i.love.the.beach!

again, more than a month late in posting this ... but here we go.

My absolute favorite week of the year! Beach week with my family. We went back to Orange Beach, FL and we were there the last week in May/first of June. We flew straight from Joel's wedding in Dallas to New Orleans where my dad picked us up and drove us to the coast. 

Sadly, Mark had to work so he couldn't go this year :( we missed him a ton. Aimee's husband, Kyle, only got to stay a few days because he had to work too and Taylor didn't get to come at all either because he was at Kanakuk. So it was a little different not having EVERYONE there but we still had a blast. Our condo was awesome and Reese absolutely LOVED the beach, the sand, the shells, the pool, her beach toys, and having so many people to play with. As usual, I'll let the pictures do the talking... 

our spot every day {the umbrellas closest to the water on the far right. my sweet servant dad would get up at 7 every morning and set it all up for us!}

R checking out the sand for the first time with Uncle Eric. She wouldn't put her feet down at first haha but quickly realized it was pretty fun!

"pajoe" was her favorite playmate :)

he made a "slide" in the sand all the way to the water and she LOVED it :) it was hilarious.

building sandcastles

my sweet sweet cousins! aimee & anna. Aim is going to have a baby too!! She's due in December. So excited for our babes to be so close in age :) 

uncle eric taught R how to wink 

uncle trent spent hours with R organized shells from one bucket to the next. so sweet.

most of the week the waves were really big so we didn't get in the ocean much but the last day it was perfect and reese LOVED the waves - obviously! i think it might be one of my favorite things as a mommy to watch my child experience new things and get so excited about them! 

papajoe got reese her own beach chair and she thought she was pretty cool.

we had the BEST time. {besides the fact that I didn't really feel that great and was 7 weeks preggo- i think.} we still had a blast. Usually after family trips, once we get home we all email back and forth and make a list of all the memories :) It's one of my favorite things to do. Kinda like the trip will now really live on forever. highlights from this year:

1. Eric surfing with a real surfboard (lightening potential!)

2. Bo perfecting the skipper board technique (and never giving up)

3. The lady with the poofy hair playing cards all week (and her sidekicks)

4. Trent and Joey's productive trips to the store (experts in shopping)

5. Reese's smiles and excitement (playing with shells with Uncle Trent)

6. The best meals we've ever had at the beach (thanks Holly and everyone else that cooked)

7. Bike rides in the morning with my sister:)

8.  Family time:)

 9.  Tractor, Tractor Harvesting the wheat:)

10. m&ms in a cup

11. waiting 4 hours for dinner- worth the wait!

12. beating the college co-eds in volleyball (to anna and elizabeth- "ya'll are so good, why would you stop playing?")

13. Caribbean like water

14. everyone being pregnant

15. RIP The Warf --> Long Live the SUGAR SHACK

16. losing 50 cents and winning 9.50 in quarters (who cares if we started with 10?) we still won back 38 quarters and had a priceless amount of competitive fun.

17. watching the two little boys play with the toys and destroy the footballs right in front of our eyes

    18. dip n dots

    19. the weird brown cloud

    20. reeser in the pool

    21. uncle trent and reese playing with the shells (and R watching as uncle trent brought the cooler down and her saying "he got it mommy! there it is" :)haha

    22. sting rays!! and kite boarding

    23. reese saying everyone's name around the table :) she LOVES all of you so much!

  24. Looking out my window every morning and seeing the "complete" beach set up! Thanks Joey

    25. Oh yeah - Winn Dixie!

    26. Is that me tingling or was I just stung by that jellyfish - HaHa!

    27. I'm 52 and I finally have a real beach chair!

    28. Bike rides to the park with the beautiful weather

    29. Burn Bo Burn - now that's a man - Vaseline is for sissy's

    30. Maybe Uncle "T" will share Reese with Polly next year - HeHe - Maybe not

    31. Looking at opening an Alvin's in Baton Rouge! Beach wear and 10 quarter machines - OK OK Five!

32. Trent and Joey winning the spades tournament again (by default- the Holly and Jeanie wouldn't play us!)

33. The elevator (though fast- I went to the wrong room twice!)

34. Incredible Hulk walking the beach

35. Playing tennis with Mom!

36. Reese not wanting to put her feet down

37. The golf duel (thanks for taking it easy Bo)

38. Incredible food!

39. almost full moon reflecting on the ocean

40. cool lightening strikes from the balcony

41. cooking sons-n- law  awesome jambalaya and breakfast burritos, my girls married well!  Thank you boys!

42. incredible beach set up every morning before 7 am 

43. fresh tuna, never frozen

44. fixing the umbrella with a bobby pin

45. watching Reese slide on her sand slide

46. getting a phone call from Taylor!

47. Reese's Big Sis shirt! 

48. Baby flip flops :) 

49. Gulfport!!! 

50. Gulfports food court-- every "restaurant" was open and running! Haven't seen that in years! 

51. Lunch in one condo, dinner in the other. 

52. The movie that never happened. 

53. Capri sun on the beach (and milky ways and snickers of course!) 

54. Pink shorts dude. 

55. That huge poodle that was being led around the parking lot (Trent, I think y'all should get one of those!)