Family Beach Trip

A few weeks ago, Corey and I took the girls to the beach for a family vacation. I must say, this was THE BEST trip to the beach I think we have ever had. It was far from this disappointing trip.

We enjoyed the beautiful weather, each other's company, great food and lots of smiles and laughter. This trip will be hard to top!

(Beware!! Lots of photos below! ;)

What is a trip to the beach without walking out on the pier and doing a little "fishing"!?

Mommy and her girls being silly while Daddy fishes.


Addison was intrigued by all the posters of the fish along the pier. I had to read them to her over and over again.

Addison being such a silly girl. She was "talking" to the fish.

Audrey and Corey doing a little more "fishing". She just loves fishing with her daddy.

They caught a "big" one ;)

Audrey was sooo excited about going crabbing. She was all into it. There weren't many crabs out for some reason the nights we went, but she did manage to catch a few.


Addison wasn't so sure about those crabs at first.

Corey managed to catch a pretty big one. We were just in it for the fun of catching them, so we turned them all loose.

The jellyfish were unbelievable!! I had never seen such huge jellyfish. And there were a lot of them!!! A couple of days we didn't venture out in the water above our ankles because they were so bad. This photo is just an example of how large they were. The majority of them were the size of dinner plates or larger! YIKES!

We had a lovely pool to enjoy. The water was a bit chilly, but it wasn't too bad once you immersed yourself.

Audrey and Addison were like little fish in the pool. They swam everywhere. Audrey was so much more brave this time.

Addison loved chasing all the sea gulls. It was so funny to watch her run after them.

Audrey and Corey spent a lot of time playing in the waves.

Addison loved sitting in the surf and catching water in her little container. She was SO MUCH MORE brave this trip. She didn't want to be out in the big waves for a long time, but she would go out there and play with us for a little while. As long as there were no tears, I'll take it!

My silly Audrey-girl!

Daddy and his girls!

Surprise! I even got in some of the photos too! (Thanks, Corey!) I had such fun spending a wonderful time with my girls and hubby!

We collected many beautiful shells on our walks along the shore!

Addison took a little snooze on the beach each day.

Many, many sandcastles were built, then stepped on. I'll let you guess who did the building, and who did the destroying ;).

And finally...the attempt at family beach photos. (sigh!) Why is it so difficult to get everyone smiling and looking at the camera at the same time :/

Audrey- Age 4

Addison- 19 months old

And a beautiful sunset each evening!

I'm already looking forward to our next trip. I hope it will be as wonderful as this one!

Pumpkin Patch

I love this time of year. I.LOVE.FALL. The cooler weather, college football, colorful leaves, and tons of fun activities to do.

One activity that my family loves is going to the Pumpkin Patch. I'm not sure who loves it more, me or my girls.

Here's my little family: (Goodness I love these people!)

And my two pumpkins...It is so hard now to get two mobile, busy-body kids to sit still and look at the camera at the same time (sigh).

Sweet Audrey-girl.

Addison- our Little Bit with a big personality!

The girls loved these characters and had to have their photos taken with them. So cute!

They had lots of fun on the inflatables too. Audrey even got brave and went down the REALLY big slide several times.

Addison thought she was just as big as all the other kids in there.

The petting zoo was a favorite. Here is "little-Miss-used-to-be-scared-of-all-animals". She had to pet all of the animals. I think we can safely say she is no longer terrified of animals :)

Audrey had a great time hugging, petting and feeding the animals.

Horseback riding was up next.

I knew that Audrey wanted to ride because she asked about it before we even arrived. She enjoyed herself.

Addison, I figured, would be too scared to ride the horses so we only paid for Audrey. When Addison saw her big sister on that, ready to ride, she had a complete meltdown. She kept screaming "TOO, TOO!!". Which means "Me Too (I want to, also)" in Addison language. So I paid for her to ride as well.

As you can tell in this photograph, Addison had the time of her life!

Then we got ready for the hayride down to pick our pumpkins.

