Here We Go!!!

Thanks to Corona Virus we had to cancel our big trip to California for Alan’s birthday celebration. Instead we took two days in Myrtle Beach together!

We enjoyed eating at the hotel, walking the beach, relaxing by the water and listening to the waves from our balcony. It was a great mommy/daddy getaway!

Dinner our first night was outside right off the water! We had delicious food!

Afterwards we went for a walk down the beach as a storm rolled in.

That evening we listened to the waves as we fell asleep!

The next morning we went to breakfast on the terrace and then out to the beach before a lot of people got out there.

We watched as people took out paddle boards and then were intrigued when it seemed like the couldn’t get back in. They ended up being rescued by Ocean Rescue it was quite the entrainment for us, especially because no one was hurt.

Next up, lunch by the pool!! It was so beautiful and the food was amazing!

After lunch we took one more walk down the beach and then headed to the boardwalk!

Before leaving Myrtle Beach we had to visit Nacho Hippo, my favorite restaurant!! We ordered the Hipponachomus to eat in the car as a snack!!!

It was delicious!

It was a quick getaway to celebrate Alan, but it was perfect!

Travel Often, Eat Well, Enjoy Everything!

This is our last day at the Island House in Mississippi. A great getaway coming to an end!

We started the day relaxing on the porch drinking coffee. We adults were chatting and just relaxing, then we decided to head to the beach for family pics.

Unfortunately the one day we decided to pics in the morning the sun came out bright and beautiful not covered by any clouds.

The end result were some squinty eyes and bright faces…gonna need to try that again later!

The guys headed out then to golf at Shell Landing, they’ve been trying to go all vacation, but the weather hasn’t cooperated. They made it out today, and played a fun game with tons of animals watching! 🐍🦌🐢🦗

We took the kids downstairs to gut and pull the meat from the crabs we cooked the night before!

They had a blast and even got a little science lesson in!

After all that work, they had three small bowls with meat barely covering 1/4 of the bowl!

We decided to do some sightseeing in the town of Ocean Springs. So we headed out! We saw massive beach houses with beautiful balconies and lots of windows. We stopped at Front beach to walk the pier and got frozen yogurt!

When we got home we packed, napped and relaxed while waiting on the dads. When they arrived we headed out for more kayaking and fishing! We decided to let the kids kayak in the ocean after discovering it was only waist deep even 300 yards out, so they enjoyed kayaking around while others fished.

There were a few fish caught, even a crab, but then… we spotted dolphins! 🐬 Mich, London and Ry jumped in the kayaks and started chasing them. They got super close and enjoyed floating near them. The rest of us watched from the beach.

After the chase we cleaned up and headed in to rinse off the kayaks and get them stored for checking out, then it was time for take 2 of family pics!

They came out fantastic! We had a blast being silly and making memories!

We recreated pics from our beach trip three years ago too!

It has been such a great trip! One more fun task before we head out and go our separate ways!

A hot dog roast!!! 🌭

And s’mores! 🍫

It was the perfect end to a fabulous vacation! After one more game of its in the bag, we headed out! We are traveling halfway home tonight and they will leave in the morning.

It has been a great vacation together!

Friends are chosen family!

I really don’t think we could have asked for a better vacation than what we are currently having!! It has been so great!!!

Today started off with some yoga at the beach, then off to some kayaking the back canals.

After that it was off to fish! Everyone has caught the big and we couldn’t wait to get out to the beach!

Everyone was successful today!! We caught so many fish it was exciting!

Ryanna finally caught one!!! And she managed to hook a tiny shrimp too!

Bree caught tons of fish, she loved using her tiny Barbie pole!

Houston even got in on the action and caught a very pregnant catfish!

Alan and Andrew caught fish to match their poles. Alan used his huge pole and Andrew used the Barbie pole! 🤣

Andrew caught a ton of fish!

Alan also had some good catches!

London added to her count today!

And Michelle has a ton! She caught the most out of all of us!

I didn’t catch any today, I was full time hook remover! I was running up and down the beach releasing everyone’s catch!

Did I mention this was all before lunch!!! 🍽

We had such a Blast fishing, playing in the sand and soaking up the sun! It was a perfect morning!

After lunch the boys headed out for more fishing supplies while the girls hung out at the house. The young ones kayaked up and down the canals and Mich and I caught crabs! 🦀

When they returned I bet you can’t guess what we did!! You got it, more fishing!!!

