A Yearly Treat!

We are very blessed each year to take a week long beach vacation with Ken's family.  It is something we look forward to all year long! It seems like we start talking about the next beach trip before the first one ends and before long that one has come and gone.  As fast as the week seems to slip by we always get a lot of sand, sun, swimming, snacking and shopping done!

I was not as quick on my toes with my camera this year but I did get to snap a few favorites here and there....

Looking at these sweet pictures make me so excited about the memories we make as a family at the beach.  It is such a nice time to get away and enjoy being together!

 Cousin Ford was tons of fun this year! I will miss seeing him every morning and asking me where everyone is. He is such a sweet little boy who can make me laugh! The girls especially liked having another playmate around!

The girls enjoyed the sand and pool.  Of course MC is still a bigger fan of the pool and Caroline could dig in the sand all day long.  

 We had some more fun when we were able to meet up with some of our besties at the beach! The Wages had us over to their beach cottage where we swam, ate lunch and explored Carillon.  This has been our 2nd year in a row that we have been at the beach the same week. Hopefully this will be the same each year!

Gran and Boompa, thanks again for a wonderful week at the beach and fun memories made! We love you very much!

Here and There...

Not too much to report lately.  We have been laying low and doing our best to stay cool around here.  Today the high was 100 degrees and it felt every bit of the 108 index! I'm on the verge of digging a pool in our backyard.  The girls have been cooling off by running through the sprinklers....

We also went to a really cool princess party that the girls loved!

Happy Birthday Sweet Ainsley!!

We have still been eating healthy too! Maybe a few treats here and there, but we can tell a huge difference in how we feel and the way our clothes are fitting.  We have noticed a difference in our children's behavior too...funny how good food can do that! The other night I made a pasta salad with broiled asparagus, sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese. YUM YUM!!

The girls loved it!

A new favorite drink of mine is this cream soda.  It is all natural with no icky sugars!

My kids LOVE to read, and I'm excited that Jack is catching on too! One of Caroline's favorite ways to help me out is to read to Jack.  He loves to listen to her and so do I!

After snapping some pictures of the two book worms,  Caroline decided to play photographer.  I was so excited to see this picture of me and Jack.  It is not that often I have my picture made with the kiddos.  I think she did a pretty good job.  I did do a little editing, but I think I may have a little photographer on my hands!

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Chattanooga!

At 1:30 last Friday we decided that for sure without a doubt we would load up the car and head out of town at 4:00! We had been kicking the idea around all week, but had never "officially" decided to do anything until 2 1/2 hours before departure time!  That's right folks..I got a family of five packed and ready for a three night vaca in just a few hours.  Thankfully I had been doing laundry All. Day. Long! We decided to drive across our home state to visit Chattanooga!

Our first stop...The Cracker Barrel...whats a road trip without a stop here and some junk from the country store?? We actually did not let the girls buy anything but rest assured they begged and pleaded!

After the bellies were fed we were on our way. This little miss woke up as soon as we pulled in.  Maybe because Jack was screaming to be fed? She had fun helping us load up the luggage trolley (what are those things called?) and of course hitching a ride.  We had never really thought about how we would get three sleeping kids into the hotel so we were happy that she was awake to "ride" in!

We got into the room at....12:05 Chattanooga time....

These two looked like this.....

Their sister looked like this....

After a teeny bit of sleep we were up and on our way Saturday morning...everyone was all smiles!

We ate breakfast at Bluegrass Grill.  It was very yummy!!

After breakfast we were off to the Tennessee Aquarium! Were we saw lots of fish, snakes, turtles, butterflies, sharks, sting rays and penguins!

And one extra large sea turtle!

After finishing up at the aquarium the girls had fun cooling off in the water outside!

Back at the hotel the girls had fun jumping across the beds...something they don't get to do at home!;)

For dinner we headed over to Taco Mamacita.  If you are ever in Chattanooga this is a must try!

After dinner we grabbed some ice cream at Clumpies and walked across the bridge!

Sunday we drove to the top of Lookout Mountain then enjoyed some swimming at the hotel.

Again we tried a yummy place for dinner...Urban Stack, they have delicious hamburgers!!! Jack wants to come back so he can have one!

After dinner we parked and walked our way towards the fireworks!! The girls got a little tired and needed some help from dad!

And the next day we were gone, just like we came in...although everyone was awake!

Chattanooga is a really great place to visit with kids, we hope to visit again and see the things we missed!