Beach Trip with our BROOD!

The whole family...amazingly all were looking at the camera at the same exact time...RARE!


So we did it, we actually took our brood down to the beach for a quick weekend beach trip. We couldn't have asked for a better trip to the beach. Such wonderful weather, absolutely perfect weather, and the water was amazing as well. Our condo was beautiful and the property was very kid friendly. The kids were awesome- the entire ride down and the entire time there. My mom was staying in Gulf Shores (about 10 min. from Orange Beach where we were staying) so she was able to hang out and play with us as well. Here are the highlights from the trip:



Daddy and his girls in the ocean..they all loved it!


Daddy and Claire hanging out in the hottub!


Nana holding John David while he is sporting her sparkly sequin visor..too funny!


Having a peanut butter and vanilla waffer picnic...


Mommy and John David:)


Is this cute or what???


James playing in the sand "on top of the towel"...yes there was sand ALL OVER the towel and he LOVED it.


Daddy playing in the ocean with James. He LOVED the waves and water. PRECIOUS memories!


One proud momma here. SO thankful for these little guys.


I LOVE this picture. Last year we had the same picture made and these little miracle babies were in my tummy, we just didn't know it..nor did we have any idea of the journey GOd was about to take our family through.


Daddy and James


Mommy and Jenna


Mommy holding her boys together (getting hard to do this cause they are getting so big!)


Silly boys..eating sand:)


What an amazing love God has given us to share. So thankful for our marriage. This is one awesome guy...such a loving, Godly man. Superior husband and father.


All the KIDDDOS!


I sure do love these kids. Could eat them up with a spoon of sugar!


Ellie and Jenna devouring white poweder doughnuts before we left for the pool!


Happy girls after eating at the Crab Shack..everyone had seafood except ELLIE...she had SPAHGETTI...go figure!


Ellie sliding in the sand...yes it took me a while to clean out all the sand in all the cracks...haha!


Beautiful girl...just beautiful...inside and out!


The whole family on our first day. The weather was so gorgeous.


Daddy and his girls in the ocean. Memories that will last a lifetime.


This girl is FEARLESS!


Precious. I want to take a picture of these three girls like this every year.


My three divas...Sweets, Sassy and Spit Fire!

Claire says: "I loved jumping in the waves with Ellie and Daddy in the ocean. The swimming pool was awesome too. The beds at the condo were like sleeping on snow..totally fluffy"

Ellie says: "I thought going to jump in the big pool with Laura and Danni (Dr. Hammond's daughter and her friend) was awesome. My favorite thing to do was playing in the waves and eating doughnuts because I love sugar and mommy doesn't let me have a lot of sugar"


Jenna says: "So I jumped at the waves and I swim in the hot swimming pool and I played in the sand."


The boys can't talk but if they could they would say:
"Thanks mom and dad for letting us play in the sand. Thanks mom for allowing us to get all dirty and actually eat some sand and play in the ocean with dad. Oh yea, and thanks for not making us sleep in that crappy hotel portable crib. Our carseats were way more comfy!"

Daddy says: "My favorite parts were entertaining three girls with a wet napkin around a fountain at a shopping center after dinner while Mommy was busy feeding the boys, and playing in the ocean with all the kids"

Mommy says: "My favorite part of our trip was the simple pleasures each day of watching my children have so much fun, seeing the laughter and smiles and joy from playing with each other and their Daddy. I savored the moments of quality family time we were able to spend together...and the doughnuts were pretty darn good too:)"


I am so thankful we took the kids down for a quick trip. Originally I thought, no way are we taking five little kids to the beach....what a nightmare that would be with everyone, but boy was I TOTALLY WRONG. They were all awesome. Everyone had such an amazing fun time playing in the sand and ocean and swimming pools. Rob and I were so thankful for the awesome weather. Staying on the beach was definitely a plus with our family. I had to "run to the room" on several occasions, so being conveniently located on the beach was nice. We had the double stroller for the boys to ride in to and from the beach and pool. I was only asked a couple HUNDRED times if "all those kids were mine"...funniest one though was a lady at the baby pool with her two year old son. She noticed I had Jenna playing in the pool and the boys were off to the side watching us. She said, "I don't know how you do it with two little babies with your two year old" and I just chuckled..said, "Well, I talk to the good Lord most all day long and it is amazing how much strength I draw from HIM"..but then a few minutes later, Ellie came over and said, "Mommy...(something like I am thirsty)" and the lady dropped her jaw and said, "Is she yours too?"...I chuckeled and said, "Yes, she is mine too!". Then instantly Claire walked over and said, "Mommy, (something like can we go get a drink)" and the lady said, "No way, she is not yours too is she?"...I just chuckled and said, "Oh yes, she is mine too!" Then the lady turned completely around to face the big pool (where Claire and Ellie had come from) and said, "ARE THERE ANYMORE COMING?" Ha Ha...I told her no mam, that is all the good Lord blessed me with, just the five...:) And what is really comical is that her two year old was incredibly SPOILT rotten (be seemed a little spoilt herself) and he acted like a one year old, and she complained about how "difficult" he was to deal with on a daily basis...oh PAH-LEEESE!!! :)

So all in all, the trip was awesome. I was completely surprised by how smooth it all went. I kept gaurd await for a catastrophe to occur, but none to report of.

Thank you dear Lord for such an amazing time with our family. We truly are humbled by your love and grace you shower us with daily. We don't deserve all the goodness you give our family. We honor you and love you and thank you!