Fun in the Sand

We headed back to the beach bright and early to catch the waves again. We had great weather our entire trip. Red flags one day kept us out of the water for a period but we had plenty to do. Dad was in charge of getting LanieBugs down to the beach.

Scrumptious :)
Oh, look! Here I am! I actually was present on this vacation!

We did our usual trip to Baytown Wharf to sit in the big chair. Well, looks like we didn't sit, but you get the idea!
I had planned on eating somewhere really nice (Marlin Grill) but then I remembered I was dining with 4 kids and my thoughts of nice, quiet meal turned into a greasy fishy sandwich surrounded by lots of fries topped with a singing guy that wasn't much better than my greasy sandwich. Oh well. The kids looked cute in front of this colorful sign.
The mom and pop:
My sis and me:
Back to the beach the next day: Princess Petunia had herself a beach chair with an umbrella so she could keep that sand off of her hands and feet. Diva. Already.
She did get in the sand a bit with some coaxing from Bubba. Bubbas make everything more fun :)
Even though it is July, we celebrated my dad's birthday (which is in May). I'm trying to remember why we did that but my memory is failing me. Maybe that was the first time we could get the whole family together???
Anyway, Happy Birthday, Dad!

I love our beach vacations!

Lil' Cuteness

I love that Elaina can get some hand-me-downs from her mocha sister, Eliza. It makes my heart happy. This is one of my favorites and I wanted to remember her cuteness in it. Yummy. Isn't she precious??

Girlfriend isn't even thinking about walking yet so as long as I could keep her from scooting away she was a great subject!

Oh, how I LOVE this baby girl!

Vacay Dinner.....Yummy!!

I always look forward to the day that the men go out deep sea fishing and bring back the catch for dinner. It always beats heading out to eat. This year was especially yummy! 

Dad always does his special fried fish. Little milk, little cornmeal, little special ingredients! 

Delicious!  

 Jared brought his "A" game for his grilled fish this year. He was whipping out special sauces and what-not and it was gooooood!

Teamwork.....I was the photographer so I didn't have to help in the kitchen:)

 Little Buddy even participated as our resident corn shucker. 

Fresh salad is the best!

This was the best meal of our entire vacation! 

Beach!

Ahhhhh....finally. Beach vacation! (And I'm finally blogging it 9 months later! That's why the journaling is scant :( Note to self: Never forget to blog your vacation :/) We headed to our usual neighborhood and rented a house near the beach.

Lanie was set to go in her smocked swim suit!


It was all good until something didn't go her way. I think she decided she didn't like the sand on her hands.
The boys were stoked about being at the beach. They look forward to fun in the waves on our annual vacay.

Someone else also gets their thrills at the beach. It helps when there are yellow flags (and some red days!)

A little beach baseball:

Mom was Lanie's favorite playmate. She's the only one that has the patience to sit still with her :)

Sandcastle building:

More wave catching!
We were so glad that Uncle Jared was able to make the trip with us. He was riding the waves right along with the boys!
Fearless Rhett.... you gotta watch him ALL the time!

A Trimming.....and Then Some

My little boy-bander has been begging for a change in the hair department. I've been reluctant. I mean, I've put many a year into growing out his mane and I'll be the first to admit that I LOVE it. Let's reminisce for a moment......ahhh:
No longer is he NKOTB material. He's now more the likes of, let's say, Daughtry (because they don't seem awful and I actually really like them):
Wowzers. I know. Gone. All of that beautiful surfer boy hair....lying in the floor at my friend Jodie's. Cade's gone all mohawk as well. I was actually glad that he stepped out of his box because his entire life he's preferred that his hair resemble a ken doll....or a very straight laced accountant. And did you know Grant has two ears? And a forehead? Me neither.
I didn't shed any tear over the loss of these locks. Pretty much because I rationalized that Justin Beiber got his million dollar hair cut off and he's still just as cute as ever. And he sold a wad of it on ebay and made a mint for charity. So, if it's good enough for the Beibs, it's good enough for my kid.
Next thing you know these kids are going to be wanting tats.
They are both loving their new do's and I'm still learning to recognize my second born in a group of kids. If I don't get on the ball with it I'm going to end up leaving him at the ball park or something.
Well, a big sarcastic thanks to Daniel for all this hair nonsense. And no, Rhett is not getting in on the action. A mom has to draw the line somewhere.

Just a Spoonin'

I feel that it's noteworthy to give a glimpse into the nightly roundup of the three boisterous boys that live under this roof. Most know that Cade and Grant decided to bunk up when Lanie joined our family, but Rhett was doing just great being stag in his rockin' pirate room. The times they have a changed:

Cade has slept in his upper bunk bed a number of times that I could easily count using my God-given appendages. He instead spoons Grant nearly every night, a habit that brings tears if I try to break it. Now, to add to the filling of the full sized bed, Rhett has decided that he wants to sleep with his brothers and they're happy to include him. A triple spoon.
After a couple days of this I noticed that the mornings were not filled with smiles but instead were saturated with yawns and rotten attitudes. I put the nix on the Triple Spoon and tried to banish all to their own bed spaces. What I ended up with was Cade and Grant still in the full bed and Rhett camped out in the floor on a sleeping bag. It's been this way for months now and I foresee no shake up anytime soon. I'll now be renting out Rhett's room and possibly Cade's top bunk. Pricing is negotiable but not free. A stay at home mom has to be resourceful if she's going to get any shoes this month. Thumbs up to brotherly love!