Gulf Shores 2015 - Part 1

Vacation time for the Parkers! After our trip to Oregon last year, Matt and I decided that we should rent a beach house and take the kids to the ocean - so that is what we did this year. Brenner went to Fort Lauderdale at six months and Santa Monica at 2.5 years - but Nola had never been! For months they have been talking about ocean, waves, sea shells and sandcastles!

We left early Friday morning so that we could get to our stopover point with time to relax. The kids watched Rio at 4 am - but they were quite and very good the entire road trip!

Selfie at our lunch stop - McDonalds - yes you read that right - fast, kid friendly, and no complaining!

We stayed at Jackson MS Friday night. I have a work friend from there - we met up for dinner (highly recommend Pig - n - Pint if you are ever in that area). Brenner and Nola played with Heather's kiddos and had a ball. The grownups had a great time visiting. Oh - the picture is at the pool - kids couldn't wait to get to it - it was chilly!!!!

Nola dangling while brushing her teeth at the hotel!

Our hacienda in Gulf Shores! One block from the beach - perfect. The drive down from Mobile was slooowwww. But we made it was most tempers in tact! Dropped off our bags and headed to the beach!

Nola getting in the ocean for the first time!

Brenner chasing waves - he was much less timid that Nola!

Nola loved looking for seashells!

A little sand digging.

Waiting for the waves!

All that on our first day. Nola and I watched the sunset while Matt and Brenner went to get groceries - bad idea on a Saturday night - took them 2.5 hours - but we finally ate at 9 pm - everyone was worn out!

Sunday led to more beach time early - Brenner told me "I will remember this day for the rest of my life!".  The wind was crazy strong so Nola didn't want to stay long. I took her back to the house while the boys played - we played in the pool..

Brenner ate a ton at lunch!

Kids resting after lunch.

Brenner and I got up early to hunt for shells on the beach Monday morning - he looks just like Matt in this picture.

Nola was waiting for us when we got home.

Winds were still high - but mommy loved the cloud cover - no sunburns this trip!

The castle fort that we all worked on!

Little ice cream treat in the afternoon! 

Tuesday morning we got thunderstorms so we didn't head out to the beach until the afternoon.  Here Nola is trying to make friends with a great blue heron!

Matt brought along a toy of his own!

Matt dubbed this "the castle couch". We got lots of compliments from people passing by! Oh - funny that renters in houses next to ours are from Springfield and St Louis - Missourians are everywhere!

Sunset at the lagoon behind our house.

Matt and Brenner went crabbing Tuesday night. They found a few - Brenner was so excited!All of us went out the following night - Nola screamed and screamed and screamed - not a fan of night crab hunting! Nola thought they would pinch her toes!

Wednesday morning we bright - the kids were ready to go!

Brenner hunting for hermit crabs - there are a ton!

We drove to Fort Morgan on Wednesday morning - Brenner is very into military/cannons/etc. This picture was his idea. We had to be "serious".

Lunch at the Oyster House was a hit with the kids. This was our first meal out since arriving on Saturday and it was super yummy!

School's out for the summer!

Woohoo - school is out for the summer! We had a huge week with preschool graduation, track and field day, and last day of school. So much fun - the kids were bouncing off the walls!

Our proud graduate! Love that she didn't want to have anything to do with a dress. Nola even completed her outfit with mis-matched socks. She is so her own person and we love her for it!

Grandma Val and Aunt Lynnie came down to see the festivities. Nola loved it!

Nola and her peeps :)

The kiddos sand 7-8 songs - Nola got into each one - she did so great. Brenner noted that the little girl next to Nola didn't sing. I told him that is what he looked like when he was in preschool! He found it hard to believe me!

Nola's 3 year old preschool class - such a good group of kiddos!

Nola and Ms. Gerhardt!

My Sunday school class teacher sent an email about a key jar - a jar that has questions in it to talk over with your kids. Conservation starters so to speak! It has been fun so far!

Track and field day - pull Brenner!

Brenner with his buddies!

You guessed it - our frog is back! He did great in the long jump last year as well - definitely gets it from his dad!

Matt helped with the softball toss. Some students wrote him some nice notes!

Last day as a first grader. I admit that I teared up when he walked into the building - last time as a first grader!

Love this!

So proud of Brenner - he was name a Pirate Pup - one girl and one boy in each class was awarded this!

Brenner got some great comments from his teacher Mrs. Rapp.

Nola was so excited to see all of the workbooks that Brenner brought home. He decided to teach her math. She got 4 right and 6 wrong - he thought Nola did pretty "good". Cute.

Nola had a preschool picnic on Friday - a little rain wouldn't stop these kids!

Happy Mother's Day

What a wet weekend for Mother's Say! Regardless of the rain, we had a great time! The week was full with track practice, the first grade field trip, soccer practice, home projects, and of course Mother's Day. We are blessed to have such wonderful mother's surrounding us - thank you for all that you do!

It was a gorgeous Monday for track practice. Brenner kept of the pace with Mr. Gary - I was impressed and B was very proud of himself!

Nola and Morgan were more interested in goofing off!

I took Wednesday off to go on the first grade field trip to a nature center. Another nice day! Brenner was excited to ride the bus to the nature center. A girl in B's class was chatting with me (she remembers Matt and I from the science experiments that we do). Sadly she told me that he Papa said he couldn't come because he had to stay home to drink beer. Makes me sad for kiddos that have that kind of exposure at 7 years old.

I had a group of three boys. Here we are in the midst of a scavenger hunt.

Next it was off to hike some trails. Brenner was more interested in hanging out with his friends than me!

The mammal program was last. It was kind of corny - Brenner wasn't impressed with the singing and dancing. After the program, we had a picnic lunch.

A quick game of tag to run off lunch before heading home!

Nurse Nola and "Patient" Emi :)

Look at this awesome picture B made me in Sunday School class!

Nola helped me water the white dianthus that Grandma Val got me for Mother's Day. We had a great lunch with Grandma, Aunt Lynnie, Cousin Krystee, Eadlin, and Gannon. No pictures but it was fun (and Brenner finally got soccer cleats so he was ecstatic).

Matt and the kids got me a couple peach trees :) We planted them (translate as Matt did all the work) just before a storm hit!

I can't believe how big this iris is!

We are redoing our front sidewalk - so long runway landscaping. We used the boards to create a fence for the blackberries (thanks to Grandma Val for the idea)!

The kale is ready - yum.