IMAGINE

This post is dedicated to my 1st born son, Gavin.  He is the 1st to ever get my unconditional love.   He is the one who made me want to change for the better.  He was the driving force in most of my decisions.  There is no doubt that I was too young and immature to fully understand what it meant to be a "MOM".  Having survived all that, he is growing into quite an amazing young man.  We are alike in so many ways.  His forgetfulness drives me insane until I walk into a room and have no idea what I was coming for.  I'm also pretty sure he got his 2 left feet from me. But we are very different in other ways.  Like the way he loves to be the center of attention.  Me, not so much.  And how he never stops talking.  I don't really have all that much to say.  He challenges me with his genius thought process and encourages me with eagerness to try new things.  Just recently he had a part in a school performance.  He had to learn sign language for the song Imagine.  I was very nervous that he would freeze up or forget.  Of course he nailed it and made me the proudest mom ever! Watch out, you might just see his name in lights one day.     

Birthday Trip!

October is always an eventful month for our family! Fall festivals, Halloween parties, and special birthdays (mine :)) keep us very busy.  This year was no exception.  In addition to the usual cRaZiNeSs, we decided to drive up to see our friends.  They moved to Dallas GA last year!  Its just north of ATL. We miss them terribly, but totally understand why they love it so much.  Especially this time of year!  There were multiple opportunities for pictures.  We tried to take advantage.  

You have no idea how cold we were during this photo.  I couldn't even take off my wool jacket for 1 picture :)

 The leaves were in the process of turning.  It was exactly what I wanted to see!  I wish Florida could enjoy some of this beauty.  

I guess we will have to settle for the beach.  Anyway, here are some special moments!

 Stayed in our jammies until well into the day!

 Best homemade breakfast ever!!

 Bribery to stay still and smile for pictures :)

 Feeding the ducks- impossible to get a good pic :)

Best buddies <3 <3


As the cold set in on Saturday night our gracious hosts built a fire in the fire pit. 

We enjoyed s'mores, sweet tunes, and a serious game of hide-and-seek in the dark!!

The last day of our trip we enjoyed the Georgia Aquarium together.  It houses some of the coolest animals I have ever seen, and that's a lot coming from me-who doesn't even like wildlife.

 2 Albino Alligators!! For real!! I have never seen anything like that!!

 Always on the brink of disaster :)

Beautiful Beluga Whales! They were so cool! Also, it may or may not have been mating season for them :/ Kind of awkward with the kids!!
We also saw otters, oh, and a bunch of fish! The whole experience was fantastic! 
Thursday through Sunday flew by and then reality came rushing back  very quickly. We are now back to our hamster wheels!  I wish it was always October!!!  

What weekends are for....

Lately we have been so busy between work, family and extracurricular events that we haven't had much time to relax.  I am guessing everyone feels this way, but I am a big baby when it comes to down time.  I have to have it.  It is a necessity for me just like food and sleep.  If I can't have some time to do nothing, I am a grouch! Even grouchier that usual! LOL  Last weekend we spent some much needed time together.  Weekends are for.........

                           Sliding

                          Flexing

                                                             Hugging <3

                     Eating junk food

 

                                                        Backwards Hats

                                                  Grandmas and Grandpas

 

                                                             Daydreaming

                                                                Napping

                                                                       
                         Bare Feet

                        Tickling

                                                            Shopping

                                                    Reality Checks lol

                         
                    Eating more junk food

                                                                 More napping

  

 Godfather impressions

Silly Faces

 More Daydreaming!

And laughing, 

Lots of laughing!  May our play always outweigh our work!

Update

I am sure you have been wondering about our decision on a new addition to our family.  I am happy to say that, for now anyway, we are holding off on getting a new dog.  Right after I wrote, we had back to back visitors who brought dogs along.  First my cousins visited from Panama City.  Let me just say that we had an absolute blast!! Can't wait for them to come back, or move here ;) Anyway they brought along their adorable Long Haired Dachshund, Bode.  Obviously, my kids are in love with him!! 

The only problem with sweet Bode is that he's a Gator fan, so his outfit clashed with ours ;).  But he was super well behaved.  He ran around and let the kids wrestle him from morning to night! And then Meghan pretended to kill him with a plastic sword ;) 

LOL Maybe off topic but what the heck else am I ever going to do with that photo, I just has to throw it in.  But all kidding aside, Bode was so much fun and a pleasure to have around! The kids would have loved him to stay forever.  Unfortunately, their visit had to come to an end and he had to leave.  Now my kids have to call and check on Michelle and Steve Bode every few days! We love them!!
So right on the heels of the Bodester came and old family favorite, Sugar!  

Sugar is always a good girl, enduring hours of torture from all the kids......and sometimes adults.  She is a staple at all the family outings and belongs to my in-laws.  She is over often and we are used to her and her sometimes neurotic behavior.  So both of these puppies were great to be around, but also helped me decide that we I don't want a dog.  I guess just because even though neither were any work for me, it was still something else to think about.  These days, I do not have 1 brain cell that is not responsible for something.   I feel like the rest of the family may have decided the opposite of me....they love to do that! We will see what comes of the situation, but for now, we are still a family of 4.

 LOL that's us minus Sugar :)

Torn

Look at this face....

