Vacation in Destin aka Where I Wish I Were Right Now!

Loved, loved, LOVED Destin! I thought I was an Outer Banks girl and I still adore the Outer Banks, but the beach in Destin is so amazing that it's now become my new favorite. In addition, the fact that there is a ton of shopping and tourist-y things to do make the area ideal for a family with a restless four year old to find activities to keep everyone amused.

Case in point--we took an excursion on this pirate ship. There was an actual pirate on board, a treasure chest, booty bags, a cannon, the whole nine yards. It was AWESOME. Oh, and Jonathan liked it too :)



Jonathan overcame his fear of the ocean in about 2.4 seconds but the pool was his real love. The $1 we spent on an inflatable Spongebob ring at Target before we left the 'ville was the best $1 I spent on this entire vacation.



Friends of ours were in Destin the same week as we were so we got to have date night at this incredible Italian restaurant. A bit of wine, a lot of fabulous Italian food and great company made this one of the better date nights we've had in some time. This is reason 147 why it is the best idea ever to take a grandmother with you on a family trip!



See, doesn't this look so much more fun than sitting in an office doing work!? I think I would like to live in Europe and get a whole month off for vacation.





Obligatory family self portrait--the expression on Jonathan's face makes me happy:



Jonathan had his first go at miniature golf. Sadly, I do not think we have an aspiring Tiger Woods on our hands. He thought he rocked it, though.



We had a bit of whining from Jonathan over the course of the trip, which was tiring, but, overall, it was so nice to be able to spend tons of time together as a family. Now if only we could win the lottery so we can actually relocate to a beach climate--this is definitely a lifestyle to which I could become accustomed!

Vacay--First Stop, Rock City!

Seriously, this summer flew by like no one's business. How come you can NEVER say that about the winter months? Except for the holidays, February and March seem to last for an eternity but July and August pass with barely a blink of an eye! Maybe I need to add more winter activities to our schedule. Any ideas?

The second week of August, we took a family vacation to Destin, Florida. Since it's a bit of a drive and we have a four year old, we decided to split it up over two days. The first night we stayed in Chattanooga and visited Rock City the next morning. I have wanted to go every time I have seen the billboards off the interstate in western Kentucky and Tennessee. It's a bit cheesy, but in a good, campy way.

I wanted to buy this hat and dress Jonathan as a gnome for Halloween, but Bryan said that would be mean. But would it? Picture this face but with a white beard:



It's so handy to have a fourth person with us so that our little family can be in a photograph all at once! Bryan's mom came with us on this trip; having a grandmother with you on a family vacation is the best. thing. ever.



Signs like these were everywhere--how is this even physically possible?



This is what I meant by campy--LOVE IT!





Fairyland Caverns was one of the best parts. There were little gnomes tucked into the rocks in all sorts of places:





There was also a Mother Goose village where they depicted scenes from nursery rhymes along the way. culminating in a huge room with a display in the middle with pretty much every Mother Goose scene you can imagine. It was dark and lit up by black light. I adjusted the color on the pictures so you can, hopefully, get the idea:





Jonathan tried very hard to stay "in" the trail, but he became, understandably, quite frustrated:



In sum, Rock City totally rocked!

End of Summer Clean Up

We have decided to get on the ball with cleaning up around the house--we sure are some clutter gathering people! Our goal is to use one of those plans where you, hopefully, get to a point where you just have to do a bit of maintenance each day to keep everything looking good. I would prefer a cleaning service but getting braces pretty much nixed that option (not that Bryan was going to go for it anyway), at least for now. It's not that we are super messy people, it's just that the dust than cleaning!

So, in the spirit of organizing and bringing everything up to date, below are some pics that will bring us through the end of July, such that I can proceed with August over the next couple of days and then onto a clean slate, much like with our house. Hope it works! :)

One of the gigantic sunflowers that Bryan grew from seeds and planted in the backyard:



Jonathan's fourth birthday cake. Not what I would have picked but it's what he wanted. Thank goodness the Spongebob phase is waning. Oddly, he has been replaced by a love for iCarly. I don't get that one either.



Jonathan with his Nana and one of his favorite birthday gifts--a marble run.



Jonathan with another of his favorites--a Spiderman bike from my sister Laura and her husband Todd:



I took a cookie decorating class in July. It is at least as fun as cake decorating; I can't wait to make cookies for everyone this year. This one was my personal favorite:



Ah, now I need to go have a snack; looking at the baked goods made me hungry! Hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend and as good of a Monday as possible!

Birthday Pictures--Finally!

Despite the fact that I did not do a blog entry on the exact day, a fact that bothers me a great deal, Jonathan turned four on July 2. Like every year, we did his four year old pictures on the same day. My friend Cindy is a great photographer and agreed to meet us before she went to work; thank goodness that she did and saved us from a certain local photographer who takes great pictures but has a ridiculously high session fee (and don't even get me started on the print prices. EEK!!)

