Summer 2017 Vacay, Part 3 {More from Ormond Beach, FL}

Two weeks at the beach makes for a LOT of pictures apparently! #sorrynotsorry

 

This next picture below isn't that great, but it's something I want to remember from our trip. Two years ago when we went to the beach, Shelby relished watching the sunrise every morning with Grampy b/c they were the two early risers of our family. Shelby was sooo looking forward to being "sunrise buddies" again with Grampy this year. She did wake up early & went out on the balcony with Grampy most mornings again this year, but she spent more time reading than sunrise watching this time around. ;) 

 

We kept comparing our beach routines now to our pre-kid beach trips. My sister & I used to love to bring our books & chairs down to the beach and just sit and read with our toes in the sand. With 3 young kids at the beach, that rarely happens anymore. But my mom made the comment that it probably won't be much longer before this girl will be reading alongside me on the beach!



 

 {sunrise reading}

 

This next picture below was our attempt at a family selfie on the Fourth of July. We took a selfie last year on our way out to watch Fourth of July fireworks, and little did we know it would be our last picture as a family of four! So I wanted a family selfie this year to compare to last year's!

 

{Fourth of July 2017//one day shy of Brady's first birthday}

 

{Fourth of July 2016//41 weeks pregnant with Brady}

 

 {Auntie Em & Hadley ready for the fireworks!}

 

 

 

 

 {making drip-drop castles}

 

 

{the girls build the castles & Brady knocks them down}

 

{Elevator selfie for the win! Certainly not the best picture, but I had to include this one b/c it sums up beach life with a baby ;)  Beaching with a baby isn't for the faint of heart, that's for sure! We'd be out on the beach most mornings by 7:30, and by 8:30 I was already drying this guy off & heading back up to our condo for his morning nap. I had lots of trips up and down the elevator for this sweet boy's naps, but it sure was worth it!}

 

 {Brady's first trip to Stavro's}

 

On a separate note, Happy National Cheesecake Day! We went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner tonight to celebrate with half-price cheesecake! We tried the new Funfetti flavor cheesecake they debuted this weekend, and it was just eh in my opinion. But I also tried the Smores cheesecake for the first time, and it definitely didn't disappoint! And just because, here's two pictures from Hadley enjoying her beloved bread & banana plate at Cheesecake Factory--girlfriend loves her some bread & butter! {FYI: If you ever go to CF with kids, make sure you ask for the bread & banana plate--it's free & it's perfect for little ones!}

I'll be back soon to wrap up the rest of our beach pics! Here's to a great week, friends!

Summer 2017 Vacay, Part 2 {Ormond Beach, FL}

After a week in GA, we loaded up & headed down to Ormond Beach with my parents & sister! I apologize in advance for the picture overload!

We wanted to get an early start on our day of driving to the beach , so I had to drag these sleepyheads out of bed that morning!

{all smiles for his trip to Ormond Beach!}

{I sat in the backseat for the first leg of the drive, and this girl was pretty happy about it!}

{And this is what she looked like by 9am, ha! Apparently a week at Grammy & Grampy's followed by an early morning wake-up call is exhausting!}

As soon as we got checked into our condo, I headed down to the beach with my dad & the three crazies. After being cooped up in the car all day, they were ready for some beach time! And I was eager to see how Brady would react to the beach since this was his very first experience--he loved it!!

{Grampy & Shelby}

 

{first time in the sand!!}

Derek flew in from Las Vegas late that night, and he was there with us for our first full day on the beach! After being away from Dada for a week, these three were very happy to see him when they woke up in the morning!

{one of my favorite pics of the whole week--our three beach babies!}

 



{our condo had a ping pong table on the balcony, which was a hit with the girls!} 

 

{the girls loved digging holes & Brady loved sitting in said holes}

 {I can't get enough of those sweet little piggies in the sand! And remember what I said about those holes?! Ha!}

 

{As happy as Brady was on the beach, I think this might be the only picture I captured of him smiling on the beach! He was always too busy to pose for a picture! He was constantly digging, crawling, splashing, or attempting to put a shell in his mouth, ha!}

 {This picture is what I hope I remember about this trip in years to come! All 3 kids were at the most perfect, fun ages for the beach! They had the best time playing in the sand & waves!}

{When we came to Ormond Beach two years ago, putt-putt was Shelby's "big girl" activity that she got to do with us while Hadley hung back with Grammy & Grampy. Shelby loved it and had been counting down until we got to play again this year! Since this was Hadley's very first putt-putt experience, she was excited but she obviously had no clue what to really expect. Shelby loved it just as much as she did the first time around, and Hadley asked if we could go home about half-way through, ha} 

 {Brady was the most fun beach baby! We loved getting to watch him crawl through the sand exploring!} 

 

{"drip-drop castles" are a tradition in our family!} 

{We kept laughing on this trip thinking about our pre-baby beach days.  This year, we had a 5:45am alarm clock every day & we were already out on the beach by 7:30am most days. But that also meant Brady was taking a morning nap by 8:30ish--thank goodness for baby monitors that reach to the pool deck! ;) We usually came up to our condo for an early lunch when Brady woke up from his morning nap. Because the kids play HARD out at the beach/pool, Shelby would ask to take a nap almost every afternoon after lunch. Derek happily hung back in the condo to nap with Shelby while I took the other two back out for a little more fun in the sun. Then when Brady come up to join Shelby & Derek for his afternoon nap, Hadley had everyone's attention outside...she loved every minute of that! It was definitely tricky trying to keep a baby that still naps twice a day on schedule--we were thankful for all of the extra family help with our kiddos while on vacation!}

{enjoying an afternoon movie on the couch!} 

 {Brady's first visit to High Tide Snack Jack..he was a fan!}

 

{Brady's first dum-dum!}

 

{While we were at the beach, Derek & I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary! We snuck out for a dinner sans-kiddos & had planned to take a stroll on the beach afterward, but our walk got rained out. So we took a rain check the next night & we totally lucked out! First we saw a rainbow, then 2 beached manatees (so random, and so crazy to see up close..while we stood by watching them with some other people, a big wave came & both manatees were able to make it back out into the water), and then the most gorgeous sunset! It was so nice to walk & talk & just be "us" for a short time. Between the move & a new baby who is still nursing, we haven't made finding a babysitter a priority since we moved to Las Vegas...which means we haven't really had much time to just be "us" in the past year, so dinner & our walk was such a treat!}

 

 

 

{early mornings on the beach with this cutie!} 

 

 

 {Brady & Grampy were best buds on this trip!}

Whew, I think that's enough pictures for one post! I'll wrap up the rest of our beach pictures in the next post! Happy Friday to you!!!