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Thursday, December 24, 2015

Christmas Eve & Brother Gifts

I'm not really sure when this tradition started. But I love it! On Christmas eve the boys give gifts to each other. They shop, they buy, they wrap them. They usually come from Five Below or the Dollar Tree ... but the sentiment is there!

Jacob gave his gifts first - he got Blaine a mini skateboard and Jarrett a 'merica neck pillow. (that neck pillow has been used A LOT!)

Next up Jarrett gave his gifts - he got Jacob and Blaine both some nice BIG headphones. They loved them!

And last but not least, Blaine gave his gifts. Jacob got a nerf gun and Jarrett some 'flow' bands ...

Love these boys! Merry almost-Christmas!

Disney!!

One of the many things I've learned as an adult - peer pressure never goes away. I thought once I got out of the teenage years and the college years, peer pressure would just fade away. Nope. It doesn't. As an adult and a parent, I sometimes feel like peer pressure is even more rampant. Case in point: Disney World. Seriously. I mean, nearly all the families we know have gone. Usually multiple times. Everyone raves about it. Talks about how magical it is. Makes it seem like it HAS to be a bucket list item for every family. Or at least that's the way my brain heard it! (and that's not a bust on all our friends that love disney!! I promise!)

Well, if you know us, you know we love our beach vacations. And by vacation, we mean heading out to the ocean at about 10 a.m. with lunch and all snacks in tow and not returning inside until 7 or so. Vacation = vegging out completely. So walking miles and miles around a theme park with thousands of other families just wasn't an even trade for vacation time. But still I felt the pressure to take the boys and go as a family before we hit the high school years.

So last year on my New Year's goals, I listed Disney as a place I wanted to visit. I talked to Bowdie about it. We decided we needed to pull the trigger. Our friends Chris and Kelly go every other year, so we talked to them about tagging along. They were all for it. And I was all for going with a family that knew their way around what was probably one of the most intimidating locations I've ever been to!

So we kept it a surprise from the boys. We booked our lodging, ordered our magic bands, made our restaurant reservations and reserved our fast passes. We decided to let them boys know on Christmas eve when they do their brother gifts. I got each of them a $20 disney gift card and wrapped it up. I printed out 'Are you ready to go somewhere magical?' on a piece of cardstock and cut it apart like a puzzle. They opened the box, put the puzzle together, and then opened their gift cards. They were happy enough ... but when they realized we were going with the Stricklands AND they got to miss 3 days of school to boot - well that's when the magic really happened!!! The video reaction is completely priceless. (but because we print out our blog into a book, i'm not adding it here)

So Mickey ... here we come! :)

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Blaine's Christmas Recital

Oh my goodness. I love the Christmas recital the best. All the students did so well ... and Blaine, although he tries to say he doesn't like it, continues to progress. He definitely has a gift and aptitude for music. Mrs. Pam is so wonderful as his teacher. She gets his playful side and understands that he also plays sports. She knows just how to challenge him without frustrating him. It's pretty magical!

So happy that so many in the fam came out to see him play ... :)

Friday, July 4, 2014

Day 3 ... final games

Thursday was another HOT one.

The boys had made it to bracket play ... with a record of 2-2 in pool play.

They ended up winning their first blacket game - look at their faces!

Pure adrenaline after that win!

It was a good second game, but we came up short.

Blaine and his buddy Braeden

All the little sisters - dressed for July 4th!

Jarrett attempted to use GameChangers to score the game,

but it got too complicated!

Love this pic that they took at the tourney -

they sure know how to get parents to spend $$!

These were our pins that the boys traded with the other teams in the tourney.

And this was the best part of the day!!

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

2nd day of ball ....

So, we already established just how HOT Orange Beach could be in the dead of July. Day 2 was no different. We showed up, played hard and came away with 2 wins on the day.

One of the best things ever invented for sweltering days is a rag thingy called a Frog Tog. Basically its this rubbery material that you can stick in ice water and keep cold. Then wring it out when you need to cool off and put it around your neck or on your head like Blaine above. Made me think of Clifford the big red dog!

Not such a bad day when you realize you get to end it like this!

Jacob and his buddies and Blaine with Braeden. Fun times for all!

And because Aunt Beck was with us, we were able to sneak in a date night! This restaurant was yummy and had pretty views off a nearby pier while we waited!

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

We have arrived!

So we arrived late Sunday night at Orange Beach. So grateful to Beck for driving us - I was in NO condition to be operating a vehicle - sleep deprivation tends to make that a bit dangerous!

Monday we woke up and had mostly a free day - the boys played in the courtyard, on the beach, in the ocean, in the pool. Basically anywhere they could! The coaches took the team to the pin trading event and let us moms stay at the condos. Then we cooked out for dinner - and walked across the street to ride go carts. A blast! Just so so sad that Bowdie was home working while we all played. Love that man!