Here are some of my favorites:





















It's so hard for me to believe how the time has flown by and it completely freaks me out to think about how quickly the next four years are likely to pass. So, better late than never, Happy Birthday Jonathan! You have brought more joy to my life than you will ever know.

My "I Don't Want to Work Because I Have a Cold and/or Allergies" Ten on Tuesday

While I have yet to post Jonathan's four year old pictures (I know, I know!), I have a bunch of random stuff to get out of my head, which is particularly crowded right now by mucous and what not, so here is a long overdue blog post:

1. Stomach flab. Why does it remain despite my best efforts? Will it always be there regardless of my exercise/eating habits? I have worked out more in the past year than I ever have IN MY ENTIRE LIFE yet the stomach area is less than awesome. Much less than awesome.

2. We spent last week on vacation in Destin, Florida. It was incredible. I am now ready to retire there. Or to win the lottery and move there right now.

3. On vacation, our bedroom had the most lovely king sized bed. Our queen sized bed at home now pales in comparison. I want a new bed this instant!

4. Unfortunately, a new bed is not in my immediate future because I am getting braces. Long story short, I had braces when I was in middle school but things have dome some shifting, causing me to have problems with my bite as well as the wear on my back molars. At 31 years old, this is not something that I am necessarily looking forward to experiencing again. And the price--YOWZERS!! It will be nice to have perfectly straight teeth again, however, and it is only supposed to be for 12-14 months. Oh, and get this--I have to pay myself as my parents turned down the opportunity I gave them to pay again. The nerve.

5. While on vacation, a Coach factory store was located half a mile from our condo. I visited it and bought NOTHING as there was nothing that I wanted to buy. And I don't even remember feeling sick that day :)

6. I still love Rick Pitino, despite his recent scandal. He's a good basketball coach regardless of any alleged indiscretions. Go Cards!

7. I am sad that the reviews for The Time Traveler's Wife have been less than stellar as I loved the book a good deal. I still want to go see it, though. Kara, call me!

8. I need to enroll Jonathan in swim lessons because he absolutely loves the water and particularly the pool. I also need swim lessons myself because I don't know how to swim. While this fact embarrasses me, I am plagued by a fear that I can't learn how to swim so I keep putting off the lessons. I really need to do it, though, because I REALLY want to go white water rafting and doing that without being able to swim does not seem at all like a good idea.

9. While driving back from vacation, I wondered--why does it always take so much longer to get home than it does to get to your vacation destination? Or is it just me?

10. At mile marker 6 off I-65 after crossing into Tennessee from Alabama, there are a lot of adult bookstores and "gentlemen's" clubs. One of the places was called Big Jim's Boobie Bungalow. Cracked my ass up.

And just so you know that the birthday pictures really do exist, here is a preview:

Wee Ball

I've felt less than inspired lately, thus the lack of blog posts. I've been on the computer doing other things--swimsuit shopping, Facebooking, working on Jonathan's fall/winter wardrobe (it is actually finished, but for a new coat, shoes and socks. And yes, I know that it's only July). I've had some pictures of our first Wee Ball game on my memory card for a few weeks now. I want to post about Jonathan's birthday and share the super good pictures my friend Cindy took of Jonathan, but my mild OCD requires that I do things in order, so I can't just skip the Wee Ball pictures and go on with it. So without further ado...

Jonathan liked spring soccer so much that we decided to sign him up for Wee Ball through the YMCA. It's just like T ball but they use a foam bat and tennis balls. Bryan is the coach and our friend Doug is the assistant coach. Every kid hits a home run and when one kid hits, a bunch of tennis balls are thrown out onto the field (or else there will be a pig pile of three year old children. Sometimes there still is). Thank goodness there are only two innings because it may possibly be the most boring sport EVER.

Jonathan is a huge fan of fielding. He's not so much a fan of the Spongebob glove that Cindy gave him. Perhaps that phase is waning and, believe me, not a moment too soon.



Shoot, never mind; he read my thoughts. Again. I will never rid my home of the yellow sponge and his irritating pointy pink friend.



Jonathan's first home run. Seriously, would it kill the YMCA to spring for some toddler sized shirts? I think I could wear this one.



There are eight little boys on our team. Morgan is the son of our friends, Doug and Kelley. Kelley and I were quite pleased when they made friends pretty immediately; they had only been around each other twice prior to Wee Ball season. It's funny how they seemed to know they should be friends.





How cute is this? I am loving that Jonathan is in a place right now where he's making friends.



Stay tuned for birthday pics!

Pictures that Make Me Smile

Jonathan is in WV again this week and, although it's nice to pretend to be my pre-mother self for a bit, I miss him and am ready for him to come home. I was looking through pictures tonight and found a few from a Sunday afternoon kids festival we attended a few weeks ago.

Jonathan in a rainbow-y cage. Well, not really, it was an inflatable, but every time I take a picture of him in one, it reminds me of Arthur in his kennel:




Jonathan with a fire truck. Just before this picture, he got to go inside the truck which was super cool, even to me. Now both of us want to be firemen when we grow up.



And this one, with the random inflatable horses. I have never seen those before but now secretly covet them. Why?