Hey, 30A! Days 1 & 2

 

And just like that... our family beach trip has come and gone. And apparently, I am still stuck on Central Time. Because we returned two days ago, and even though I am a night owl, I have been staying up too late for even my own standards of what late is. And since today was a holiday (and Kyle was home) I even slept in a little late for my own standards as well. But, that's what days off are for. Especially days off that fall on the last day before true reality kicks back in. Anyway, since I had nothing better to do than to lie awake and stare at my ceiling, I thought it'd be a great time to write about our first two days of vacation!

Here we are loaded up in the van heading to my parents house to drop off our dog Ollie (who got to lounge with their dog Lucy around the clock at their house while we were gone) with nothing but excited kiddos - and parents - to get down to the beach!






We arrived on 30A late afternoon and got settled into our little Beach cottage for the week. The girls immediately threw on their swimsuits and dove right into the pool!

 

While the kids swam their little hearts out at home with the guys, my mom and I did a quick grocery run for a few items to get us through dinner and breakfast the next morning until we could buy out the whole store come back at a less crowded time. We came home with fried chicken and all the fixins' and the kids were in swimming pool heaven. After a few hours, we jammied them up and let them have a little pre bedtime snack. I love me some jammie babies!!

 

The next morning we couldn't wait to get our toes in the water!! I didn't get many pictures because after snapping a few, I put my phone away so I could play! :)

After spending the morning splashing in the waves, we went back to the house so the littles could nap and we could get ready to head out for a late lunch and some shopping around Seaside.


The girls thoroughly enjoyed getting to swim every day while Preston napped (and so did mama!).

We decided to start at a local favorite, The Great Southern Cafe. Seriously, such good food and a fun little atmosphere. I just love Seaside!

Charleigh (who was exhausted from all the fun) was less than thrilled to have to wait for her food at lunch

Callie wanted me to document her little sunburn she got that morning. I promised I sun-screened her, but she loves to rub her eyes a lot!

After lunch, my parents took Charleigh back with them to the house so she could rest while the rest of us walked around a few shops and just enjoyed some slow paced quality time together.


We spent a good bit of time at the local book store there in town. I love how small and quaint it is there, I always make a point to visit there when we're in town. We let the kids browse around and play in the little children's section.

She was so excited to find a book for me to read to her all week!

Look closely at the book he chose to play with :) Pure coincidence. Love my little Farmer Boy!

After hitting up the book store, we were sure to visit the shaved ice food truck before making our way back. Callie got the rainbow kind, Kyle and I both got the Tiger's Blood (coconut & cherry flavored) and Camryn got watermelon. So good and so fun on a hot day!

On our way back to our van we walked past this little court yard and let the kids run a bit. One of my favorite things about visiting the towns on 30A are all the little hidden places like this placed throughout. They all feel like you're the only one there and no one else even knows it exists.

After our day out and about, we came home to rest before more water fun that night. I HAD to document this. Getting to take a guilt-free nap in the late afternoon for no good reason other than I wanted to... now THAT is a vacation! :)

The kids swam for a bit in the pool before we went back out to the beach together. This was the view out from my parents' balcony ( you can't see her in the pic but Nana was in a chair with them watching :) ).

Sunset on the beach never gets old!!

She still seems to young to me but every now and then I'll look and see a sweet little lady looking back at me.

I shared this on my Instagram (coveredingraceandkisses) - they were playing in their birth order so I HAD to capture that moment!!

After a fun night at the beach, we came back for showers, dinner in, and snuggles.

You know you've had a fun day when your kiddos put themselves to bed on their own. ;)

 And that's that for days 1&2!! I will share about days 3&4 in a day or two. I am hoping my post-vacation blues won't be as bad by then either. ;) 

Round Three & Mother's Day Weekend

I'm just going to address the Round Three thing real fast. :)

I have four kids... and a life with them that I desperately try to capture + remember with my camera and social media... but we also homeschool and I'm committed to serving on a local women's ministry through my church, among other parts of Real Life with Four Kids that happen at a very fast pace all the time. Having all of these things going on at once has kept me pretty busy the last year. However, I've come to the conclusion already that I would STILL, regardless of how "busy" I am, love to be able to go back and re-read how we spent these crazy days together as family. 

So here I am again. Trying to be committed to this little family blog. For no purpose other than to fill up my future Mama Cup when all my littles become all big and I'm longing to relive these days again. That is why I keep coming back to this little scrapbook/blog. So, I make no apologies to myself for my lack of posts, but moving forward into summer, I want to commit to writing it all down. As much as I can...when I can. I want to choose to make this little memory maker a priority, so I can thank myself later. Because the days are for sure long... but the years are so, so short. And I just don't want to forget the details of this little life with Kyle and our four kids that I've been blessed with!

Please bear with me (the 2 whole people that even read this to begin with... hey Mom & Dad) while I find my little documenting groove again and attempt to make it readable. Moving on :) 

Mother's Day 2016! And hello there, May! You are one of my favorites!

This year for Mother's Day we did a whole bunch of nothing. :) It was a weekend full of quality time and not really having anywhere to be. Other than running a few errands, attending our neighbor's soccer game, and getting to Worship on Sunday, we spent most of the weekend at home. 

It was exactly what I wanted (and needed!) and I soaked it all up. 

Ya'll, I rested on Saturday AND Sunday. And it was glorious. 

Sunday morning I was gifted by my sweet girls a few homemade love letters (the best) and then treated to a good southern cookin' lunch by my family & Dad. My poor mom was stuck at home sick, so we'll get to celebrate her next weekend. The rest of the day was just quality time, resting, and ending the evening with a little backyard cookout with friends family. :) 

Love all of these precious kiddos so much, and am so grateful to have them in my children's lives! 

Overall, Mother's Day weekend was perfect... and I am thrilled for all things May and all the fun memories that are coming very, very soon! 

Yay for completing my first post back! ;) Not gonna lie... it feels amazing. :)