Girls night in Savannah and Gulf Shores trip

I have been waiting on pictures from my girls night in Savannah before posting this, but it is taking too long, so here goes-

A few weeks ago we left for our week long trip to visit with family and celebrate Justin's graduation. We rented a beach house in Gulf Shores, AL. My mother-in-law drove down with us and we made a quick stop in Savannah for the night so that I could go to my good friend from college, Jenny O's bachelorette party. Fun story about Jenny O-she met her soon to be husband at my bachelorette party almost 5 years ago. We were all playing party games and one thing was that we had to find a guy in a bar to take of his shirt and propose to me. It just so happens that Jenny hit it of with the guy who was chosen (we affectionately named him "Cowboy Steve" and they were inseparable after that.

I am so excited that they are getting married, although sad that we are going to miss the wedding in Punta Cana, DR. Let me say it again: I am SICK that we are going to miss their beautiful wedding :( At any rate, It was such a treat to see many of my long lost BFF from college in Savannah. I sure do miss the old days in college where we all were pretty much inseparable all of the time. We were all on the dance team together and so we saw each other pretty much every day. Now we are all spread out across the U.S., so it is a rare treat to get together. And can I just say I LOVE how everyone is exactly the same when we get together. I hope that never changes! Even though life has taken us on different paths you can always count on the same personalities to click, the same ones to clash, and everyone to have a blast together. Although I do have to say, the night would have been even better if my girl Sara had been there. We had a great time and I was just so happy to be there. Plus I really needed a girls night. JennyO looked beautiful and we had a lot of fun. My girl Whitnei was hilarious and kept me laughing most of the night. I got in pretty late that night and only got about 4 hours of sleep that night. It was so worth it, though!

The next day was Mother's day and we headed out for FL. We stopped halfway and stayed over the night in Marianna FL. There was nothing too exciting there, but it was nice not to have to make the trip all in one day. The next day we arrived in Gulf Shores. A few hours later, Justin's sister Brooke, Adrian, Kaylan and Kendall showed up. It was SO nice to see them and get to spend time with family and our sweet nieces. Jackson didn't know what to think about Kaylan at first, but he was actually scared of Kendall...it was hilarious! I am not sure why. The best part was, sweet tiny Kendall was enthralled with him and every time she came near him he would run away. I can't wait to tell him about it one day when he is older! That afternoon we all headed out the pool. Jackson proceeded to rub his eye and get sunscreen in his eye, which made him VERY unhappy. He cried and cried-It was so sad to see him so upset. Finally we made it to the pool and he really seemed to enjoy it. That night we ordered takeout from a nearby restaurant and then crashed.

Throughout the rest of the week, we spent most mornings at the beach. We rented a tent for the kiddos to play under and we had beach toys galore. Jackson seemed to really like the sand and water, although we didn't go too far out in the gulf. The water was kind of rough most days. Once Kaylan ventured out with Adrian into the water, she didn't want to get out. Kendall on the other hand preferred to hang out inside. She wasn't too keen on the feeling of her feet in the sand. We had a couple of dinners at the house that were just so delicious! Adrian made a shrimp boil one night and then grilled out hamburgers and hot dogs another night and it was SO GOOD! We also ate at some fantastic seafood restaurants: Bahama Bobs Beachfront restaurant, The Hangout, and The Original Oyster House were a few of our favorites. One of my favorite parts of the vacation was our afternoon naps. After a morning at the beach and showers, it was just awesome to climb in bed with Jackson in between us and take a long nap. I have always been a huge fan of naps! One day after our nap we went to the zoo, which was fun. It was a small zoo, which was perfect size for us. Jackson seemed to enjoy feeding the goats. Another highlight for me on the trip was our evening walks on the beach with the whole fam as the sun was setting.

We had perfect weather, except for one afternoon right before we left when we got a crazy storm. The rain was coming down so hard and the wind was blowing it sideways. We went back down to the beach afterwards and our tent had completely bent-as in the metal poles were twisted and bent. I couldn't believe it! The people next to us completely lost their tent. Glad we were safe inside for that one! One funny part of the trip that I meant to mention earlier-the first day at the pool, we saw what we thought was a giant rat go scurrying by the pool. It really freaked us out and we got out soon after. The next day we saw a sign on the beach about the turtles and Alabama sand mice being federally protected in this area. Justin's mom was so funny-she kept saying " I can understand turtles, but RODENTS? You've got to be kidding me". Then me and Justin started calling the trip "Nights in Rodent-e", like the Nicholas Sparks book/movie. I guess you had to be there.


We had so much fun spending time with everyone and we were sad to go home. By the end of the trip Jackson was following Kaylan around and playing hide and seek with her. He was still leery of Kendall. I really wish we all lived closer together. Jackson also really warmed up to Aunt Boo Boo, Uncle A, and Nana, especially toward the end of the trip. I can't wait to see everyone again-hopefully soon! Here are a few photos:

My Mother's Day Flowers

Playing with Daddy on the Beach




Sweet Kaylan-she is getting so big!




Happiest baby ever!


Jackson in mid-tantrum. Also, theres nothing like spending a week in a bathing suit to make you feel horrible about your body. I am 3 lbs up from my pre-Jackson weight, 6 lbs up from wedding weight...unacceptable. I am working on it, though!


Gulf Shores Zoo-this tiger had it out for Justin. He kept acting agitated when Justin came around and kept spraying at us. Glad we were far enough out of the way not to get hit!

Enjoying his Firefly Sweet Tea:

Jackson thinks everything Uncle "A" does in hilarious!


He loves his Aunt Boo boo. He has been asking for her since our trip.

During one of our evening walks-please excuse the crazy hair

Kaylan was a little camera shy

Nana with all of her grands

This playground was amazing!

He would swing all day if it were up to him...

Can you find Kaylan in this picture?

Saying bye bye-giving Uncle A a high five

He sleeps like this all the time in the car now. Ah, to have the life of Jackson-It must be good!