Well some of us, Houston, Alan and I hung out in the shade for most of the time. We occasionally went to remove a hook or bait a line.

Once it took three of us to bring in a fish! Andrew cast it and while he was trying to set a fish free I had to set the hook when a fish took the bait, then Ryanna reeled it in because I was holding the fish and didn’t have both hands! Teamwork! 🎣

Michelle finished out the day catching 16 fish, it was a good day for her!

There were pelicans everywhere! It was just amazing! It had been such a spectacular day! Last on the list was to celebrate Michelle’s birthday! She had requested Steak and Mashed potatoes for dinner and we happened to catch 12 crabs so we added that to the dinner!

Last thing of the day was Chinese lanterns! We were able to stand on our dock and release them into the air. Birthday wishes for Michelle’s 40th year! It was so awesome, they worked great!!

It was another gorgeous day of vacation, after the lanterns we all played a game that was so funny and exciting! The perfect ending to a great day! We have one more day together here! 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.

What a day we had today!!

We started the day on the beach, drinking coffee and watching the fisherman troll the bay.

Afterwards we checked our crab traps, 2 crab! This time we were more successful at holding them!

After this Bree and Alan went off on a kayaking journey through the canals then off to the beach!

We decided to head to the beach and spend the afternoon there! What a great idea! We brought our fishing poles and fished right until another storm blew in. Mich and I stayed a little longer hoping to get one more…

Bree was the first to catch a fish, using her tiny Barbie pole!

The other kids were busy in the sand and didn’t really fish until later.

The storm was a doozy, thunder, lightning and torrential downpour!! We fixed lunch then decided to watch a movie, read a book, or nap, a lazy afternoon waiting out the rain!

After the rain died down we headed back out to fish some more! We had caught the fishing bug. 🎣

Our top angler for the day was London, she caught 7 fish!

Michelle was in 2nd place with 6

Andy, Bree and Alan tied with two.

I had 1, but I actually stopped fishing after that one because I have no patience and became the hook remover. I’m so thankful for my grandpa who took me fishing so much as a little girl. I love teaching my girls things I was taught as a child. I also love watching Alan work with the girls and teach them.

Houston does not like to fish…so he had zero…and poor Ry fished all day and never got one. She pulled one to the surf and lost it, but she tried all night until dinner time. Alan and her were the last to leave the beach. She is going to try again tomorrow!

Michelle grilled for dinner, I made sides and we enjoyed a delicious family dinner!

At night fall it was off to catch crabs 🦀 on the beach, then time for bed! Such a great day!

🎣 Gone Fishing 🐠

What a fabulous day!!! This place is fantastic!! We aren’t able to get in the water at the beach, but what a day we had.

I started the day with a workout at the beach, it was beautiful! Alan and Mich came out to cheer me on. It was so beautiful! There were pelicans everywhere, they were flying and sitting on posts it was awesome.

Once the kids woke up we started playing at the house. First we checked our crab trap! One crab!!! We tried several times to get him out but he refused to leave the trap, so we finally just dumped him out and let him free! 🦀

Next up, kayaking! We decided to check out the kayaks to see if the kiddos could do them so Mich and I took took one out. We were so excited and then we rounded the corner to go out to the ocean…🌊 ⛈ Once in the ocean, it was very rough, even had white caps. When we looked there was a huge storm to our right! We thought we would be able to paddle a little and be ok so we found some pelicans and said hello…then we turned around and the seas were rough and a little intense, so we went straight to the beach! Phew!!!

Once back we waited for the storm to blow over in our awesome game room downstairs. It has hammocks, ping pong, 🏓 pool, a tiki bar, cornhole. So many fun things to do. We napped and played and ordered drinks and snacks from the waiter! 😜 The kids also caught tiny crabs by the dock and made habitats for each one out of our water bottles. So fun!

After the storm had passed a bit we headed to the beach to fly kites! The wind was perfect, the kids kites were so high!!! We flew kites for quite awhile and after a bit Bree was ready to clean up the beach. Because it’s a private beach no one picks up trash that comes on shore, so my sweet girl took it upon herself to do beach clean up. I was so proud of her! Saving 🐢🐋🐠🦀 and pelicans!

