He Loves Us!!!

So after leaving Charlie for 4 nights when we went to Seabrook, he finally decided that he needed his human owners. 

He now has a nightly routine where he comes in after the kids go to bed, 

chows down on food, 

spends about 10 minutes cleaning himself and  

then lays down on the carpet for a few minutes before he realizes there is a nice comfy lap for him to lay on. We have SO enjoyed that our kitty has actually realized the he loves us! Or at least he's found a use for us! 

Seabrook Vacation - Day 4 & 5

On Monday September 18th this was the only picture I took.

I had wanted to play games while we were there, but the kids were having so much fun playing on the Wii upstairs I think we only played two games...Rook & Catan. 

Tuesday was the day we checked out. 

It wasn't raining so that was nice. 

We had such a nice time at Capeside Cottage. 

Me and my love!!! 

On our way home we stopped at Applebee's for lunch. It wasn't very good in regards to service as the and just like the restaurant Ocean Shores....they forgot my food! 

Here's why sweet Ella Grace with her mermaid! I think she did a fantastic job! 

Overall it was a great getaway and once we returned I truly felt like summer was officially over. For one thing we came in the house and it was FREEZING!!! Charlie was happy to see us since he'd been stuck inside for 4 days...Ms. Kim and the kids had come and checked on him once. We on the other hand were not so happy to learn that he had peed in 3 different areas. Michael was flat out mad!!! He cleaned it all up and was about ready to send Charlie packing. The funny thing is now Charlie has turned into the best cat ever!!! He's actually sleeping on our laps now!!! 

Miracles....

Do....

Happen!!! 

Seabrook Vacation - Day 3

The next was a rainy day! We had planned for that though! Michael took the boys into Ocean Shores to go play at the arcade. He didn't take any pictures, but he said the boys had fun. They did get soaked when they were playing mini golf! Ga-Ga and I took Ella to the ceramics store so she could paint. 

When we were here two years ago she picked a fairy, this time around she picked a mermaid. 

She was only 5 years old the last time we were here so I spent a lot of time helping her. I didn't paint for her, but I did have guide her in regards to not dipping her paint brush in two colors at once and other things like that. This time around she was much more able to do things by herself. 

I love how focused she was! 

We had the example there for her so she could see where exactly she should paint. She did have me look online for pictures of Ariel because that's who she wanted hers to look like. 

I love the age that Ella's at right now. It was SO much fun spending that time with her and Ga-Ga doing something crafty! 

Here's her mermaid almost finished. She hadn't done the finishing touches. The only part I helped with was the eyes. Ella just didn't feel comfortable doing those. 

Since she didn't need as much help I figured I would go ahead and paint something as well. I saw this mug and fell in love with it. I love a good chevron pattern. Plus it comes with a lid....raise your hands all your clumsy peeps! 

Here's her beautiful mermaid with all the finishing touches. Love it!!! 

I decided to add some fun dots to my mug and then I wrote the word Seabrook on the handle. 

It's kind of hard to see! I thought this would make a nice mug for work once it's hot chocolate weather! 

Here's a better picture of the side with the dots! 

After our fun morning activities it was time to go back to the house and watch the Seahawks. It wasn't a pretty game, but a W is a W! 

After dinner Ga-Ga & Pa took the kids to the pool for us. It was so nice to get to sit in a house and have it be quiet!!! 

There was hardly anyone at the pool...score!!! 

Of course the kids had a blast!!! 

In total the kids were at the pool 4 times during this trip. 

It was definitely the highlight of this vacation for sure!!! 

Seabrook Vacation - Day 2

The next day was my 37th birthday! 

We got a slow start getting ready. Mainly because I thought it would be fun to download Snapchat. I had heard fun things about it, but I just don't have time to do that sort of thing at home. I had so much fun being silly with my kids. It's was so great! In fact we have been spending a few minutes each day playing around with all the different filters. It's definitely what some may call a waste of time, but since the kids and I have so much fun I don't think of it that way. 

We decided that we would play around round of shuffleboard before taking back the poles and disks. It wasn't raining, but it was definitely cooler! 

Pa got a fun picture of the kids! 

Ga-Ga, Pa and I had to head back to the house to get better shoes to wear to the beach so Michael went ahead and took the shuffleboard stuff back and then went to the beach with the kids. Once we were finished at the house we headed down to the beach too. We did take the wrong path and ended up having to back track a bit. 

That's a bunch of stairs! 

At the bottom of the stairs you had to go across this board that was laying over the little stream. 

By the time we got out there Michael was already well on his way to having a nice sandcastle. Ella and Jack were helping him with that. 

I went straight to the water! I love the ocean! 

As I was standing there I was reminded of the song with the line..."Who told the ocean you can only come this far". 

Beautiful!!

Pa was taking pictures too! 

Ella Bean does not like the ocean water at all. She says the salt makes her itchy! 

This dude loves it though! 

Ga-Ga & Pa did stay too long. Pa's hip was hurting him. 

They did have to get pictures with their Zeke boy. I bet the other kiddos were just too busy to stop playing! 

Michael working his magic! 

Ella really wanted to go over to the dry sand so I took her and Zeke away from the beach. 

I told the kids that they needed to rub the dry sand on their wet feet and eventually the dry sand would make the wet sand come off. 

It did work, but it also was quite exfoliating! 

Since it was my birthday we decided to go out to eat. I had been looking on Google for restaurants and I decided on this Italian restaurant in Ocean Shores. We drove into town and pulled up in front of it and that's when I noticed a sign on the door. Michael got out to check it out and sure enough it was closed. The neighboring store owner said that they were open on Thursday and then closed on Friday. Crazy! We had past another restaurant that I had eaten at before so we went back to that one. It didn't have the best reviews and I could see why. The service wasn't the greatest....they were short staffed and they forgot my food. Our server was a very sweet lady though. The food was great, but a bit overpriced....hello kids meals with boxed Kraft Mac 'n Cheese for over $5! It was sure nice that I didn't have to make dinner on my birthday though!!! 

On our way back to Seabrook we decided to drive on the beach. There had just been a wedding on the beach....the bride and groom were still taking pictures. 

The sunset was amazing!!! The kids did not want to get out though....they had other plans on their mind!!! 

Pool plans!!! 

I did not bring my swimsuit with me....I really don't like swimming that much. Give me a water slide and I'm in, but just a pool...no thanks! 

It was so much fun not being in the water! I loved getting to take pictures! I also figured out how to do Instastories and I loved it! 

Michael was hard at work helping Ella and Zeke. 

He was trying to get them both more comfortable with the water. 

Even though they had life jackets on at first they were still apprehensive.

Zeke would not let go of Michael he just kept hanging on and giggling his nervous giggle. 

Owen is my fish!!! 

Ella started getting more and more comfortable! 

Jack was nervous as well, but he would never admit it. He was adamant about staying right up against the shallow wall.  

Michael just kept on working with Zeke and slowly he was more confident.

Ella Bean was doing so well! 

Then Zeke Man decided that he was ALL IN!!! 

Jumping off the side and having Daddy catch him! 

He was hilarious because he would run in place and then start running to the pool, but instead of jumping at the edge of the pool he would just keep running!!! 

I'm so glad I was able to sit and enjoy all the of the kids swimming and it was also a plus that I wasn't soaking wet on the cold walk back to the house!!!