Orange Beach

We headed to Orange Beach, Alabama for a few days over the kids' fall break. After last year's beach trip, we knew we wanted to do that again!

So, we woke up at 4 am and drove the 12 hours to the beach (and by "we" I mean I drove 2 hours, and Joe drove 10...he's a rock star!)

The view from our balcony. Beautiful.

It was late in the afternoon, but we still headed out to the beach for a little bit that first day. It was gorgeous with the sun setting in the background.

The kids got right to work in the sand.

And got into the water. The waves were pretty intense the whole time we were there, which made body surfing pretty fun!

A quick stop at the pool for some daddy-throwing time...

And then showers and dinner!

We ate breakfast and lunch at the condo each day, but picked a fun restaurant each night. This was Bubba's, and it has very good shrimp!

The kids being themselves...

There was a fun big chair outside that was good for photos.

There's a little photo bomber back there!

The next day there was a beautiful sky.

Norah and I made an awesome sand castle.

Beach, outdoor pool, indoor pool, reading, and repeat. (I am relaxing just typing all those words!)

And then dressed up for dinner again that night.

We forgot to get a picture at dinner, but did manage to get one in front of the arcade we went to after dinner.

Joey was rubbing his head at dinner and said his head hurt a little bit.  That should have been my first clue of what was to come...

I woke up the next morning and walked out to the living room to see two very sick looking, red faced children, with very high fevers. Oh no.

My gut told me what they had, so away we went to urgent care. 

Influenza it was... 

The rest of the day was spent hanging around the condo, and Joe and I taking turns at the pool with Kylah.

Joe and Kylah went to dinner alone that night. Kylah was very much enjoying all of the one on one time she was getting!

The next day was a little better, so we all went out to the beach for a little bit together that afternoon.

Kylah was playing in the sand and then all of a sudden was swarmed by seagulls. I wish I could have caught it on camera, but this was her reaction after they all flew away a few seconds later.

Joey got a little burst of energy and ran around with the seagulls for a few minutes.

And then he tanked....Norah too...

We did manage to get one family picture at the beach.

Norah was feeling much better after her little nap, and she hadn't had a fever all day, so Joe took both girls out to dinner.  

I stayed home with this cute sickie... 

We had one more day at the beach, and Joey was feeling much better so he was able to enjoy our last full day there much more. 

And then we made the long trek back home.

Such a fun vacation, and I'm sure we will keep doing this for years to come!

September

September was here and gone.

It was a crazy busy month. Mainly with getting everything ready to foster and complete our training. 30 hours of training split between two weekends. 

At least I had this guy by my side. :)

So many people helped us with our kids and our house and everything in between this month. We are blessed.

 

Ice cream after school on Friday is always fun.

 And lunch at school with the kids is always fun too. 

Dressed up at a friend's birthday party. Why does she look so old here?!

football

This is the first year Joey has played football. He wanted to try it, and he has done a great job. He gives it his all, and no one would ever know he's never played before!

And he looks so cute with those shoulder pads and long legs. :)

He has been playing tight end and safety and does his job well.

He gets a lot of bruises but never complains.

 Look at that #4!

1st day of school

School has started! Summer went by so quickly, but I think we were all ready to get back into a routine. All three of the kids were excited and ready for school to start.

Joey is in 5th grade and is going to regular middle school now. He was pretty excited not to have to wear uniforms anymore...

 Kylah is in 4th grade and still at the Classical Academy for one more year. 

Look at the back of her backpack...yes, she carries these on there every day!

And Norah is in 1st grade also at the Classical Academy.

I pray for a great year for all three of these kids. We have talked a lot about being a light for Jesus at school no matter what school they are at. I pray that they are! I'm excited for a great year ahead.

the last of summer

 We had a fun last week of summer before school started.

We hit up the big Roaring River slide one more time, this time with Shannon and her girls. It happened to be quite cold (who would have guessed in August?!?!), but we still had a great time. 

Jane and Kylah have become quite good friends. They are very much alike and love to do the same things.

Joey and Marin are awesome buddies too. Thankfully Marin loves sports so they have a lot in common.

Joey ran into a few of his baseball buddies who happened to be at the slide that day too. 

I braved the cold a few times and went down with Norah.

We hit up a popular ice cream place on the way home that we've never been to. It's actually a gas station with a cafe, and they are known for their huge cones. Joey has a small and the girls have the kids' size. Crazy! 

 We hung around the house a few days. 

Simba is ready for school...

The girls love to dress up in my clothes (when I let them...) :)

Beanie Boo's are quite the thing right now with little girls. Kylah and Norah both have quite a few. They buy most of them because they aren't cheap! But they will play for hours with their beanie boos.

These are some of Kylah's collection; she had taken this picture, and I found it on my phone.

The kids have been doing a lot of chores all summer long and earning a weekly allowance. So we went shopping! They had fun spending their hard-earned money. :)

 On Saturday we went boating with the Harris'.

Again it was chilly and rainy. What happened to August this year?!

But we managed to still have a little fun. ;)

The kids took turns tubing and knee boarding.

Norah managed to sweet talk Joe into getting out there once with her. The rest of us were too cold!!

It was a fun end to summer.

Going to Nana and Grandpa's house

 The kids got to go spend a few days at Nana's and Grandpa's house. Their Philippine cousins are no longer there, so the house was much quieter. My kids said it was too quiet! :(

But thankfully they still have a few cousins in Kansas, and they love those cousins too.

Nana took them to some fun places, and some fun restaurants and even a movie!

Meanwhile back in Arkansas, Joe and I enjoyed a few QUIET kid-free days. We even got to golf a whole round on Saturday! 

We are so thankful for Joe's parents giving us this time alone every year. We love it, and our kids love spending time with their grandparents.