4th at Ono

or... my longest post yet in terms of pictures.  I'm just going to go ahead and apologize.  Honestly I couldn't contain myself.  When you combine three adorable kids, the beach, a holiday weekend and Kimmy's fabulous camera, there's no way I could narrow it down. So enjoy the abundance of photos and shorter than usual descriptions.

We arrived at Orange Beach's, Ono Island on Friday evening and Savannah and Grant were thrilled to be in eachother's company and on vacation!

Ron and I awoke each morning early and enjoyed this view while sipping on coffee.

We were graciously invited to spend the weekend here with the Cox Clan.

Saturday morning we went to a Patriotic Parade.

Grant and Savannah were dead ringers for lots of loot.

They loved the suckers they caught.

We took the boat to an island, swam and built sandcastles.

Dug in the sand,

and laughed at eachother because we looked silly in shades.

Washed the sand off and read books before naps.

Got dressed up in matching patriotic outfits because our Mommies said so and went to dinner

Refused to really smile for the camera because we were more interested in the neighbors.

Pointed at the "woof woofs"

Only family photo from the weekend.

We ran into newly married, Ashley at the restaurant.  Remember, Ron and I went to their reception at that fabulous house in Fairhope?

Sunday was the same scenario... Grant loves the beach!

and his goldfish.

Savannah and Grant played their little hearts out and we enjoyed them taking three hour naps each day!

Kimmy and I with our pal, Melanie

The highlight of Sunday evening for the kids was the Ice Cream Boat.  They both had cotton candy Popsicles.

Sad to see the Ice Cream Boat go.

Grant devoured his and made a huge mess.

Savannah loved hers as well.

Perfect ending to a great day.

or so we thought... couldn't go to bed without playing Mardi Gras which consisted of Nathan throwing beads down to the kids to catch

Thanks for a great weekend Kimmy and Nathan!

and if you still have some time to kill, check out our fourth of july with the Cox family last year.  It's amazing how much our babies have grown in one year!  CLICK HERE.

Ice Cream...

You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream!

With the scorching HOT days we've had lately, Grant's had many ice cream days with his pals.

He loves going to Moo Chee Chee, the frozen yogurt bar with Sweet Savannah

 He also loves visiting Marble Slab after playing at the fountain with Luke.  Cotton Candy Ice Cream is his favorite!

 Luke loves birthday cake ice cream with sprinkles!

 and I just wanted to throw this one in because it makes me smile.  :)

Beach Bums

Last Saturday we took Laurie and Drew's new fishing boat to Dauphin Island and let the boys loose on their own private Isle.

Grant and Luke had a wild time exploring, playing in the sand and swimming!

When it was time to leave we stripped them down and let them run wild ne-ked before dunking them in the water to clean all the sand off.  Grant loved his ne-ked freedom since he always wants his clothes, "off" anyways.

Boys will be boys...

After an exciting morning it was time to head home.  The boys played so hard and both had trouble keeping their eyes open on the way home!



Christmas in June?

Ron has many lifelong friends from the time he was deployed with the USMC on the MEU.  He's kept in great contact with a lot of his fellow Marines and was able to catch up with one of his past roommates while we were home for Jeffrey's wedding.  Dave has been deployed several times to Afghanistan since these two were bunk mates but luckily he was home on our recent visit to NC.  With a weekend so full of organized activities it was hard to pin-point a time for them to get together so our only option was to invite good 'ole Dave to the wedding!

 Dave had never met Grant but said he felt like he knew him because he's an avid reader of our blog.  Dave paid a visit to Toys-R-Us before his visit and bought Grant several "big boy" toys. His girlfriend wanted to know if he had bought these things for himself and Ron, or Grant!

Grant loves his chainsaw, it lights up and he loves to put on his goggles which he calls, "glasses!"

Watch Out World!

Ron and Dave also spent a lot of time discussing their goals in life while on ship and both agreed they wanted to own a Donzi one day.  One can dream right?

Dave bought Grant (or Ron) his very own remote control Donzi speed boat!

Grant (and Ron) had a great time driving it on the lake behind my parents house!

I think this speed boat will do for now or forever if you ask me!

Thanks for coming to see us Dave and spoiling Grant rotten!

Celebrating MTG

On Father's Day I helped host a baby shower for my dear childhood friend Emily.  She is expecting a little boy in September and his name will be Mark Thomas.  I once again attempted making a diaper cake for the centerpiece and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.  Check out my first attempt HERE.

This was a dessert shower held at our family friend, Ms. Connie's house.  We had every kind of dessert you could imagine.  My favorite was the pound cake with homemade whip cream and strawberries, YUM-O!

Chocolate cake, truffles, carrot cake bites, strawberry cake, even M&M's.  It was heaven.

Mark Thomas even had his own cake!

 Jessica, Kate, Emily, Lauren, Berkley and I, high school friends

My Mom and the Mom-to-Be, Emily!

Emily loved the giraffe play mat that I gave her.  Grant has a monkey one that we have enjoyed since day one!

Emily and I

After the shower the men were all invited to come eat the leftover desserts.  After all, it was Father's Day!  Grant was able to make an appearance and play with Emily's nephew, Hudson.  They had a blast with light sabers! 

We can't wait to meet you, Mark Thomas!

Grant and Sam, One Year Later

The Martin's came over for a quick visit on Father's Day.    Grant and Sammy love spending time together.  They both have grown by leaps and bounds in a year.  Check out this post to see what these two were up to a year ago together.

 They watched the ducks swim about and yelled, "Quack!"

Of course, I'm not one to miss out on a photo opportunity so when Sammy came over in a shortall that Grant owns as well I ran into the house to change Grant's clothes so we could take pictures of these sweet boys together.

What I should have really done is comb Grant's hair, :)

and they've had enough... escape artists once again!