I've got the secret.....

to a relatively quiet 5 hour car ride with 4 kids......granted...we had to stop for bathroom breaks a few times, but the kids were so pumped to enjoy their first bottle of coke (20 oz. at that) and they nursed their cokes the whole way home.

Gray enjoyed his first lollipop, (He didn't get to enjoy coke in his sippy cup), but still, a very sticky but happy boy!

He couldn't believe his luck! Finally getting his own lollipop!

Theirs, Hers and His

The kids are loving being at the beach again. October is a beautiful time to come down here. We have had 2 full days of the beach and the weather and the water have been amazing. This is where the boys spent their trip!

This is Matt and the boys (in $1 floats, I might add) heading out to the 2nd sandbar. I was a little nervous as I saw them continuing to swim further out in the ocean. The water was crystal clear, but still! You can see they are almost to the sandbar in the above picture! I was a lot more relaxed once they came back on shore.

This is where Kate spent hers

And this is where Gray spent his....eating!

Good Times

Our Picnic

Brothers!

I went in before the kids and decorated the hotel room. He was so excited when he walked in!

Our Sweetheart

Inside the tank

Inside the shark's cage

Enjoying an ice-cream

Rocky Top

Playing in the water

Just returned from a weekend up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, celebrating Owen's birthday! He turns 5 years old on September 10th and wanted to go to the aquarium for his birthday instead of having a party. We were all thrilled to get to go on a family trip over Labor Day weekend. Since we had been to the Atlanta aquarium a few times already, we decided to travel to Chattanooga. The weekend was jam-packed with the aquarium, Discovery museum, I-Max movie, swimming at the hotel, eating out, and just having a lot of fun. I am so proud of Owen for thinking outside the usual birthday party box and wanting to take a family trip. We all enjoyed it and I think he felt a little extra special all weekend long. Gray Gray spent the night with Nana and Grandad. I must admit, although we missed him, it made the trip much easier. Just 3 kids, all using the bathroom, all dressing themselves, feeding themselves, putting on their own shoes.....makes life a little easier. The only rough patch we ran into was the drive there. We hit some traffic--I mean backed up for a long time. I had made a picnic lunch to eat on the way there because I hate stopping for fast food on trips. Well, I envisioned our family eating our picnic lunch sprawled out on a blanket with the beautiful Smokey Mountains behind us!
Below is a picture of us at a truck stop, sitting in the parking lot, eating our sandwiches as we breathe in exhaust fumes. Good times!

On the Road Again

g






We just spent a wonderful weekend up in the North Georgia Mountains relaxing on the beautiful Lake Chatuge. Drove to Atlanta, dropped off the younger 2 kids at Meme and Pop's house....(Thank you thank you thank you Meme and Pop) and headed up for a fun-filled few days at the Lake with the older 2. Our good friends, the Brushes, came up to join us and it was an amazing weekend filled with good friends, good food, and fun times on the Lake.
We actually got to be one of the first to drive my parent's new boat, and did I mention how much fun we had? I think we are all going to be pretty slow moving in the morning because we spent some time on the tube and it got pretty rough. Tubing will take you back to your younger days. I must say, every time I was flung off the tube, I remembered why this takes me back to my youth. The falls are not as easy as they use to be. After the 3rd fall--me barrel rolling across the lake, I called it a day!
We were wishing that we had a few more days of tubing, skiing, hot dogging, jet skiing, swimming, kayaking, fishing....but now we will look forward to the day we get to go back. It is hard to beat a day on the Lake.

Pass it up!

Today was the day we took a "beach Break". Daddy comes in late tonight and the kids needed a day off from the beach. I decided to load everyone up and head to the playground and fountains over at Destin Commons. The kids were excited to change it up a bit, and I must admit, it was a lot easier on me to take them to the park than to lug everything down to the beach. On our way home, I decided to stop by the Dollar Store to let everyone pick out something special to play with for the rest of the trip.
I saw a Dollar General and we pulled in. WARNING: A Dollar General IS NOT a dollar store. I am thinking we are going to come out with 4 new toys and only spend $4. WRONG!
We came out with the above items in the pictures. Wills picked out an African American wrestler in speedo shorts. It cost $4, but what could I say when we got up to the cash register and he was shaking he was so excited?
Owen's racing key chain of Kasey Kayne (who is that?) cost $2. This should really have cost 25 cents (maybe).
Kate picked out a plastic princess stroller-$7. Gray got nothing this trip!
After I grudgingly handed over the money, I asked her if anything in the store was really only a $1. she actually told me that only a few things are!
So....next time you see a Dollar General and you have kids with you, pass it up. Drive those extra miles to a Wal-mart or a REAL dollar store, lest you be stuck with cheap plastic over priced toys and an empty wallet! j>

A Beach Break

I am playing around with the editing on my new camera. Here are a few pixs of the kids on the beach.

"Mom, I need sunscream please" Wills Carrington.
"Mom, when is it going to be God Bless America day again?"--Wills

You know you have been at the beach too long when your little one is crying that he does not want to go down to the beach today...he is tired of the sand and the beach.
My answer? Sorry, we are at the beach and we are going down to the beach!!!
We have been down here for 7 days now and we have 5 more to go....I am loving it. My kids are getting a little tired. I think tomorrow we will just go to the pool and maybe head in town to run through the fountains instead of going down to the beach. Matt gets here tomorrow and this will make it a little easier on me and the kids are ready to see him.

The 4th!

watching fireworks
G clapping!

We are here at the beach, finally, and having a blast! We have been beaching it, pooling it, napping it, and just having fun. Matt left this afternoon, but will come back on Wednesday night, so it shouldn't be too bad until then. The kids are really enjoying being on the beach this year. It gets easier with the boys every year. They love to look for shells, body surf, and our new activity...look for sand fleas (those things are nasty). Kate is content just playing in the waves and rolling around in the wet sand. Now Gray...hmmm...it is just HARD with a baby at the beach. He is fine, but only for a few hours. He has actually fallen asleep on me on the beach twice, which is very unusual for him. He is on the verge of walking, so crawling on the sand is not much fun. But, let me tell you he is really enjoying eating the sand! I feel like every time I look at him, he has a fistful of sand that is heading right towards his mouth.

The 4th of July was perfect. We spent the day at the beach and pool, took extra long naps, ate a shrimp dinner and then headed out to the beach to catch crabs and watch the fireworks. All the kids loved the fireworks show. Gray was mesmerized by all the colors. I remember last year watching the fireworks and thinking "I will have a baby next year". Wow, does time fly?