Mornings at the beach are simply the best.  Breakfast on the balcony watching the early risers and fishermen fishing on the shore.  It really just makes me want to lay back and sip coffee and chat with my Father.  Except I don't drink coffee.

On our second day, the guys decided they would spend the day at the golf course.  So we made it a Girls Day!  My mom kept Hughes that morning, so Kristin was able to join us on the beach.  Millie Janalee was thrilled that "Kah Kayyyy" came down to play!  And blow bubbles.

This was the day my little socialite walked the beach and met all our fellow beach goers.  I just followed along to make sure she returned to me eventually.  She walked by people waving and telling them "Hey."  If they spoke back, she lingered awhile to chat (in whatever Chinese language she's speaking these days).  Eventually, we made our way back to our area where I was able to sit for a few seconds.

She sat too.  And we showed her how to "deh deh deh" (dig) in the sand and fill her little bucket.  She enjoyed this little activity in between tossing sand everywhere.  She She was the perfect digging partner!

Eventually every day, Clancy and Selah Grace would make their way down to the beach just in time to play in the pool before a bottle and nap in her little tent.  Millie Janalee loved when Selah Grace was there!  It's the only time, besides when we first got down to the beach each day, she would stay in the pool for extended periods of time...giving me time to relax or get some sun.

What this girl really loved to do more than anything else was playing in the "warsh."  This girl loved the water!  She loved the waves.  She loved the water on her feet.  And she loved running out to the ocean.  Seriously.  She would've been gone with a big wave in a heartbeat if I let go of her.  And did a few times.  Ha!  She just kept pulling and pulling us to go further out.  My little beach baby!

At the end of the day, when the chair cushions were taken up...we loaded our big wagon and headed back to the condo.  The guys had returned, and Millie Janalee ate up all her time with her daddy on the balcony.  These two are both wrapped around each other's fingers!

Russ and I enjoyed the late afternoon on the balcony with our girl.  Russ ran and got his camera while Millie Janalee was climbing on the chairs.  He was able to catch some phenomenal moments of our beach beauty!

Once we were all showered and refreshed, we gathered in Uncle Howard and Aunt Patsy's condo for a yummy dinner of sloppy joes.  We talked Kristin and Lee into getting a little closer to the balcony with the newborn to snap a cute picture of the babay!  The girls played and giggled the night away.  I can only imagine what next summer will look like for this crew!  So fun!!

New family of three

"Well, hello Selah Grace!" - Millie Janalee

Cousin love

Our second full day at the beach...a day full of memories for the girls.  And the guys too I suppose.  Although what happens on the golf course probably stays on the golf course.  Ha!

Home Sweet Home

I interrupt this stalled beach series to update you on our life for the past week.  

We are here!  Our new home.  Monday, the movers loaded us up, drove hours, and unloaded us into our new place all seconds before the raindrops began to fall.  My parents made the trip with us and were invaluable helping with Millie Janalee, Farley, and SO MUCH MORE!  Seriously.  I am foregoing the nomination and going straight to the award - Parents of the Year!  Since Monday we have spent the days into late nights unpacking boxes, hanging pictures, childproofing this three story town home, and slipping in some local fun here and there.  We enjoyed my parents' visit more than we can say!

But today they left.  [On my dad's birthday]  We are now officially in our new home sweet home.  On our own.

And  I think we're gonna like it here.

Russ and I are beginning to make our list of fun things around the St. Louis area so that we can mark them off as we go.  There is more than enough to do and see to fill every weekend and more during our year here.  We look forward to visits from friends and family, and I'm counting on them!  Our guest room bed is ready.  The room may not be pretty yet, but the bed is!  Ha!

So come on!  Follow us on this year full of adventure in a new state, new town, new home.  It is gonna be a fast and fun one!

Successful First Day

After a wonderful night's rest with the waves crashing in the distance (Can you tell that I'm really missing the beach?!), we woke to Russ sneaking out for a morning run.  I mean, who goes running or does anything athletic while they are at the beach?  Obviously not me.  When Millie Janalee popped her sweet head up and enthusiastically said, "Hey Mama" I gave Russ what was sure to be the "stink eye" for making noise as he left us for the road.

