Destin 2009

We just got back from our trip to Destin and WOW did we have a great time! Where to begin?!? How about the very beginning? Well, for most of us traveling with three year olds, bearing through the journey to the destination is reason enough to need another vacation. But not this time!! No sir, these boys were pumped! When I picked them up from school Ben, Drew and Brax could not stop talking about how much fun they were going to have at the beach (in addition to a fake burping contest. Really.) So the Belvilles, us and two of the most wonderful babysitters on earth headed south with more stuff than any 10 people could possibly need for four days (thanks to Josh and Michael's master packing skills we even took the corn hole boards with room to spare). We stopped in Montgomery at Mimi and Pop's house to spend the night so that we could break up the trip for the kids (and also because the thought of the grandsons passing right by their house without getting to see them was just too much.) So with full tummies and lots of stored energy we got to Florida with plenty of time to hit the pool after unpacking.

We were pretty lucky in that the pool in the neighborhood we stayed was AWESOME! It - first of all - was beautiful. But also it had the zero-entry so the kids could play safely and it was just a short walk from our house. It was definitely Ben's favorite part of the whole trip...he's going to have to learn how to appreciate the sand, I think. Here's an action shot of the three amigos jumping and splashing:Someone let the daddies have a turn with the kids' water cannons, so we all took cover under the lobster float.Chillin in the floatsThe next day we were ready to hit the beach. Drew is exploring for seashells. We have a huge glass jar filled with seashells we collected from our honeymoon, and they both love to play with them while I get ready in the mornings. They were convinced that they would be able to find some to add to our collection. Luckily we were able to convince Drew that the seaweed needed to stay at the beach (since he didn't find any shells). Both of the boys were a little intimidated by the magnitude of the ocean. I'm always surprised that they respond this way, I guess because they love to sleep to the sound of ocean waves. But they were not interested at all in going near the water without the strong arms of Daddy. Ben with Laura BethDrew with Catherine
Me with my two surfer dudes. And for all you other Mommies out there whose buddies love the Backyardigans, you can appreciate the fact that they were yelling out all over the beach "Surf's up! Whoa, Daddy!!" What a special gift to be able to watch your children really enjoy something that you have done for them.On our last day at the beach Michael ran out to grab some cold treats for all of us. I love Ben's face! He had just gotten a few grains of sand mixed in with his bite of fudge pop. Rob and Kristin came down a day early for their vacation so that we could have a few hours together. Even though they were on a grown-ups only trip, they were so sweet and came along to play with us while we took the kids out to ride go-carts and play for a bit. Here we are waiting our turn in line.All ready to race...And we're off...Then on to the bumper boats. I have to just give a shout out to Bobber here because I wanted no part of being trapped on water in a big rubber boat with boys who were out to soak me. Thanks, Bobber for jumping in to play with my boys so they could both have fun. We had to dry off somewhere. Where better to do that than inside where you can play more games for tickets? Notice how soaked they all are! And then we took airplane rides...Now that the kids had sufficiently worn themselves out, we headed to the beach to attempt a family picture. Not our best ever, but not awful either. Here are our girls with three of the four buddies. Even with the suckers we bribed them with, we still couldn't get Ben to take a picture. He was DONE. And may I just take a minute to say how blessed we were by them. These are two of the sweetest, most wonderful babysitters we've ever had, and all of the boys adored them. It didn't hurt that they are also both beautiful...these boys know a pretty girl when they see one! But we enjoyed having them so much. So thank you, LB and Catherine for joining our family. You are now both stuck with us, as we already miss you and are thinking of ways to see you again soon. And, Miss Dele, we officially want to adopt your daughter.After we got everyone back home and fed we were able to meet up with our good friends Jeremy and Hailey, who also happened to be beginning their vacation. So all eight of us headed out for some grown-up fun. We laughed and laughed till our stomachs hurt. Here are all the guys hanging out on the dock after dinner. So now we're back home and all settled back in, and trying to get back to the real world. We did have so much fun. We enjoyed every minute, truly. But I just do have to take a second to say that we sure did miss you, Campbells. You were missed terribly and we thought of you often. Don't worry though...we will definitely do it again!

What a way to kick off the summer!!

I love these little guys!

The other day I began thinking "I haven't done a very good job of taking pictures lately." So, I ran downstairs to grab the camera and just capture whatever was going on that morning. Here is a perfect example of how these two precious boys keep coming more and more into their own personalities--and can I just say that I love all the things about each of them that make them unique:

Drew sees the camera, and immediately hams it up (fireman costume had been in place for quite a while before the camera came out...it's a new costume or character almost every day).Ben, on the other hand, sees the camera and immediately dodges for the safety of under-the-covers. "No, Mommy! Don't pull my covers off!!! I'm trying to hide from you!!!""Surely if I just block your photo-op then you'll leave me alone and put that silly camera away...""Oh, Mommy you're just too silly when you want me to smile for the camera...""Oh for goodness sake, I might as well just give in and give you the picture you want. I knew I came by my stubbornness honestly.".......

...to which I might reply, "totally worth all that work. These pictures are too precious to miss out on."

So, in other news, Michael's friend from Taiwan, Pony was here visiting again. You may remember that last year he joined us for his very first American baseball game at the Sounds stadium. It was quite the adventure since it ended with Drew busting his head wide open. Needless to say, he was a scarred (and scared) from the incident as Drew's head is. We've been able to have dinner with him several times since then, and the boys both just adore him. I'm fairly certain it's because he's a big of a kid as they are. But since the Sounds were playing at home, we decided to take him back and see if we couldn't have more of a low-key evening. We all had a great time! This was the first time we'd been to the stadium since they've made all the improvements, and it was really nice. They now have a great kids' area that Ben and Drew had a blast at before the game with inflatables, batting cages, and other fun stuff. Here's how we spent our first 45 minutes inside the park:

What goes up....
...must come down.......and down.......and down.......and down.........and down until Mommy and Daddy say "the game is starting".

All the guys heading off to get "ALL the junk food," as Ben always says.We were lucky enough that Ozzie came by to see two of the cutest fans ever.Drew and PonyOur family picture taken on a very successful, very accident-free, very fun Nashville evening. We also recently took them to see their first movie at the movie theatre on one Friday that Michael took off work to play hooky. We went to see the Disney documentary Earth, since they are both such animal lovers. It was a really good first movie experience. Truthfully, my expectations of how they would do were really low (so there was no place to go but up). But they completely surprised me and did as well as any active 3-year olds can be expected to do. Since it was a Friday morning and pouring down rain, we were the only four people in the whole theatre, which was so nice! We were able to talk to them about what they were seeing the whole time, without feeling like the obnoxious people who can't be quiet. They are actually still talking about some of the story lines from the movie, and really enjoyed it. I'm not sure we'll be rushing right out to do it again really soon. But for our first time out, it was really fun. Definitely a special treat.

So that's about all that's been going on with us lately. But stay tuned because school is almost out, and I'm sure we'll be just as busy as always. Summer here we come!