After kites they jumped into the sand! Who needs the water! They had so much fun digging in the sand…as far as they could then burying themselves. It was so awesome! Who needs the water, I am so proud of the kids for making the best of it. We are having so much fun that time is passing slowly! We’re on island time!

We headed back to the house for more fun downstairs, some fishing and chalk drawing then dinner and afterwards the kids hunkered down in their cool bedroom to watch a movie and the adults played cards! Such a great day and it was only day 1!!!

Living on island time! 🏖

Last vacation of summer!!! We left this morning with an extremely full car and headed south to the the Gulf of Mexico!

Traffic was bad for a Saturday but thanks to the peach pass we drove right on by everyone else!

My best friend of 20 years is turning 40 and we are celebrating! We have rented a house on the gulf coast in Mississippi and are spending the week there! We are a little bummed because of the bacteria in the water but we will make the best of it!

When we arrived there were 100’s of pelicans everywhere, the water was lapping the shores and the sweltering Mississippi heat engulfed us!!

But it’s beautiful!!!!

Our house also backs up to a fresh water stream/swamp 😳 with crab 🦀 and fish in it! The girls went right to work catching crab and much to their delight tiny shrimp too!! 🦐

Andrew and Alan tried to catch some fish but weren’t nearly as successful as the girls!

Our house has a lower deck with Pool, ping pong, hammocks, kayaks, crab traps, a fire pit and a dock to fish and crab off of!

After dinner we headed to the beach to see if any crab were out, there were tons!!!!! The girls were so excited to catch some! It was a ton of fun!

Now it’s time to see if we can catch some in the freshwater! The girls and Mich baited the trap and tossed it in! We’ll check it in the morning!!

We’ve only been here 5 hours and we’ve done so many fun things! Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!!!

🦀🦐🐠🐬🌴🚣🏼‍♂️🏓🎣🎂☀️👨‍👩‍👧‍👧👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Here’s to the nights that turned to mornings with the friends that turned into family!

We had such a great time at Marco Island, the water was beautiful, the sand was warm, and the resort was beautiful!!

Count memories, not calories!

The day dawned bright and early!!

The early risers started with another turtle walk! We found 4 new nests!!

Then we were off to the beach for another great day! 🚣🏻‍♀️🏄🏻‍♀️

We were hoping to ride a Hobie Cat today so we were all set to ride when the guy said, “You do have sailing experience right??” Yeah, Nope! So we switched gears and decided to do kayaks and paddle boarding!

Kayaking with dolphins!!!! 🐬🐬🐬 There were three of them!! Starla was the first to spot them, her animal radar has been on point this trip! Ry and Mommy chased them for a little while, with Larsen and Starla and Alexa right behind us!

Such a great afternoon on the water!! So much fun! Paddle boarding 🏄🏻‍♀️ was a challenge, and Kayaking 🚣🏻‍♀️ with dolphins 🐬 was definitely the highlight!

After a little time in the water we noticed a storm cloud brewing…we waited it out for a bit and then yowzer it came up fast and quick! We ran and loaded up as quick as we could and had just got into the patio of our hotel when a huge lightning struck and the thunder boomed, it was crazy!!! ⛈

We all came in and got ready for dinner! Our good friends the Erbentraut’s just happened to be on vacation in the same city, and in the hotel next door!!! We could actually see them from our balcony of our hotel! So much fun! So we met them for dinner and coffee!

After we got back from dinner, Alan took me on another nighttime turtle walk! We found two more nests! It was such a great night!

Then when we got back to the hotel it was so pretty!!

Goodnight Marco Island! 🏖🌤🌝

The next morning we woke up and headed back to the beach! Another perfect day, the pics say it all!

After the day at the beach we headed in for dinner then off for shopping! We found T-shirt’s and ice cream🍦

After ice cream we headed back to the beach for a night time turtle trek! We were so excited to discover 6 turtle nests!🐢

It was the perfect night!!!!! Can’t wait to go to bed and experience another day tomorrow!

We set out early after two full days at Universal for a small island on the gulf coast of Florida, Marco Island!

We all needed a pit stop so of course we chose Starbucks! We had a pretty uneventful drive down and ended up at our hotel around 4 and headed straight to the beach!

It was beautiful!

The water was warm, the sand was sandy, the kids were happy, the adults were relaxed! There isn’t much to say about it, it was great!

The sunset on a beautiful day! The kids stayed up late and watched movies the adults went and walked the beach together, the beach was so relaxing!