A Wonderful Mother's Day Weekend

Mama and her girls on Mother's Day weekend in one of about 5 outfits I made them last week. I figured if they were going to see my parents they were going to have to look cute and match! I got a little carried away but I was on a kick after those curtains!

We had an absolutely delightful time at the beach this weekend. As I mentioned before we left, I had very high expectations, which can put a lot of pressure on a weekend. Erika and Chance went out of their way to make sure we were all well taken care of. She even rented the neighbors cottage for Justin and I and Raiger to stay in so that everyone could spread out and be comfortable. Morgan, of course, had to stay at MommaSissy's house and sleep with "Mom" (which is what she calls my mom... and my dad is "DaddyBoy").

We arrived Friday night and enjoyed a wonderful dinner with some old friends from Louisville. It was great to see Cara and Matt and Angie and Chris and their precious children. Cara and Matt have a little girl (Lily) who is Morgan's age and it was fun to see them together. Mom and Dad rolled into town late Friday night (a GIANT roach just landed on me for the 2nd time in a week while I sit here and type...argh! Time to call the landlord, AGAIN!).

Saturday morning we headed to the beach. My sweet husband stayed home with Paiger Raiger while she had her morning nap and joined us at the beach later. Erika and Chance know how to go to the beach. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to go to the beach any other way after going with them. They have Walton County beach permits which allow them to drive their vehicles on the beach. We loaded up Chance's truck and Erika's old Bronco full of coolers, chairs, towels, and most importantly Morgan's training potty; you name we had it. And we just pulled right out on the beach with all our stuff and unloaded all our goodies right there.

My brother-in-law is a kid. And this may be one of my most favorite qualities about him. He's over 30 but if you didn't know it and only assessed his age based on his toys and eating habits you may think he was closer to age 12. Which is great for Morgan and those of us who like to pretend to be kids. Chance has devised this rope with handles out of marine rope and pvc and it is intended (by Chance) to be used to pull an individual on a skim board. The kids were flocking to Chance as he spun them around the lake at Grayton Beach. I thought it looked so fun that I needed to try. It was fun. It was SO fun. I honestly didn't care who saw me. It was like skiing (only in 3 inches of water). Well the three inches of water became a problem when my loving husband decided to fling me as fast as he could towards the shore line and I pummeled in the shallow water. I only cried for a few minutes and was able to get up and walk myself to the gulf to see if the salt water would help soothe the giant bruised, sand burned, strawberry that I got on my ham hock as a result of trusting my husband with my life. I still wince when I sit down and tonight may be the first night I can sleep on my left side. Justin (and everyone else) has only heard about 300 x how bad it hurt and still hurts! :)

Sunday we attempted to go to church. We actually all got dressed and in the cars but then realized it wasn't going to happen so we all got out of the cars and got undressed. This is what happens when you have a 2 year old and a 10 month old. Paige was ready to sleep and we were planning on going straight from church to the boat and those of you who are mothers know that this wouldn't work. So, the guys headed to Destin for the boat and Mom (my mom) decided to stay home and keep Paiger while the rest of us spent the day on the boat. We had a great time and great weather. We saw a ton of dolphins and I was about 2 feet from touching one. They are very playful and like to come up to the boat. They would flap their tails at us and swim along side the boat upside down. It was so much fun and I felt like I was on Flipper. I'll attach a link of pictures! I really was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. The pictures don't do it justice. It's one of those things when you see those beautiful animals splashing and playing and coming so close to our boat that reminds me we have a Creator with a wild imagination! (Did I just quote Bob Dylan!?)

We stayed the night last night and came back to Dothan this morning! We had so much fun and the girls are both wiped out. Our landlord arranged to have our attic sprayed with insulation while we were gone over the weekend, unfortunately I haven't been able to tell a difference yet... hopefully soon!

My sweet husband treated me to wonderful Mother's Day surprises and I was reminded this Mother's Day what a special blessing it is to have two healthy and loving girls. I feel so very blessed to have my precious children and it was my prayer this Mother's Day to never take a day I have with them for granted. I also felt so blessed to be with my Mom this Mother's Day! It was so special to have her there and my girls all together which is a very rare thing for us! Mom and Dad are hopefully coming back through Dothan on their way home to Illinois.

I better get back to killing roaches and loads of laundry!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=b5enhlt.524z8nsp&x=1&y=glyrw7