Daddy's Girls

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Chad and Rachel are expecting a baby in January.  We found out on Friday that it's a girl and we couldn't be more excited! They had the scan that morning and had someone call Yaya to tell her and she went to work planning the party.  It was super cute and I think Chad, Rachel and Austin all can't wait to meet his little sister. 

After Lilli and I went to Sunday school and church at First Methodist yesterday morning (it was our first week to try this church- it's where Lilli and Katie go to school so she wanted to go where all her friends go- we both liked it), we drove up to Arkansas to stop at the garden at the deer camp and to see the new farm that Cap'n bought last month.  There's a farmer that leases most of it and grows corn, soybeans, rice and wheat.  I've been dying to see it and was so glad we finally found the time to do it.   Katie thought picking veggies was so fun!  Crazy how fast they grow-  Matt was there less than a week ago and some were already too big to eat.  Quite a haul! Bucket is full too. I'm making fried eggplant Parmesan tonight and salsa for the weekend with all those tomatoes- have some pickling to do this week too.  Row and rows of corn, Lilli was only really interested in the fishing- they caught several red ears Read Katie's shirt ;) Fun day and the kids we

Katie is not quite 14 months old but this girl is already obsessed with shoes! Completely opposite of Lilli who takes her shoes off every chance she gets, she always wants to have shoes on.  She brings them to me almost first thing in morning and changes several times throughout the day.  And you should have seen her when I took her in a shoe store yesterday.  You would have thought we were in Disneyland. I have a feeling this will only grow over time.  Sorry Matt! :) 

We may not be spending all day relaxing by the beach or pool but it's been a really good week so far. On Monday we met Hailey and Case at the spray park in our neighborhood for a picnic and playing Tuesday, Lilli went to "Sonlit" at First Methodist and this week was water day.  Every Tuesday morning from 9-12 they have all the preschoolers at the church for a bible lesson and fun activities.   Then Tuesday evening it was back to karate which Lilli is absolutely loving.  It does look fun, kinda wish I could join in sometimes :) Wednesday morning Yaya picked us up in Vivian and took us to her house while my car window was being fixed.  We rolled it down on the ferry last Saturday and it wouldn't go back up.  We had to drive all the way from Gulf Shores with it down! Luckily Lilli thought that was kind of fun.  Katie loved playing with Yaya's tea set.  Then after we picked up the car, we went to the lake for an afternoon of swimming!  I was worried we would get bored

I just didn't fit these in to my previous posts but here a couple group shots to share...  Where you could find the girls every evening Our last morning on the beach... It was about to rain so we didn't have time to get dressed so it was a pj shot.  The wind blowing made my hair huge! Lol And these are from my first ferry ride.  We took it from Fort Morgan to Dauphin Island.  Turns out it cuts about an hour off the trip. Matt was so sweet because he could have caught the 8:45 ferry but waited for the 9:30 one so we could go together even though he had a 7 hour drive.  It's the little things... :) 

The great thing about a beach vacation is there's really no reason to leave the house.  Everything you want to do is right there.  The neighborhood also had a pool and tennis court so I think I only left the house twice.  On Tuesday night, Pops kept all the kids while the rest of us went to dinner at Nolan's.  We had the patio to ourselves and had a delicious dinner of lobster, blackened fish and seared tuna between us.  The next day me, Matt and Allie took Lilli and Katie in to town (we were about 14 miles out) to lunch and a trip to the souvenir store for hermit crabs.  Lilli loves getting new "critters" and is very excited for her new pets.  Matt went out with the boys one other time to take a tour of Fort Morgan.  It's the only thing my Dad really wanted to do while he was there so he was excited they all went him. 

We didn't spend much time at all inside the house last week because it had a great screened in porch overlooking the beach and ocean.  It had a table big enough to seat all of us and enough chairs for each adult.  It's where you could find us every morning drinking coffee, having breakfast And Getting morning cuddles It's also where we were every evening eating dinner Or just hanging out, playing games, or being silly :)

We just got back from a week at a house in Morgantown subdivision near Fort Morgan, Alabama with all of the "Craig" family and we had a blast! Pops rented a 5 bedroom house directly on the beach and all of his daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren and my cousin Michaelyn were there.  It was the first time we'd ever stayed at a house on the beach and it is so nice! We've been in a condo where you're looking at the ocean but it's still an ordeal to get all of your things up and down the elevator everyday.  We were so close to the sand that we never even packed an ice chest.  You just ran up to the house if the kids needed something or you wanted a drink.  And not having to carry chairs and toys back every evening was priceless!!  Everyone know Matt and I love the beach and ocean so it's great our kids love it too. View from 2nd story balcony House behind us Lots of playing in the sand The boat Pops brought was a hit, especially the first few days when the

We met Tiffany, Aubrey, Emily, Ella and Esther at Browlee Park today for a picnic and to play in the water.  We were there for 3 hours and they did not stop the whole time.  I'm so glad Emily ended up coming with Esther so Katie could have someone to play with too.   It was a really fun afternoon and really nice to get to talk to some adults while the kids played.  And they BOTH napped when we got home.  We should do that more often!