That would be the following (and add on the fact that we were taking it "ourselves" on a tripod with a remote, it's even tougher), but at least we now know that we were all in attendance on this trip...squinty eyes and all.It was a short trip, but so much fun. I have decided trips to the beach are so relaxing and they are what real vacations are meant to be like. So, we drove away with sun-kissed cheeks, sand between our toes, and the taste of salty sea water fresh on our lips already talking about when we can afford to go back again. I love this place!
So, there you have it. Until next time...

3 Days, 566 Pictures...

...and a TON of great memories! We made it back to Dauphin Island for Memorial Day weekend. It was great and so relaxing. More pictures to come in the next few days. I'm kind of overwhelmed by them all at the moment. :)

Butter 'n Grits

There are many times that it's crazy to me--almost unreal--that we live in the South, and better yet, in New Orleans. Garrett and I often even laugh about it. Like when some crazy thing on CNN happened in New Orleans, or the Food Network has one of its many shows here, or you see one of the many shows rehashing Hurricane Katrina--we almost just chuckle and say "can you believe we live here?". Here we are, two Idaho kids, living in the Deep South. Sometimes I almost forget we're here and other times it's just kind of surreal. And I got a good chuckle the other night in one of the moments that had me going "Isn't it crazy that I live here?"

We have some very nice neighbors and chat occasionally, but usually only really see each other when we are coming and going and say hi and such. They have said sweet things about my boys, brought us cake once, and generally had a smile and a wave each time we see them. But since we are usually coming or going when we see them, they hadn't had a good look at Sam in quite a while. I was doing a few things out in the garage and was holding him in my arms, so this time she got a real good look. And she just couldn't believe how big he'd gotten. And her remarks went something like this:

"Oh my! That is one fiiiiine baby. Oh, girl, what you been feedin' him? He is all buttuh 'n grits. That's right, Buttuh 'n grits. Oh baby, you are just fiiiine. Your mama's put you on buttuh 'n grits, hasn't she?"

And all I could do was laugh. Sweet life in the South, where our babies aren't cute, they are fine, and we don't feed them mashed potatoes and gravy--it's all butter and grits! I guess he's all sorts of butter 'n grits and I'm loving every bit of it--especially since it must mean you've got just the right amount of rolls in all the right places. Absolutely delicious!
Tyler has been calling him "Little Butter and Grits" since then.



It's definitely the little happenings like these that will bring a smile to my face when I think about living here. :) There are certainly a lot of things about living in New Orleans that I could do without, but things like butter and grits have made my life a whole lot sweeter.

Irresistible

When you have a boy like this:

And many, many days like this:
Would it be even remotely possible for a mom to resist buying boots like this???

And add the fact that they were $6.99 on clearance, the answer would most definitely be no. Irresistible indeed.

And it's a good thing they were so irresistible in the store because if you are at all familiar with Tyler's jumping ability (or lack thereof...), you would see that he is getting some serious air in these pictures, so these green monster boots must also have some special powers. :) Therefore, making the purchase even that much more worth it.

And I'm warning you---you'll see lots of Tyler expressions, lots and lots of green, and some 'sweet air' below. {I really gotta start taking less pictures or something. It is making it pretty difficult to decide which ones to post. I feel like I need to apologize for so many pictures... Yikes!}

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain." --unknown