One last stop...to see the Holts!

On Saturday morning, we got up and got all our stuff loaded up and ready to head home. Except we still had one stop to make before making the long trip back to Texas..... MOBILE!! There was no way we could be in the south without seeing the Holts for a night! Especially since the kids thought that's where we were heading after Disney. So we made our way (slowly but surely) from Destin to Mobile.

 The traffic was horrible, since every one who was at the beach the week before was traveling the same road we were to get home. The Mobile tunnel felt like it might just be the death of me. Finally, a little after lunch, we rolled into Byron and Bit's house! I had two happy little girls on my hands. (ok ok- I was one happy BIG girl too! An Aunt Bit hug is pretty much the bomb.)
And the best part about hanging out with family? Taking pictures to send to other family members across the country to make them jealous!

It's all in good fun though, no worries. We all do it, and it is pretty much expected.
It was so good to just BE together. I love my family. We have so much fun. We laugh hard, love unconditionally, and support in good and in bad. It's what families do. And mine does it best.
We hung out for a while, then the girls and I went with Aunt Bit to get ready for Sunday morning at her church while the guys went to run errands. The girls loved helping their Aunt Bit and seeing her church. And of course there were sno cones involved!
That evening we went to hear Grayson play his guitar at a restaurant. I was SO glad we got to be there for that! Grayson is so talented. I could sit and listen to him all night long!

Unfortunately sitting still in a chair and listening to music isn't on the list of "favorite things to do" for 9 and 6 year olds. But they were really good sports for a while. Any time they have their Aunt Bit, they are content to do whatever.

If only they loved her. ha! It's pathetic really.....
But soon they grew weary of sitting at the table. And since we expected this outcome, Josh and Uncle Byron took a separate car so that they could stay longer than us. And us girls left and headed to get some fireworks!
However- fireworks had to come second to a trip to our favorite place.... KRISPY KREME!!!! The holy grail of donut stores! And in Mobile- the HOT light is always on.

Brenna insisted on taking a picture out front to send to Carter and make him jealous.
And even though they have seen it many times, standing and watching them make donuts never gets old for these two.

Our main goal was to get donuts to take home for breakfast the next morning. But you can't go into Krispy Kreme and not eat a HOT one right then!!

Sometimes it's so good that you just can't let that one little fleck of icing that dropped on your arm go to waste!

And in true Aunt Bit fashion, she can spoil any kid faster than you can say "Donuts and fireworks"!

They had so much fun going into the huge firework store and picking out their own sparklers! And they were the envy of everyone in the store with their hats on.
We then went back to the house and did some sparklers.

It was all FUN- until Macie got popped by her sparkler. Then it was OVER.You would have thought it burned her entire hand off instead of barely sparking on her. She was tired, and so far beyond DONE. We had packed as much fun as we possibly could into the last two weeks, and she was all funned out. So she was quickly whisked away to bed, and was pretty much asleep before her head hit the pillow.
The next morning we got up and gathered our things and left shortly after we finished Krispy Kreme-round 2. (I felt that that fact deserved a special mention).
It is always so hard to say goodbye. I find myself practically in tears anytime we have to say goodbye to family that we don't see regularly. If I had my pick- Oklahoma and Alabama wouldn't be so far away from Texas!! We would all live in the same town. That. Would. Be. Awesome! However, I'm not sure I could deal with my children if they had their Aunt Bit and Taron just down the street! We would never see them, and they would be spoiled beyond return!
Thank you Holts for hosting us for the night!! We thoroughly enjoyed our short time with yall!!
Next up..... survive the trip home. It was going to be long, but we were so ready to be back! The kids did really well, once again. Y'all- they can give us a run for our money many days, but they really are so good. And they are great travelers! The whining, fighting, and complaining was kept to a minimum, and their parents were eternally grateful!!!
I was so glad to finally see this sign....

God Bless Texas!!!!
We grabbed a pizza and the dog on our way home and went straight in and CRASHED! It felt great to sit in my chair, in my house, and to sleep in MY BED!!!! It's the little things that you miss the most!
But I wouldn't trade anything for the memories that were made on this vacation!

Friday (Last Day) at the Beach

Friday was our very last beach day. So we did it up right! I vowed to be at the beach for as long as possible, and I do believe we succeeded!

We did as much digging in the sand as we possibly could.

We watched as a storm tried to roll in. Luckily it wasn't successful, but it looked pretty eerie for a bit.

Carter practiced his scurf boarding, and got pretty dang good at it! Untill.....

he found himself with a shell in his foot! Poor guy! I know it hurt so bad, and we all felt so sorry for him. Unfortunately it meant he spent the majority of our last day at the beach up in the room.

Brenna, our social butterfly, met herself a friend. They enjoyed sitting and visiting. They were too cute just hanging out together!

