Back to Rosemary Beach!

We returned to Rosemary Beach for Fall Break this year. Just like last year, we arrived in time for a sunset swim in our clothes. One of us still thought the sand was hot lava. But I was hopeful she would come around after a few days. This year we had a full house with lots of cousins, Aunts, and Uncles, and many friends and neighbors were staying nearby. Our kids always had someone to play with and they were never bored - boogie boarding, building sand castles, searching for seashells, paddle boarding, jumping through the waves, and eating popsicles in the pool. And yes, by about the 3rd day, Frances got over her fear of sand. Henry even convinced her to build sand castles with him. He was so proud to watch her grab fistfuls of it with her bare hands! Now if only we could get her to cooperate for group photos with her South Carolina cousins.

Our kids continued their beach vacation tradition of waking up before sunrise. Which meant we were first in line at Charlie's Donut Truck, again. One day they will sleep in, and then we might be well rested, but we'll miss out on all the good donut flavors.

Nanna and I had a ladies night out one evening, and we enjoyed drinks and dinner at the infamous Red Bar. The guys were happy to stay in, grill steaks, and play Risk.

We had the best week at "Nanna and Pa's Beach House" (the kids have yet to figure out that Nanna and Pa do not own this beach house!), and we are already looking forward to returning again next year. I am predicting it will only take Frances one day next year to realize the sand is not scary!

Back to Back Champs!

I am one proud Mama! These two are back-to-back champs for their school read-a-thon in 1st and 3rd grades. I found them like this at 6:20AM the day after the read-a-thon ended.



After they won, Henry said, "I'm happy that I won again, but I'm sad that the one thing I win, you don't get a trophy for. You only get trophies for winning in sports." Well, I changed that. And the look on their faces when they saw their very own trophies was priceless. Henry read 2,070 minutes in 6 days, and John read 1,760 minutes in 6 days. I would say they earned their trophies. Well done, boys.

Perrydise Party!

It has become our Labor Day weekend tradition to head down to Perrydise for a family party at Nanna and Pa's house. And every year, the party seems to get bigger and bigger - a double water slide, a snow cone truck, water balloon battles, popsicles in the pool, cookie decorating with Aunt Elaine, board games, more popsicles in the pool, and swimming until sunset. We also celebrated Nanna and Pa's 25th wedding anniversary. Yours truly tried her best to pull off a wedding cake replica. And it sure was pretty when I put the finishing touches on it in Atlanta. But it did not survive the drive down to Perry (I won't name names, but let's just say I wasn't the one driving!). Oh well, it still tasted good. We had a wonderful time visiting with family, and as always, we left Perrydise with kids who were tuckered out from all the partying (and desperately in need of a sugar detox!). Thanks for a great time, Nanna and Pa!