Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Visitors!

Last weekend we had some special visitors! Jessica and Lauren came to visit the babies on Saturday. They brought me the prettiest flowers! Such sweet girls! My mom watched the babies for a little bit so we could go to lunch and catch up on gossip! ha We really need to do that more often! Maybe next time Ava and I can go to Little Rock for the day for a little shopping!




I'm glad the babies were on their best behavior! I didn't want to scare Lauren and Jessica too much! Ava, Brooks, and Knox would love to have some new playmates in Little Rock some day! ha




I made Lauren practice! She will be a great mommy one day!

I think Ava loved hanging out with the girls! She was feeling pretty cute!




Sunday the McDonald family stopped by to see the babies! Elle and Taylor are such cuties! I think Knox thought so too. He could not take his eyes off of them! He just laughed and laughed! Such a little flirt!


Elle was a great helper. She watched my mom give them baths and then she picked out their outfits! I bet she is a great big sister!
JMacs an old pro!
I just realized I don't have any pictures of the boys with Elle and Taylor. I know they held them but I guess I just didn't have my camera ready! I think Ava might have been their favorite though!

I know I've said it before, but B and I really have great friends! I hope our babies will be as lucky as we are in the friend department!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Vaca Part 2

Wednesday morning Emily and I dropped the boys off in Destin to play golf with John and we met Sarah at their condo in Destin. We spent the day on the beach! It gave me an idea of what it will be like to bring the babies to the beach next year! Sarah had so much gear! A wagon full! Stevie and Tripp had enough toys and sand castle gear to keep them busy for days! They are both so freaking cute! Stevie says the funniest things. She made friends with a little girl at the umbrella next to ours and I heard her tell the kid, "That's Mishelley, she has lots of babies". They were a little too busy to pose for pictures so this is the best I could get!


I told Sarah we will have to try to coordinate our beach trips every year! In a few years Stevie will be a great babysitter! ha

Oh and B forgot to bring his razor. He almost had a full grown beard by the time we got home.


When we got back to Rosemary we thought we would go to La Crema for dinner. The boys took one look at the Tapas menu and decided they needed real food so we just had appetizers and wine.



We brought drinks with us on our bike ride to the restaurant. I'm sure the waitresses loved our Solo cups all over the table! One night I ordered a beer and the waitress brought a glass. I told her I didn't need one and B added in, "We're from Arkansas." I guess he thought that was the only explanation she needed! ha
I had to take a picture of our chalk board cheese tray so I could try to copy it at home!
B ordered chocolate covered bacon.. He said it wasn't bad but I was a little afraid to try it! I know cheese isn't much better but chocolate covered bacon just sounds like a heart attack on a plate! I'm sure I got a "We're on vacation" when I gave him hell about ordering it! ha


After our first course we got on our bikes and went to a Mexican restaurant down the street. This was right up the boys alley! They had these tall Lady Guadalupe candles on the tables. For some reason we thought this was hilarious and worth taking a picture of. They also had their own homemade version of Skinny Girl Margaritas.

This is what happens when you ask B to take a pic. There is never a "1, 2, 3" he just snaps it!


Emily got a little sick that night. I'm thinking it probably had something to do with our five course progressive dinner (and maybe the chocolate covered bacon)!

We spent the next day at the beach and then that afternoon I did a little shopping around Rosemary. They really have some cute stores. I had to take a picture of this kids store and send it to Gigi! I have zero self control when it comes to clothes for Ava. It's pathetic.



That night we went to Matt's friend Will's house for dinner. He lives in Seaside on the bay. It was so nice of him to have us over. He has a boat so we went on a little sunset cruise. Everything was fine and we were cruising along going about 30mph in the middle of the ocean and all of a sudden the boat stopped. It felt like we hit a brick wall! Matt was sitting on the front of the boat and I really thought he was going overboard! Will had just mentioned how we would probably see a lot of dolphins so my first thought was "Maybe we hit a huge dolphin!" ha We didn't hit a dolphin but we did hit the sand! There was a weird sand bar in the the middle of the ocean. The boys had to get out and push us off of it. After the fact we laughed about it but while it was happening I was thinking we might be stuck out here for a while. After our little adventure we decided we better put the boat up and we went back to the house for dinner! I really wish I would have taken pictures while we were there but I didn't even think about!

