Gulf Shores: family time aka picture time!

Our time in Gulf Shores was laid back, relaxing, and enjoyable. We spent time with family on the beach, at Lulu's, and sitting on the balcony listening to the waves. The one request from Papa Ray and Mama Pat was a picture of everyone wearing their favorite team colors. Our family? Bulldogs, Elephants, and Tigers. Everyone else? Elephants, Tigers, and Tarheels. Unfortunately {grin}, the Elephants outnumbered everyone 9 to 6. Notice I said outnumbered...not won! ;)

I know for a fact that it takes a downright miracle to capture an even semi-decent family shot of the five of us.

Try throwing in 6 more adults, another kid and a baby...

AND two dogs!!!   

And it's down right impossible!

I quit trying to transplant heads and move eyes and just kept the moments as they were.

Because that's what it's all about, capturing the moments: the silliness. the complete absurdity (of holding a 25lb baby on each hip for a good 10 minutes!). the tears and the laughter. the smiles and the closeness. the moment.

We started with Pat's daughter and her family and added my dad and Pat (and Bama Girl of course!)

My poor dad was seriously outnumbered here!

I then handed my camera over to Charlene (thank you Charlene and Sara for being such patient, wonderful photographers!), and we added the Root kids and their families.

Squirming toddlers, cranky preschoolers, teary babies, and distracted canines...

And out went the Moseley's and dad so we could grab some shots of my brother and me and our families. By then, my arms were aching; but Anne Perry and Audrey Kate weren't budging. My favorite {outtake} is the first one where I'm desperately trying to rearrange babies and failing miserably!

But I thought this one turned out pretty cute :)

...except Guinness (the dog) got distracted by something on the beach. oh well. :)

I jumped back behind my camera to get a few shots of my absolutely adorably handsome nephew, Tucker, and his beautiful mama and daddy!

But before that, we attempted to grab some of the Root kids, their families, and Papa Ray and Mama Pat.

I will admit though that is has to be the funniest of them all. My dad and Pat calmly smiling (you know: don't look at the kids, look at the camera so when the kids do look, we'll get everyone looking!) but with complete chaos going on behind them! I will admit they were a photographers dream. Us on the other hand...

...we captured the moments.

So Successful it was deemed.

Papa Ray and Mama Pat, thank you for hosting us for the weekend, providing some seriously delicious meals, and creating an enjoyable environment for everyone! We loved spending time with all of you!

Gulf Shores: beach time

The weather could not have been more perfect for our weekend in Gulf Shores.

And while our 3 little girls loved the beach, they each had their own preferences as to what was enjoyable.

This big girl loved building sandcastles and playing in the sand, but she refused to be anywhere near the ocean unless she was in someone's arms. Because, being the animal enthusiast that she is, she was well aware of all the creatures who call their home the ocean. You know, jellyfish, stingrays, and sharks!!!

Oh, and how could i forget the {dead} crabs! My brother picked up one to share with her.

Her reaction?

And when on the earth did she get so big! I looked up and saw her standing facing the water (bottom left picture below) and all I could think was just that...when did her legs get so long and how did she get so tall? Wasn't she the babies age just yesterday?

And while this little girl let herself enjoy the water, she was absolutely under no circumstances a fan of the sand! She sat in the baby pool, in the little chair Mama Pat found for Addie, in Papa Ray's lap, or in someone's arms!

Apparently all that sand avoidance wore her out!

Which was all fine by me, because I was trying to keep up with this little ball of rolling-in-the-sand-beelining-it-to-the water-lover-of-all-things-beach!

You'll just have to take my word for her loving the water. There was no way i was 1.) letting go of her long enough to take a picture or 2.) dragging my camera that close to the water while attempting to keep the above said child from diving right in! But before you jump to conclusions that this is our cranky-mean-antisocial-crier, she simply did not want to leave the beach here!!! And I can't blame her! Don't you want to cry when you have to leave?

But all three of them were quite content in the baby pool sitting on the beach!

There was lots of playing in the sand.

And oh my word, soaking up the sun on some sweet baby cheeks!

But I think one of my favorite pictures is this one where Audrey Kate had her feet up in the chair attempting to avoid the sand; and as she started brushing the sand off her tiny feet, she got a little help from Papa Ray. Love!

A perfect day in a little slice of paradise.

Gulf Shores: play time

As you might remember, our family headed down to Gulf Shores about a month ago to visit Papa Ray (my dad) and Mama Pat.

My brother and his wife and their son along with Pat's daughter and her husband and their son also joined us. The weather was gorgeous! The timing was perfect. The food was fabulous. And the time spent with family was priceless.

I'll go ahead and warn you that these next few posts will contain a plethora of pictures. Like an absurd amount of pictures. And an even more absurd amount of the pictures are our girls. Because, well, I was with them 24/7, so naturally, I'd be a little top heavy on pictures of our little ones! But enough of that!

