family beach vacation

to conclude our summer travels, we met the weeks family for a few days in destin.  yes, i went twice :) but this was my first trip with the guys.  this was also our first official family vacation (aka, our first trip minus extended family).

our friendship with the weeks family proves that distance is simply a word when it comes to great friends.  when we moved away from tuscaloosa, we were all still newlyweds trying to figure things out, and now we have 3 babies between the two families!

back on topic....the beach!  we loved having so much time to hang out and catch up, and we were highly entertained at all waking hours by the babies.  aside from some progressively thick humidity, the weather was nice and sunny.  we discovered that if we ever need the assistance of a sound machine for brendan, we know what sound to set it to...the ocean!  seriously, this kid fell asleep within 15 minutes of being on the beach both days!  cade and adeline loved the sand, waves, and kites flying in the sky.

coriell's mom appliqued some adorable shirts for all the kids which set up the perfect opportunity for some adorable photo shoots with the kids and family shots for all of us.

adam and coriell, we cannot wait for the next trip!
 as fun as all of these travels were, pulling into our driveway after the 10 hour drive from destin was so sweet.

summer vacay, part 1

the first leg of our summer vacation excursion began in louisiana where i left lee and brendan with the guys (and eva), and i headed to the beach with emily, erin, and emma.  to say we were excited about this trip would be an understatement.  it had been 3.5 years since i had been to destin so this was a much anticipated, well overdue trip.

we met up with shauna at our condo, unpacked, and made our way to the beach.  we thought the waves looked a little choppy, but we had no idea just how rough they would get before the week was out.  we all walked in the water and then hopped in the pool before a yummy dinner from shauna.  that pattern became our typical schedule for most of the week.  we enjoyed the day by alternating between the beach and pool and followed that up by a yummy meal made by someone different for the first three days.  one evening we enjoyed the candymaker, a cute store right behind our condo, on our post-dinner walk.  our last evening was our night out.  we all dressed up and headed to the marlin grill at baytown wharf.  YUM.  i cannot forget to mention our delicious breakfast we had one morning at another broken egg.  everything from the fancy to chocolate milk to the blackberry grits to the overflowing plates of delicious food was a hit.

emma's initial reaction to the beach

while i was gone, lee and brendan managed to have a good time in louisiana as well ;).  they spent the days with GJ and often with uncle walter, jonah, and eva and uncle zach, joe, miles, and will as well.  brendan discovered his love for kitchens, both real and play.  he went on walks with GJ and "helped" uncle zach in his backyard.

 

it was my first time to be away from brendan that long and lee's first time to stay with brendan for that long, but we all had a good week.  i am still so thankful for the opportunity to spend a few relaxing days at the beach.  friday night, we were all reunited and saturday we made our way to alabama.

a beach getaway

for our last "hoorah" before brendan's arrival, we decided to get out of town for a few days and just relax together. lee knew my most favorite place to relax is the beach and chose corpus christi as our destination locale (since destin, fl is just a little too far away for just a few days).

he chose the perfect place and time of the week to go because our quiet condo was just outside of the main part of the city and the beach was never packed. i loved it! the jellyfish were slightly overwhelming the first day and covering much of the beach, but we found some space away from them to soak in the sun.we found several local restaurants to try for dinner and a local cupcake shop...that we frequented more than once :).by the second full day, the jellyfish had mostly subsided to the point where we could put our chairs close enough to the water for the waves to hit our feet. lee even braved the waters for a while...until he found out that some jellyfish were still around after all and very quickly swam back to shore.i do not often post pictures of just me but i knew lee would not be ok with me just posting one of him. so, for all of you who enjoy baby bump pictures, i guess this one is for you.we also discovered a couple of interesting elements to corpus christi while in town. whataburger was founded in corpus which makes it home to the only two-story whataburger...supposedly if you dine on the second floor, waiters bring you your food and serve you at your table instead of at the counter. also, a methodist church that looks out onto the bay is known for their statue of jesus calming the seas. lastly, corpus christi bay is home to the uss lexington which apparently had quite the lengthy career before retiring here. what you cannot see in this shot is all of the pretty amazing jets on the top deck, but the only way i could have gotten a shot of those was while driving on the bridge that overlooks the ship...and that just was not going to happen.our last night, we took in a corpus christi hooks baseball game. the hooks are one of the astros' minor league teams, and they were playing the tulsa drillers who had a former aggie as their left-fielder. following the game, we were surprised by one of the best fireworks shows we have ever seen off of the uss lexington from the luxury of our balcony.beach, baseball, food, and even a little golf for lee made our beach trip a wonderful and relaxing finish to our summer travels. feel free to come see us anytime...before or after august 18...because this is where we will be for a while :)

a destin getaway

my wonderful husband decided to surprise me with a new year's mini vacation. we had actually been discussing taking a small trip during some of the days i had off while he was out for Christmas break but as far as i was concerned, it just wasn't going to work out. little did i know that lee began plotting and travelzoo-ing it up a few days before new year's and then we were in destin. that's right...destin, fl on new year's day. we spent a wonderful extended weekend throwing the frisbee on the beach, shopping, eating seafood, and just enjoying being away for a while. (i think he might understand my obsession, i mean love, for the beach a little better now)

a little glimpse into our awesome condo

my lucky shot at a seagull in flight right in front of us

one of many beach shots...should have taken my sunglasses off...

definitely my new favorite picture (and i must say i'm a little proud of myself for pulling this one off)

the most perfect weather of the entire trip happened the day we left (doesn't that always happen) but we still managed to capture it on camera!