Way Back Monday: Thanksgiving is the Best

This year we are staying here for Thanksgiving so I have my menu planned and will start doing food prep tomorrow and then Wednesday will be my big day of pre-cooking. I really love Thanksgiving and we have hosted it many times over the years and we have spent it at the home of other people at times as well. I enjoy hosting the most, though it is a lot of work. This is the first year that I can remember that it will just be us, though of course now that we are a family of five, we are pretty much a party all by ourselves. These pictures are from 2004, which is the second Thanksgiving we hosted.  We also hosted in our first year in our house in 2003 but somehow didn't get any pictures of ourselves.

Last Day

Today is the last day of our vacation that doesn't involve driving. We spent the early part of the day at my parents' house, so we could see them one last time before we left.

Both kids loved rocking in this rocker, which my parents have had my entire life. Clara especially took ownership of this chair (she recently heard Joshua tell her something was "mine" and really latched onto that word. I think she was happy there was a word to express something she so deeply believes in)

My dad grilled us a yummy lunch while we had fun in the backyard. Joshua unfortunately decimated some of my parents tomato crop, but otherwise it went well.

The kids ate picnic-style and Joshua enjoyed his corn.

After lunch, we took a walk around their neighborhood to see the bay and give the kids an energy-outlet. Clara really enjoyed walking by herself with my mom.

After our walk, we had a little time for Grandma and Grandpa to be silly with the kids.

But then it was time to say goodbye. Besides saying bye to my parents, Joshua had to say farewell to his new very good friends: Katie and Charlie. Clara warmed up to the dogs as well (they are a little bigger than the dogs she is used to), but Joshua absolutely loved them.

After we got home, Jason, Joshua, and Clara went swimming in the pool one more time before Jason and I put the kids to bed and started packing. It has been such a fun time here and so great to see my family. I feel like I have always been sad to leave every vacation place, no matter how long we have there and this is no exception. Tomorrow we start our drive home. We plan to drive to St. Louis tomorrow and then drive home Sunday morning.

Brunch at the Summer Kitchen

Today my parents and Christine came over to Seacrest Beach, where we and Michelle and Sam are staying. We all walked over to Rosemary Beach, which is just a short walk, to eat brunch at a cute little cafe called The Summer Kitchen.

Here we are eating, except for Hannah, who was asleep in the stroller during the meal.

After brunch, we walked back to the condo. One of my recent projects has been to organize a quarterly gift exchange for the girls in my family. The idea is you spend a small amount to share small amounts of a thing or things you love with another person as a way to introduce them to something that they will love too. This was the first of three exchanges and it went really well. Here we are with the gifts we received.


All too soon, it was time for Michelle and Sam to head back home so they could work tomorrow. Here is Hannah with Uncle Sam and Aunt Michelle, enjoying hanging out with them shortly before they had to go. Not too much later, my parents and Christine also went back to their home. Though we will see my parents later in the week, we were also saying good-bye to Christine since we won't see her again before her departure on Tuesday.

After naps, we wanted to go outside and enjoy the weather, even though we don't plan to swim until tomorrow. We decided to go for a walk with the kids. This is the stroller situation we are using for this trip since our triple stroller was too large for the car (we may need a car-top carrier for future trips. Jason is amazing at packing and it took him a long time to make everything fit). It is our double stroller with a ride-on board for Joshua if he needs it. The downside is that it is hard to walk behind, but other than some walking awkwardness, it seems to be working well so far.

A Butterfly, The Back Porch, and the Beach

Today we made the relatively short drive (well, a 4-hour drive seems short when you just drove 15 the day before) from Birmingham to my parents' home in Valparaiso, Florida, which is about thirty minutes from Destin. Christine was already there. We ate lunch at their house and the kids took naps. Before his nap, Joshua noticed a slow-moving Monarch in their backyard. I can only assume this poor butterfly was injured because Joshua was able to catch it and hold it without much difficulty.

After naps, we went to a restaurant called The Back Porch in Destin. Michelle and Sam had spent the day at the beach and met us there. This reminded me a lot of Joe's Crab Shack. Our food was okay. I think it was universally over-cooked. But it didn't really matter because when this is your view:

food is completely secondary. It was really wonderful to have our entire family together for the night.

Michelle and Sam	Mom and Clara

Our group, minus Sam who took the picture

Our little family

After dinner, we went to the back of the restaurant and the kids got their first taste of the ocean. Joshua loved it and was super excited, but Clara thought it was the worst thing she had ever seen or experienced. She hated both the sand and the water. So we shall see how the beach goes later in the week. Hopefully not too bad because Jason and I love the beach and it will be a little bit of a bummer if we have to stick with the pool. 

Two Helpers Arrive

My parents were nice enough to offer to come up and help with the kids this week. They arrived late last night and today they got to spend a lot of time with us and the kids. The kids are really enjoying having them around and are having lots of fun.