Let me back up.  I hate wildlife.  All kinds.  I am not really scared of it, just grossed out by it.  Except snakes.  I am deathly afraid of snakes.  When my husband killed this one in the backyard, I didn't go back there for like a month.  

Its actually quite painful for me to post that picture.  Gross.  Anyway, I have never developed feelings for anything that wasn't human.  I don't really know if I can.  I don't really know if I want to.  But lately I have had this feeling.  Gav and I actually went into one of those puppy mill stores the other day.  I just wanted to look around.  It smelled horrendous.  And it was loud.  Both of which come along with dogs, I know.  Some of them were kind of cute.  But none that I would take home.  Gavin, of course, wanted all of them and couldn't understand why I couldn't just "charge it".  We left and talked about it at home with Andrew.  He is not a fan of the idea.  He does, however, LOVE dogs.  He just says its too much work.  But I think if I was really committed, he would cave.  I am scared of the commitment.  What if it is annoying? What if is gets sick? Is it going to keep me up at night? Poop in the house? What if we get one and then I change my mind?  I am so torn.  I just keep thinking that somewhere out there is a tiny perfect, designer, hypoallergenic fluff ball waiting for us. It is almost my birthday.  Maybe I will ask for one.  Or an IPhone.  I know I want an IPhone.
I'm torn. 

Family and Fun on the Fourth!!

I should begin by saying that blogging has become somewhat of a chore as of late.  I do not have a lot of free quiet time when I can sit for extended periods of time.  So in those few quiet moments that I do enjoy, blogging seems about as appealing as grocery shopping or doing dishes.  However, we have had so many fun adventures this summer that I must share.  So this is my first attempt to get back at it!! :) 

My husband and I already took our "big" trip this year.  He is a big budget-er. So we are allotted so much money each year in the vacation fund! I know! I know! Crazy right?  Supposedly I will thank him when I can retire.  But for now it is hard to abide by!  On a side note- I very much appreciate this side of him because I have zero saving skills! So anyway, all that to say that when we started thinking about the 4th of July, it needed to be an expense-less trip.  So what better place to go than to visit my family in the fantastic Panama City beaches??? So the plans began......

We would go and stay with my cousin and cousin in law, Michelle and Steve.  They live in a highrise condo just steps from the beach with beautiful gulf views.  This is what they wake up to every day...

Can you even imagine??? So this whole trip was pretty much a no brainer!  There was only 1 problem.  My cousins' kids are all grown.  They have no need for lots of room and as a result, their condo only has 1 bedroom.  Now I should remind you this is my husband, me and 2 rowdy kids! We have stayed there before for 1 night.  They were super hospitable! There were enough couches and even a blow up mattress. And free which is my husbands favorite!  But this time, we were staying longer.  And Lucy is currently deep in the midst of her terrible two's, which by the way, are more terrible than I remember!  She desperately needs structure and routine, neither of which I can provide for her over the summer.  Thus the reason her irrational tantrums are multiplying :) Good times! LOL, so they are all my fault, I know! However, I try not to expose those I love and care about to too much of her craziness.  

That sweet smile can be so deceiving! LOL! Anyway, in addition to "fun with Lucy" my kids are loud!!  

Furthermore, I won't lie, the older I get, the more I want a good night sleep in a comfy bed and my own space.  Alllllll of that being said, I decided to attempt to convince my husband to let us rent a condo at my cousins resort.  "You already spent your vacation money for the year" he said.  Just as I expected, so I had to get creative.  Everyone knows I have a little side job. And luckily it gives me the extra dough to do extra things that I wouldn't be able to do.  So I volunteered :) to pay for the condo with hair money!  Now we had a deal!  Friends! I was soooo excited! Here's what was waiting for us...

WOW! Right?  What you can't see is the master bedroom/bath and kids bunk room/bath.  My cousin got us this great deal that was basically cheaper than a hotel room! Oh, and we had that same great view!  Here's a shot of the gulf along with a full moon :)

Okay! So clearly I am still pumped about our accommodations but now let me tell you about our activities.  We had a full agenda.  Most of which involved water.  For this reason, I did not get photos of everything.  I will have to help you visualize it on your own :)
If you are logged into facebook, you may be able to see more photos here.

Day 1 Cape San Blas FL.  We went to visit my dad who lives up near Panama City in a small town.  The plan for the day was to go scalloping in the bay.  Too many things went wrong that morning, but eventually we got to our destination.  Finding scallops proved to be more difficult than planned.  FYI- this is a scallop before they serve it to you on a plate.  I share because I didn't know:) 

We enjoyed the process much more than the product.  We are not seafood fans so my dad and his wife ate all 20 that we found.  A little more visiting and we were back to our cushy condo :)  The next few days were full of a great balance of pool, beach, lake, and rest!  Again I am saddened that we don't have more pictures!  Here are some highlights we did capture....


Snugglin' on the couch

Fireworks!!!!

Our last day, Uncle Steve surprised by coming over and making us pancakes!! So yummy! This is why we need a full kitchen on vacation! I'm never gonna be able to stay at a 1 room hotel again!!!

This was such a great vacation.  We are so blessed to spend time together and with family!  Can't wait to go back!!! :)
PS. I'm already saving up :)