B left his phone at Will's house that night and he had serious separation issues. It was pretty funny. B talks on his phone constantly! He went back to Will's first thing the next morning to get it back!

The boys played golf the next morning and Emily and I went back to the beach. It was our last full day so I had a lot of reading to do! I knew once I got home their would be zero time to finish my books!

The boys joined us that afternoon. We all had so much fun guessing every ones story on the beach. We would sit in our chairs and stare! There were a lot of conversations that went like "Is that her husband or her dad???" and "Is that the nanny or the mom". B and I always tried to guess kids ages. We wanted to see what our kids were going to look/act like next year at the beach. There was one family that we were sure had triplets. I finally asked and they were just cousins!

We decided to end the trip with a bang so we went to Cafe 30-A for dinner. Everyone we talked to said it was the best! It was soo good.

Emily and I started off with Pineapple martini's!

B stuck with some beer he discovered while we were in FL. I had to take a picture of it since 4/20 is the trips birthday!


After dinner we made a quick stop at Bud and Alley's (which B called Ma and Pa's all week for some reason!) but then decided to go back to Rosemary.

B's favorite thing to do on the trip was to go down to the beach at night with an ice chest. Emily and I usually sent the boys by themselves for this activity! I never wanted to go because 1. I wanted to sleep as much as possible 2. I'm not a fan of getting sandy when I'm not in my bathing suit. But I decided to make an exception since it was our last night. We all went to the beach and hung out. It really was fun! We did a little crab/sea shell hunting with our cell phones (next year I will bring the appropriate gear), listened to music, and tried to watch the meteor shower (I think we might have missed it)! It was the perfect way to end our great week in Rosemary! I'm already looking forward to going back to the beach next year!

We didn't fly out until the next afternoon so B and I woke up and went for a long bike ride around Rosemary and Aly's. Matt's friend Will is a real estate agent and he told us that Johnny Depp is supposed to be buying this house soon. Isn't it massive??? I will definitely be making a trip back to Rosemary if there is a chance I will run into Mr Depp!



As sad as I was to leave, I couldn't wait to get home to the babies! I missed them so much! My mom sent daily videos and updates but I was ready for some snuggle time! By the time we made it back to Fayetteville it was pretty late. Ava and Brooks were wide awake and they just smiled and acted like we never left. Knox was sound asleep. They looked so much bigger! Especially Ava! They have really grown up so much in the last few weeks! I could go on and on about them but I guess I will need to save that for their 4 month update post!

Everyone asked us if the babies were excited to see us. This is Ava (ignore the blue blanket) the night we got home. Does she look excited? ha I really think they were too young to even realize we were gone. Which is fine with me! It will be so much harder to leave them when they are older I think!

We had a really great trip and loved Rosemary! I think a vacation was just what I needed! Especially since the babies are getting close to being on the move! I feel so much better after a week of rest and relaxation! Although, I really can't wait to take Ava, Brooks, and Knox to the beach for the first time! I hope they love it as much as we do!




Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Vaca Part 1

Saturday morning I woke up at 6am and drove back to Fayetteville to see the babies one last time before B and I went to the beach for a week. I did a lot of driving that day but I'm glad I did! This was going to be the first time I left the babies for an extended period of time and I didn't know how I would handle it! B had a bet going that I would fly home by Tuesday because I missed them so much! haha I tried to tell him that I could handle it! I snapped this picture right before I left! I needed one last picture to look at when I missed them! I was very proud of myself! I didn't even cry when I left. Nini came to town to help my mom watch them so I knew they were going to be in good hands! I also knew that I was only going to be in FL! If I missed them too much I was a short plane ride away from seeing them!



We flew out of LR on the Vision airline direct flight. I would highly recommend it (although someone told me it was getting canceled! Who knows?). We were at the beach in an hour! The one downfall of flying is that we had so much luggage and a pretty small rental car! I really should have taken a picture of all of us packed in the car. I think we had two golf bags, 4 large bags, and 4 carry ons. It was a tight squeeze!

