Vacation's All I Ever Wanted......

We had a fabulous time vacationing in Gulf Shores, Alabama this past week. Our niece Courtney went with Paul, Zoe, & I. She had never seen the ocean which made it that more exciting. Here are a few (okay, a lot of) pictures from the week:

Zoe & Courtney playing beauty shop!

Zoe with a lid on her nose!

Licking off the strawberry pie mixture.

Playing in the sand.

Posing by a "little" palm tree.

Watching Courtney getting an airbrush tattoo!

The finished product!

Zoe - the Pirate!!!!

Zoe & Courtney in the shark's mouth.

Checking out the J*nas Bros.

A wedding on the beach...

What a beauty!

A hurt pelican (tangled in plastic wrap) rescued by this boy.

Pelican back in the ocean safe & sound.

At the Gulf Shores Zoo - It's Feeding Time!

A baby alligator...

A big turtle...

Zoe loved feeding the goats.

Posing for mom...

Building a sand castle!

(with Daddy's help!)

Scoopin' up some sand...

Burying Daddy in the sand...

He's being a good sport!

Our hangout on the beach!

Louie the Lobster!!!

(This is what you get when you refuse to use sunscreen!)

Another Crazy Day!

My first day of summer vacation & I wanted to sleep in so bad. Good intentions, but didn't happen. You know how that is....your body is in a routine & automatically wakes up around the time you're supposed to get up for work. Why lay in bed? So, I got up & starting doing chores around the house. I was quite proud of myself. Rolling right along - getting a lot accomplished. Zoe wanted to swim & I needed to work on the pool anyway so to the backyard we went.

After a little while some neighbor kids showed up to swim which was awesome for me (allowed me to continue working on some outside chores). Zoe had a ball playing with the girls, especially her friend Kaidyn.

Kaidyn & Zoe

Throwing the ball while Madolyn hangs on...

Madolyn, Zoe, Abbie, & Kaidyn

Getting ready to jump...

One of her favorites - jumping in the pool!

Janelle's big jump!

After about 2 hours of swimming a storm starting brewing. Everyone got out of the pool & in the house just in the nick of time. We experienced a severe thunderstorm like no other. In fact, an area of our little town ended up with quite a bit of damage. The weather folks are saying it was either straight line winds or a small tornado. Luckily, we had no damage other than some limbs down & one of our patio tables got knocked over & the glass shattered. However, we were without power for approximately 8 hours. (So there went my cleaning & completing my chores!)

A girl can't cook without power so we ended up going to a town nearby for pizza. My cousin EJ & his girlfriend Mallory came over for the evening so they went with us. When we got back from eating, Zoe, Mallory, & EJ decided to swim. Casey, a neighbor boy, stopped by so he & I sat by the pool in candle light & watched them swim.

Not sure why the goofy look on his face!

Mallory, Zoe, & EJ

Poor Mallory -Zoe was like attached at the hip!

Casey after he put his finger in hot wax!

It's supposed to rain off & on all day so hopefully I will get some more cleaning done inside. Have a long list to accomplish before we leave Saturday for vacation - Gulf Shores, Alabama, here we come!

School's Out for Summer!!!!!

Yahoo! School is out! My last official day ended yesterday at 8:15 AM. Summer can now begin.

We had a busy weekend with 2 graduations, one Friday night & one Sunday afternoon. Plus, Paul & I also celebrated our 17 wedding anniversary Saturday. Sunday evening we cooked out & several of Zoe's "college friends" came over & hung out. They swam, ate, & swam some more. (Gave us just a glimpse of what our summer is going to look like!!!! Can't wait! I love this time of the year. Hanging by the pool with friends & family!)

Swimming with a smile...

Hanging out with Amanda...

Nick & Zoe...

Pyramid - Zoe Style!!!

Waiting for Jess to throw her...

Zoe & Sissy (AKA: Brandy)...

Brandy & Nick...

LOVE this picture. My two girls with their favorite guy!