Addie and I started the morning with a walk on the beach to look for shells.

But it didn't take long for us all to hit the beach (pictures to come) and then the pool.

Addie loves "swimming" with her puddle jumper. We will be investing in another couple of those for the baby girls by next summer! I kept the picture on the right bc she was SO far away from us and just as comfortable in the pool as could be! I finally strapped the little girls together, and they had a blast sharing their ducks and floating in the water (supervised of course!).

We we so excited to get to meet baby Tucker! He is almost 4 months old here, and I'm pretty sure he's as big (or bigger) than Addie was at that age! He is absolutely adorable and has the sweetest, squishiest kissable cheeks!!! He was such a good baby, and we loved spending time with Uncle Judson, Aunt Anna, and him.

My brother, Judson, found a crab trap on the bay side of the property. Tyler, Pat's oldest grandson (above left. i pointed my camera at him and without saying anything, that's what i got! love it!), came with us to help bate it with the yuckiest meat patty I've ever seen! We decided it probably wouldn't even disintegrate in the water because it was so overly processed!

But it worked! That night Judson and Tyler went back to find quite the crab! Of course, given that it was from the bay, which was apparently one of the last hurricane's dumping grounds and was sealed up right after the oil spill (so sat stagnant for a while), we didn't opt to eat this crab! Oh, and there was one of him and 15 of us...

Addie thought she was hot stuff riding on the back of Tucker's stroller with Uncle Judson pushing. (notice our blue heron friend who landed on top of the pier pavilion).

But I think this is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend. I found Addie sitting on the floor next to baby Tucker being super sweet to him! Love them both!

More from the beach to come!

Mountain Time!

we unfortunately had to miss a visit to mountains (to see gramma, papa al, uncle jay, aunt millie, cousin kira and baby john) back in May because of ear infections and a fever virus. this time we didn't miss it, we just came home with it all! Audrey Kate found herself in the ER Sunday morning with the worst wheezing I've ever heard. Diagnosis: the croup and an upper respiratory infection.

(loving on the doll they gave her at the hospital)

We got back to Gramma and Papa Al's to Anne Perry waking up from a super long nap with a 102 fever. By the following day, Addie had a fever virus too. Gracious lands!

But that didn't stop us from having a blast in the mountains with Gramma and Papa Al and a fun visit from Nana! The weather was more than perfect. Cool but not cold. The rain stopped. The sun came out. And we enjoyed every minute outside that we had!

We headed to the Nature Center only to discover they had new fall hours. So we decided to hike back where Addie played in the creek this summer. No creek swimming in this weather, but it was still gorgeous! 

I had the grand idea of getting a picture of Paul and his mom and the girls. Apparently not such a grand idea to our little people. It quickly went from unhappy...

...to unruly! At least a few of us had a sense of humor about it!

So we headed back for lunch and n.a.p.s, and then back outside to play some more!

Gramma had a fun frisbee that was perfect for little hands to spin...

to throw...

...and especially to catch!

And how could i forget...to WEAR!

Doesn't matter what it is, if you give this little girl anything that could remotely go on her head, it does! buckets, baskets, sleep sacks, blankets, hats...

...and frisbees!

This sweet little munchkin was perfectly content to sit on Gramma's hip

...and make silly faces!

We even got to eat dinner on the deck with Nana!

and before the bear arrived (yes, i said bear and no, i unfortunately didn't get a picture of it or the damage it did), sweet ginger dog decided i needed a baby in my lap or one snuggled up close! i am not a lap dog person, but i love this dog!

I had a favorite picture of each of the girls from this trip. not sure what it is about this one, but i love it of Addie. maybe it's her serious expression or her sweet eyes.

 i love this one of anne perry. she just looked so big in this chair!

and audrey kate. i love how serious she is in the picture. i love her sweet eyes too. i think this one goes in my top 5 Audrey Kate pictures!

God has gently reminded me over and over this past week how blessed we are to have 3 little girls. Thankful for their health. Thankful for their spunky personalities. Thankful they are so very different and yet so similar. But most importantly thankful that they are so very loved.
 

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalms 100:5

Happiness is...

...in the details.

We spent the weekend in Highlands, NC. Gorgeous weather. Fun family. Typical drama of sick little girls, a trip to the ER, and a visit from a bear!

But thankfully pictures always bring back the sweet memories instead of the crazy ones.

More to come as soon as I can get my hard drive to cooperate!

But for now, the happiness is in the details.

i've fallen back in love with my 50mm 1.4 lens. now i remember why i loved it so much.

nothing spectacular about ferns except the intricate detail that makes them what they are...and the lighting.

we visited this pond in july; but the lily pad flowers were too far away, and i didnt have my zoom lens. this time there was less water, which allowed me to step a little closer...with the help of a zoom lens!

details of God's creation. perfect in every way.

"...Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 54:10