After a little (ok- a LOT ) of prompting, Macie Claire befriended a little girl that was there by herself with her parents. The little girl was a lot younger than Macie, but they had a blast together! Right up until the little girl had to go in and take a nap. It totally broke Macie's heart. But I was super proud of her for branching out and making a new friend!

After both of their new friends left, it was back to sand digging for these two!

AND visits to the ice cream truck! Yes, I said visitS! They made two this day. After all, we were on VACATION!!! Might as well live it up. That is what memories are made of.
And my hope from the "great vacation of 2016" is that Brenna and Macie came away with some wonderful memories of having fun and family time. I know that I sure did. It was an epic vacation, and I am thankful for the opportunity to provide this for them. I know that I sure enjoyed the time with my family. I love the stage of life that we are in right now. The girls are old enough to go and do pretty much anything that we want to do. They are fun, and we all enjoy just being together! This is a vacation that will go down as one of the best in my book!
Before we knew it, it was time to pack up. Our beach time was done for 2016. I was ready to head home (after one more vacation stop on Saturday), but I was sad to leave my beach chair behind.

Luckily, my family shares my love for the beach! So, it wasn't a good bye- only a "see ya next year" to my favorite chair at the edge of the ocean!

Thursday at the Beach

My favorite way to start the day! It was a little cloudy, but not bad. It was a short day at the beach, because we had plans that night!

The girls got brave and decided to get buried again. The sand in their swim suits from Sunday had slipped their minds. 

Brenna was all for it, until we decided to draw pictures on her.... and then she was DONE!

We went in early to get dressed up for Picture Night! Our guys were SO excited about picture night. They packed up quickly and asked how much longer every 5 minutes. They were practically dragging us off of the beach!!!
And if you believe any of that....I've got some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you. (Now you are singing it. Admit it. I know you are!)
But with mine and Sarah's determination, we pulled it off! The biggest issue I had was my make up. Apparently I had gotten a LOT of sun. And my skin was now too tan for my foundation.... and if you know me, you know I don't go anywhere without make up on! And not only was it too tan, around my eyes were WHITE from my sunshades! So after putting all of my make up on, and then washing it all off and wondering what on earth I was going to do, I sent a mayday text to Sarah. Luckily she had some bronzer and saved the day!

I was very proud of how our pictures turned out! Here is just a little glimpse of the goodness...

Sometimes they really do like each other!
And sometimes they are just pretending.

Love me some Rileys!

This picture right here sums Schaef up completely! Love it!!

I love this man. He is my rock. He puts up with me, and for that I am thankful!

One of these days Macie's feet will be dragging the ground, and I will still be carrying her on my hip.

If you take selfies on my phone, I will post them on my blog.

I'd like to say someone else captured this sweet moment between me and my girls. But it's totally staged, and I totally took it myself. Because...reality.

This one right here. My Bear. She is full of spunk and has a mind of her own. She is also very sensitive and tender. She's independent, yet she still needs us. She is a Mama's girl, and I love it.

When did this beauty grow up?? Where did my baby go? I can't believe how mature this sweet, tenderhearted girl is. She tests her limits on a daily basis, and reminds me how thankful I am that my parents let me live past this age (because she is JUST like me!). She cares so deeply for others, and still likes to cuddle with her Mama.  

Thanks to the two teenagers who happened to be walking down the beach who snapped this one for us! I love this group!
We took our pictures out by the beach while we waited on our table at the Crab Trap. It's one of my favorite places in Destin! They have good food, and a playground outside in the sand for the kids to play on while we wait. It's also a great spot to take pictures since it's right on the beach. Carter and Brenna especially enjoyed their strawberry coladas (virgin of course) while we waited!

The food was great! But we were so full when we left there that we could hardly move!!!

Wednesday at the Beach

Wednesday was mine and Josh's 14th anniversary! Holy Moly- how on earth have we been married 14 years? I was so thankful that we got to spend the day on the beach with with our two greatest accomplishments and our best friends! I couldn't think of a better way to spend our anniversary.

Macie and Mrs. Sarah made a sand turtle! And it's hard to see, but they made several little sand turtles as well!

Josh spent some time working on a mysterious creation....

He made SCHAEF! Complete with seaweed hair!

Macie made the turtle GREEN! Food coloring in spray bottles is the best thing! Macie played with it forever!

Shortly after this picture- Brenna hit her breaking point. I figured it would be Macie Claire that hit a wall first, but nope- it was Brenna! She melted down several times before I finally threw in the towel and took her to the condo and made her shower and take a NAP! I'm not gonna lie- I was secretly glad to take her up and get a little quiet time in myself. I got to lay in bed and watch tv... a little ME time! It did us both some good! Josh and Macie stayed at the beach and continued to play!

She talked her Daddy into making another bench!

After showers, we usually found Carter and Brenna curled up somewhere playing Minecraft on their Ipads. We could tell as the week went on that these two were getting worn smooth out.

Another fun day in the books!