It's really not too bad waking up to such a happy girl.  She put on her "haaat" before we walked over to Susu and Pawpaw's room for breakfast.  After breakfast, we all broke away to prepare for our first full day in the sand.  I loaded and organized our beach wagon and Russ ran to Winn Dixie to grab an air pump after I nearly passed out from trying to blow up the baby pool on my own.  Everything got loaded and a full day's food was packed and there was one girl ready to hit the beach...

I brought a fun surprise for all the little cousins.  We decided we pretty much needed to just carry Hughes down in his bucket while the girls played with theirs.  Ha!  But next year, he will have one and will be all up in the fun sand with the girls.

Setting up for the day takes a little time and more than one person since this girl is so mobile this year.  This is one big reason why we stay out all day.  Too much trouble to bring it all up for lunch and nap and then bring it all back down.  Who needs to do that when you can eat lunch and nap all in the same spot?!  I've never liked going up during the day.  That's a waste of sunlight and beach time.

Millie Janalee waited patiently as the guys and She She worked to fill her pool with water and get her little setup ready.  She was ready to play in the pool!  Once the initial setup is over, everything is a piece of cake.  And lots of fun!

It wasn't too long before she was ready to explore this sandy floor.  She walked around without a problem or complaint.  Then she decided she wanted to play in the "sommm".  She stood by She She's chair and picked up sand and poured it on the foot of her chair.  This occupied her for quite a while.

Until she found the water!  Blessed was the person who took her to the water, because they would later deal with the fit of cries when they got tired and made her come back to our spot.  Ha!  Uncie "Buckkkk" and Millie Janalee had a great time jumping waves and squealing.  The squealing came from Millie Janalee...not Buck.  And in case you're wondering why someone always has their hands on her when she's near the water - it's because when we let her go, she would literally RUN into the ocean.  Big wave or not.  It was only a matter of time before she went swimming with the little group of stingrays we kept seeing.  No fear.

After a full morning of pool time, playing in the sand, and salt water...a toddler will work up an appetite and be ready for a little shut eye.  Or they can at least be convinced a little easier that they are ready for a nap.  I propped Millie Janalee up for some veggie packs and Lunchable snack trays before bringing out the paci and wrapping her in a towel.  After a few minutes of rocking back and forth, those eyes did close.  And what can be better than a good, long nap on the beach?!  Not much.  While the babies napped, the grown ups got their sun and  had some fun.

Me and She She

My beach hottie!

Selah Grace sleeping in her little tent

Hughes didn't make it down to the beach to play, so his parents enjoyed a relaxed day in the condo with an ocean view.  That's not a bad way to spend week 5 of a newborn's life, is it mamas?  We came up at the end of the day to shower and get ready for supper.  That's when Millie Janalee got her "Huss" time.  We may have distracted her with snacks a few times so that Hughes could rest from the enthusiasm of his older cousin.  Ha!

Happy beach baby!

This face sums up his feelings when we came  up each day.  So long quiet naps and bottles.  Hello squealing and "patting" toddler!

Let's see.  I think this night Mama fixed dinner.  Bar-b-que chicken, crock pot mac and cheese, salad, and homemade ice cream was on the menu.  It was basically another family party in the condo.  You know.  The loud laughing kind I told you about.

Millie Janalee and Buck found their belly buttons.

Selah Grace climbing "Big Daddy"'s back

Susu introducing Selah Grace to the fun of headgear!

I would definitely go as far as saying Day One on the beach was a success!  Only leaving us wanting more and leaving our love tanks full from good family time.

Toes in the Sand

First of all, I want to thank everyone for your comments, emails, Facebook messages, and kind words after reading my last post.  We are very excited to begin this new journey toward our Baby J².  And we couldn't do it without your prayers!  So, now you get a little idea of why this blog has been so bare lately.  Aside from getting everything together for our home study, we have been busy packing box after box preparing for the big move!  And in the middle of all that, we thought we'd take a vacation.

