Family Vacation to Alabama ~ Day 2

The Beach!
After breakfast, we all got ready for the beach. Now I'm not a huge fan about the actual beach. I really hate sand. It sticks to EVERYTHING! Six kids bring back lots of sand. BUT I was excited to get the kids there. The last time we went to the beach, Jasmine was a baby. Jasmine is 8 now so this was a pretty big deal. The kids were very excited. Jacob and Jenna, heck even Jasmine, didn't really know what to expect.

After Oma, Opa, Uncle Boo, the kids and I lugged all our stuff out to the beach where the Missouri family members had set up *camp* on the beach (pop-up shade tents, chairs, etc), the kids couldn't wait to get to the water. Jordan and James went right in of course. Opa and Oma took the other ones down while I sat under the tent with Jaylynn. Thankfully if it got too hot, Janice and Joy's condos were right there for me to seek inside shelter. It was actually pretty nice under the tent so we never had to go in.

The kids had a blast swimming, body surfing, boogy boarding, playing in the sand and everything else kids do at the beach. Thank You to Opa and Uncle Boo (and all the other adults) for their help with the kids. I don't go in the ocean. Scared. Can't do it. But not only helping take them out, making sure Jacob didn't swim away! The boy LOVES the water and you really had to watch him to make sure he didn't go in by himself. Jacob is Jamie through and through. Jamie LOVES the beach. LOVES the ocean.

Sidenote: So glad my daddy survived. Watching his grandkids have no fear in the water was a little rough on him. Made him pretty nervous. The kids can get away with anything but man, he sure is protective of them!



I said I hate the beach. I don't really hate it anymore. Still hate sand but I actually had a great time. Watching my kids have a GREAT time made the beach a great place. Just wish it still didn't have that darn sand...

We even saw dolphins! James was a tad concerned that they were sharks. I reassured him that they were dolphins. I think he believed me.

Family Vacation to Alabama ~ Day 1

I don't remember what time we pulled up to THE HOUSE in Alabama, after our 4 hours of sleep in whatever motel it was we stopped at. I think it was around lunch time or a little after. Here is what we pulled up to. Nice.



Jasmine and Jordan were busy playing Uncle Steve's Cornhole game with Opa when we got there. The kids were so excited to see each other. I think it took all of 5 seconds for Jasmine to rip Jaylynn from me. We quickly got the stuff out of the van, stretched our legs and got the tour of the awesome house.

A bit later, Hope woke up from her nap and got reintroduced to all of her cousins. She was a tad overwhelmed with our large crew. Admittedly though, they can be pretty scary! They hadn't seen Hope in person since she was a newborn. Neither had I! She is such a sweet girl. I wish we were closer so the kids could really get to know one another.

We just hung out the rest of the day, swimming, eating and being together. Nana and the rest of the Missouri crew came over to say hello to everyone! Jaylynn was passed around and around of course which she didn't mind one bit!

Family Vacation to Alabama ~ The Ride There

I'm going to break this up day by day as best as I remember (too much going on during the day to get this done so I'm going to do it in bits and pieces until it's all there).

First, let me say a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Mom and Dad for this wonderful trip and getting us a gorgeous house to stay in! It was a beautiful house and it was so wonderful having all of us there to enjoy it together. Thank you for everything!!!!!

We had a great family vacation this year to Gulf Shores, Alabama. Sadly, Jamie couldn't join us on our trip. The kids and I really shouldn't have gone for various reasons but Jamie insisted that we go. I will be forever thankful to him for pushing me to go (you'll read why in a later post) and so grateful to my baby brother. Without him, the kids and I wouldn't have made it. For one, I wasn't comfortable riding down alone with the kids (only 4 of them) and he said he'd ride with me. Then before vacation, I took the van for an oil change to find out we need some work done on it and Jamie and I weren't comfortable taking the van 1,000 miles from home for it to break down. Jeremy said we'd ride in his van (scary thought but we made it back and there just fine). Thanks Jamie and Jeremy!!!!

The trip down there was long but thankfully not too hot. After getting to Mom and Dad's house, me and Boo moved everything to his van. Kids went to the bathroom and we were off. We made it to Gainesville before Jacob asked "if we were there yet?" Uncle Boo told them before we left that whoever asked that question that they were there and the rest of us would keep trucking to Alabama. So Jacob had a nice vacation in Gainesville, VA. ;-) Despite being asked "Are we there yet?" about 417 times, the kids were actually great in the car. We did stop at a hotel about 3 in the morning. Boo couldn't drive any longer and while I attempted to drive, Jaylynn wasn't having any part of it.

Here's a picture of the happy children stuffed in the back of the van when we were taking off. The kids handle going to the mountains and I think they thought that's how long the trip would take. It takes 3 hours to get to the mountains....

Jaylynn's 2 Week Check-Up Stats

Jaylynn had her 2 week check-up today. Everything went great and she is growing wonderfully!

She is above her birth weight, which is wonderful. She weighs in at 6 lbs 11 oz. She is 19 inches already and her head measured in at 13.25 inches.

We saw a different doctor today than last week so we had to tell our story again of how she came into the world. It is marked in her chart so I guess we'll be going through this each time we see a new doctor. I guess it's a pretty cool story to tell and I have to say that I'm pretty proud to tell how awesome Jamie did.

So Miss Monkeybutt is growing great and doing great. She's a keeper!

Happy 2 Week Birthday Jaylynn!

I can't believe you are already 2 weeks old! Happy 2 Week Birthday Monkeybutt! That's your new nickname from Jacob. He gave up on calling you Venom.

Jaylynn's First Bath

Jaylynn's cord fell on her 1 week birthday but it wasn't completely healed up yet. We had to wait a few more days before the first official bath. She did great. Not sure if she loved it but she wasn't screaming until she got out. Once she was dried off and wrapped back in a towel, she was fine.

It's not the greatest picture in the world but she's covering up her *goodies*.



A few other sweet pictures we captured today

Too cute not to share

I got a couple of adorable pictures this morning. Way too cute not to share them! Enjoy!