Sweet Sweet Family Time

Yesterday Mom & Dad came down to spend the weekend with us. The boys were really excited to have "Mimi & Papaw" spend the night with them. Mom, the boys, & I tried to go shopping yesterday afternoon but we only made it to Lifeway Bookstore before the power outage put a bit of a damper on things so Dad & Justin just met us at O'Charley's for dinner. After dinner Mom, Ryley, & I went to Books A Million and Kroger. Dad wasn't feeling well this morning so they went ahead and went back home. Today has been a quiet relaxing day full of sweet sweet family time--something we haven't enjoyed alot of this summer due to our unusually busy schedules the last several weeks. We fixed one of the boys' favorite meals for lunch today--chicken soft tacos w/ rotel dip & chips. After lunch we Just laid around and watched "Nim's Island" and "The Last Mimsy" together. Both were really good movies. This evening we went to Awana and evening worship. The youth group led the service tonight. They started the service with an "Apathy Party" in which nobody was allowed to have any fun or show any happy emotions. If you showed happy emotions one of the youth would make you wear a paper sack over your head for 1 minute. Anyway the point was it just doesn't make sense to go to church and with an apathetic attitude. Our Lord does deserve better than that!! It was very interesting. The youth group did a great job!! After church we stopped by Justin's mom's house for a little while. Then we came home and Ryley & I mixed up a batch of fudge brownies. While they were baking we ate a supper of junk food (frozen burritos and pizza rolls) which is really rare for us but I guess every now & then a junk food supper won't kill us!! LOL!! After supper we enjoyed our still warm brownies with vanilla ice cream! I talked to Mom & Dad & thankfully Dad is feeling better tonight. Well I have let the kids say up late since no school tomorrow but they're getting cranky so I better put them to bed!!

The Track

We had a blast at The Track in Gulf Shores. They have an awesome 3-story wooden go-cart track called "Wild Woody". It was great fun!! The older boys got soaked on the bumper boats. Gavin loved the little kiddy rides especially the horse!!

National Naval Aviation Museum

While on vacation we went to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. The boys loved it! The museum was really hands on & the boys got to sit in the planes and pretend they were flying them. We also rode in a flight simulator which was really cool. Gavin (the ever curious one) got his head stuck in the railing but luckily we were able to get it out without having to take the railing apart!! There's never a dull moment when Gavin's out of his stroller for more than 2 seconds!! Ryley loved it so much he has decided that we should decorate his & Gavin's playroom in airplanes--so we are!! I am going to make a photo collage poster online of the boys at the museum to frame to hang on one wall.

Fort Morgan Beach

We had a great time on vacation at Fort Morgan (Gulf Shores). The boys LOVED the beach! Gavin wasn't too crazy about the "water waves" but he did get braver & braver as the week went on. The kids spent alot of time playing in a deep deep hole that someone had dug in the sand. Ryley brought home a hermit crab that Justin found on the beach. The beach was private so it wasn't too crowded. We saw dolphins everyday which was really cool! We brought home lots of seashells too. We had a blast bodyboarding!! The waves were awesome!! The jellyfish were pretty bad one day but the kids had a lot of fun scooping them out of the water with nets and burying them in the sand. Ryley, Brady & Connor had a blast crab hunting on the beach at night. Gavin was a little scared because it was dark, the waves were loud, and there were crabs running every which way!! He felt more secure being carried in a sling so that's what I did. We ate so much seafood that now at every meal Gavin says "I want shrimp!" We are already planning to go back next summer! I can't wait!!