The drive to Rosemary was about an hour but we stopped half way there in Destin to have a late dinner at The Back Porch. Once we got to the condo I went right to sleep. I slept so good on this trip. I told B that either the bed was super comfy or I was way more tired than I realized. Or maybe I just forgot what it is like to sleep without waking up every four hours to reinsert a paci or feed a baby!

We slept late and then had lunch at a little restaurant near our condo. After lunch we rented our bikes. B was of course in heaven all week riding his bike every where. Every night he wanted us to ride our bikes to dinner.... Even if it was 15 miles away. ha Oh and B wore his garage sale glasses all week at the beach... The Ray Bans I bought him for his birthday this year have been tossed aside for his bargain pair.




We rode our bikes to the beach and got our vacation started! I felt sorry for Matt this week because B is sooo antsy! He literally can not sit still. I think laying out is torture for him. As soon as we got settled in our chairs he was begging Matt to get in the ocean, toss the frisbee, throw the baseball, etc. He was always on the move. It kind of worked out okay because he was always willing to go back to the condo to refill the cooler!
B was so excited about this vacation. He can be very enthusiastic at times! I jokingly called this trip "Spring Break '99". He honestly acted like he was in college again! His excuse for everything was "We're on vacation". Ha

Nothing is better than laying on the beach to me. I could sit in the sand all day long and be happy! That is pretty much what I did! I wasn't completely useless though. I did manage to read two books this week. The Help was great and I can't wait to see the movie now. I also finally finished a book that my sister bought me for Mothers Day! It only took me three months to read it! haha

When we finally came in from the beach we got ready and went to the Red Bar for dinner. This is one of my favorite restaurants. Apparently a lot of people feel the same way because it was packed! While we waited for a table B made a new friend. He was an old man that lived in the area. I think he sat at the bar every night and hit on the poor waitresses. Basically an old pervy man. He told B and Matt he would take them out on his boat to fish if they would pay for the gas! ha I told B he would probably toss them overboard once they were in the middle of the ocean! I think B told me I have been watching too many Criminal Minds episodes.




The next day the boys left early to play golf and Emily and I slept in and then went to the beach. We stopped at La Crema for lunch and started our day with Mimosa Slushies. Soo good! We gave this little restaurant a lot of business while we were in town!




After our day at the beach we decided to ride our bikes to Aly's beach for dinner. This area was so neat. I really loved it.

I'm not sure why I even tried to straighten my hair! It was a short bike ride away but my hair was a frizzy mess by the time we made it to the restaurant!




B left me in the dust of course!



We had dinner at Georges and it was so good. If I remember correctly I had scallops and B had salmon. I ate so much seafood this week. I definitely exceeded my mercury allowance for the year!






Emily and Matt ordered lobster quesadillas as an appetizer and they were so good! B had to rain on their parade and point out that they were $30. Leave it to B to notice the price! I think they were completely worth it though!

Em and Matt with their high dollar quesadillas!






Since we were biking and not driving we decided to keep the party going and we went back to La Crema for champagne and dessert. We split chocolate peanut butter bread pudding and white chocolate molten cake! I remember exactly what we ordered because it was so good! I think I gained 10lbs on this trip for sure!


The next day we were all a little burned so we decided to drive into Destin to shop. We let the boys pick the lunch spot and they picked Cheeseburger in Paradise. Umm it was probably the grossest food I've ever had! The guys ordered cheese dip which was basically Cheez Whiz, then B and I split mini burgers that were pretty terrible too! There was also green mold all over the ceiling. I think all of the waitresses were Fudrucker/Joes Crab Shack rejects, they were terrible! Spilling stuff left and right! The whole experience was pretty laughable! I found a few cute things for the babies at the outlet mall. My shopping days are over! I bought myself one t-shirt and the babies racked up.
On our way back to Rosemary we decided to stop in Seaside and have dinner at Great Southern. It was so yummy.



They had several fresh fruit mojitoes on the menu and the strawberry were delicious! I really wanted to try them all! I'm glad I didn't because we ordered so much food! After I had already ordered Karrie text me and said you have to get the crab claws! Soooo I added those to our order too!

As you can see our week basically consisted of eating, drinking, sleeping, and laying on the beach. I guess you really can't get much better than that!