If you have been around here for long, you know that it's not summer to us until the beach vacation!  My family has been going to the beach the first week of June (or end of May...depending on how the weeks fall) for as long as I can remember.  Nonnie and Pops had a timeshare at one of the condominiums Panama City Beach, so it is more than a vacation.  It's like going "home."  Memories are there.  LOTS and LOTS of memories.  I remember when our condo was the only one you could see for miles.  Things have certainly changed since those days.  None of us miss this trip if at all possible.

Russ and I decided early on that we would take Millie Janalee a day early.  We always wish we could stay longer and Russ had time off work, so we went with it.  We also used this trip as the big reveal for Millie Janalee to see all there is to see looking FORWARD on a car ride.  Yep, she's 22 months old and was still facing backwards.  For the record, it wasn't because of any strong conviction I had.  She was fine facing backwards, so I was fine with it too.  Ha!  She was so happy facing forward!  The entire 8-9 hour drive, we only turned the iPad on for an hour worth of shows.  The rest was spent talking to each other, singing songs, and having lunch in the car.  French fries in her cup holder may have been the most exciting thing to date in her opinion.

We arrived in Destin around supper, so we enjoyed a casual dinner at Buster's and some late night shopping at the outlet mall before checking into our hotel.  I'm not sure that the three of us have "vacationed" alone together ever.  It was very nice to enjoy time with just the three of us.  There's something about staying in a hotel away from home...away from the everyday distractions of daily life.  We love traveling!

We woke up the next morning and took our time checking out.  We strolled around the outlet mall to hit up a few stores we missed the night before.  Then, we drove over to The Crab Trap in Destin for a yummy lunch on the beach.  I couldn't wait to see the sand and the water!  I knew we could eat lunch on the "back porch" with open windows overlooking the ocean, so I requested the location.  Russ had never eaten there, and it was fun to take him someplace new.  Millie Janalee and I ate there last year with Kristin and Lee...so naturally we were experts.  Ha!

Russ had gumbo and some other fish dish.  I had popcorn shrimp.  Don't make fun.  I'm not a fish or crab or anything "sea life" eater.  I like my popcorn shrimp just fine!  Ha!  After lunch, we walked outside to breathe in the salty air and take a couple pictures.  Millie Janalee wanted to get in the sand and water so bad!  We managed to peel her away with only a short amount of crying just in time for a good, long nap.  She napped while Russ and I took the scenic route toward Panama City Beach.  We drove down 30A stopping in Seaside for some ice cream, and we ended up at our condo.

As soon as we were unloaded and a few things were unpacked, I asked Russ if we could take Millie Janalee down to the beach.  There's no time like the present, and I just couldn't wait to see how she would react this year to the sand and water.  Last year, she had just started crawling so she didn't have too much experience with either...outside her baby pool.

It's safe to say that she is a fan of both now!

I took her to the edge of the water to feel the waves hit her feet.  She pulled and pulled wanting to go further out.  We jumped a few waves and got the bottom of her outfit soaked before my back was aching from holding the girl up so only her feet were in the water, and I carried her away.  Kicking and screaming.  I know.  No fun.  She is a beach bum like her mama!  This makes me happy, happy, happy!

My uncle fixed a yummy supper of boiled shrimp, corn, potatoes, and Mama fixed a salad.  We enjoyed a family dinner with lots of loud talking and laughing.  That's the norm for the week.  If you can't handle it, don't even try to come with us.  Ha!  Clancy presented everyone with their monogrammed hats for the week, and Millie Janalee would. not. take. hers. off!  She LOVED her "haaaat"!  I loved mine too.  I can't believe we forgot to get a group pic wearing them.  Seriously, I had to make the girl take her hat off for bedtime.  And she put it back on to walk over to Mama's condo for breakfast.  Such a silly girl!

Millie Janalee and Daddy washing her feet after walking around the building barefoot

Going to the beach is my happy place.  Some people prefer the mountains or the lake or big cities or home.  I prefer the beach.  Sitting out on the balcony watching and listening to the waves crash...surrounded by my favorite people.  It feels like "home" to me.

Some moments just take your breath away...

Life is good at the beach.