Decisions, decisions...

The girls went on a search for the perfect pumpkins.

Addison found hers!

And Audrey proudly posed by her perfect pumpkin.

We had a gorgeous, wonderful day together as a family. I'm already looking forward to next year! :)

Little Cowgirls

One thing I miss most about having moved away from my family is the farm. That is all I have known my entire life and I've loved what all I learned on the farm and the many fond memories I have of time spent there.

So it thrills me to take my girls there and see them enjoy the same things I loved as a young girl.


Granddaddy has some good assistants.




You've got to train them early how to feed those cows! :)

I hope they will always love being a country cowgirl!

A Special Visit

A few weeks ago, our Nana was admitted to the hospital. She was in a lot of pain and having quite a few complications.

This situation would've been difficult no matter what the circumstances were, but this hospital stay was very emotional for me and the rest of my family members.

That is because 11 months ago, we walked this same road with my Pawpaw, and we never got to bring him back home.

So, this was full of raw emotions for us. It seemed like deja vu. We were listening to those same words, the same hospital sounds, the same worries all over again.

This year, 2011, has been pretty crappy for a number of reasons. Because of this year, it has made me extremely aware of how fragile life is. How we are never guaranteed another minute. How every ordinary moment should be etched in our heart and mind so they will be full of good things when the time comes that you only have those memories left.

So it was this moment that put tears in my eyes. And I etched this scene in my heart and mind, because one day I'm going to want to remember it.

That is my Nana with my girls.

Nana was released from the hospital and admitted to a local nursing home for some therapy and more recovery time. Fortunately, right now, she is showing some improvement and gaining strength. I am being optimistic that she will at least be able to come back home one day soon.

Back to this photo...These two cuties loved visiting with Nana. While we were down at my mom's we were able to visit with Nana quite a bit. Audrey and Addison were the best dose of medicine anyone could've prescribed for Nana. She has been very down and depressed and wouldn't eat much. With these two monkeys around, Nana was smiling and talking and even ate well while they were there. Of course, it probably helped that they were snacking off of her food tray too. Haha! I think that encouraged her to eat much more than her usual.

What special moments we shared! I'm praying that we will have many opportunities for moments such as this.

Zoo Adventures

This past weekend the girls and I went to visit my parents and the rest of my family. Corey was working for 4 days straight, so instead of sitting home by ourselves, we figured we would go have some fun with my family.

While we were there, my mom, Audrey, Addison and I visited the zoo.

The weather was perfect and the company was wonderful. Lots of smiles and giggles.

This moment was one that had me laughing. Audrey and Addison were both standing right up next to the glass. When the cheetah decided to walk really close to the glass, Addison was NOT a happy camper and backed up very quickly while yelling "CAT, CAT".


What would a trip to the zoo be without a train ride? Riding with Grammy made it even better.

I did get in a couple of the photos because Grammy was so kind to grab the camera and snap a few.

Mommy and her sweet girls!!

Both girls enjoyed the "cats"- as Addison referred to all the feline family as just "cats".

Each time we go to the zoo, Audrey likes to stand here so we can measure her. Geez, not too long ago she stood in that same spot and barely got to the 3 ft mark. Now she is several inches taller than that.

During our visit to the zoo, the workers were setting up for the upcoming ZooBoo. They had all kinds of decorations and characters.

My girls spotted this "Dora" (not the exact Dora they are used to...but close enough) and they just had to have their photo with her. Such funny girls!

Then we couldn't leave the zoo without some time on the super awesome playground. Grammy snapped a few photos of me playing on the slide with the girls :)

We certainly had some fun times!

Walk a Mile in My Shoes

Silly Addison doesn't really like to keep her shoes on...

...but she LOVES walking around in Mommy's shoes.

Puppy Lovin'

As you may remember, from the day she was born Addison was terrified of animals...especially our dogs.

I'm so happy to report that she is now quite fond of both of our pups!

Addison telling Sadie her secrets.


Addison giving Boots some puppy lovin'.