Beach Day Fifteen

Clay got in last night around 10:30 and I was so glad to see him!! I forget how much he helps me when he is around all the time! He does A LOT and when it's just me doing it, I appreciate him even more! First thing that happened as a result of Daddy being home was that I got to sleep in until 8:00. Heaven!

Audrey got up wanting to go to ride a Ferris Wheel this morning. I have no idea where she got that idea from but I just told her there were not any around here. She then tells us that yes there are and then points toward Panama City and says, "It's down that way!". Um, so, yeah- we took off to find her a Ferris Wheel to ride!

We drove about 45 minutes over to Panama City Beach to Pier Park. It is a really neat shopping area and they have some of Miracle Strips old rides. They actually had a Ferris Wheel but it was open until 5:00 pm so poor Audrey didn't get to ride! We just spent our time shopping and walking around Pier Park.

 While Clay carried Audrey down the entire 1500 foot long pier, I gave Shelby Claire a bottle. She does the cutest little bashful face whenever someone new speaks to her and I think it is the most precious thing I've ever seen! She always smiles and then will turn her little head into my shoulder or her carseat. Here is pics of her doing it! I am so glad I caught it!

First, the sweet smile....

 ...and  then the precious turn of the head. Ahh.. I love my babies.

 We went back to the condo for naps and then spent more time in Seaside. It only takes us between 5-10 minutes to get to Seaside so we have been going there just about every other day. Each time we go, we have to get some kind of ice cream!

 Clay took these photos of Audrey. They are so hilarious to me because she was putting on a SHOW for the camera. She kept asking him to take "one more" as she changed her pose. I was standing in the background giggling uncontrollably. I couldn't believe she was actually doing all of these crazy poses!!

 We couldn't go a day without putting our toes in the sand and of course, more posing!! :D

So glad Clay's here!! Tomorrow we plan to hit the Seafood Festival and hang out some more on the beach. I want to try making a drip castle with Audrey myself!!

Beach Day Fourteen

We did actually make it out on the beach bright and early on Day 14. Too Too had gotten Audrey a new shovel and she was so excited to use it. She took it all over that beach!

 Shelby Claire wasn't in the mood to take a nap on the beach- she preferred to be held by her momma and I obliged her! Thankfully, Erica was there with Lyric and Audrey had two fun friends to play with while I tended to not-so-Smiley.

 Erica showed Audrey how to make her very first drip castle. She also schooled us both on sand fleas! :(   This is Lyric and Audrey showing off their hard work!

Since Smiley was not-so-Smiley, I couldn't take nearly as many pictures as I would have liked! The girls played very well together and had such a good time. Lyric and Erica left right at nap time and it worried Audrey that Lyric wouldn't be there when she woke up! She was so sad! She told me numerous time that "Lyric be back tomorrow!". So cute!

After nap, we took it easy around here. We went to the grocery store and stocked up in preparation for Clay to arrive again that night. He came down after work and we wanted to make sure we had all our groceries for the weekend so we wouldn't miss anytime with him!

Another fun day at the beach!!

Oh, and Erica and I stayed up way too late the night before AGAIN! We didn't learn from the first night!! :D So much fun...

Beach Day Thirteen

We woke up on Day 13 with big plans. We were going to head to the beach and spend all morning soaking up the sun and letting the girls play, play, play. Those plans didn't work out!! We got the girls all dressed and slathered down with sunscreen, loaded the wagon, and got half-way to the beach when we realized it was lightening and about to storm! We knew it was overcast but didn't realize the storm was so close to us! We turned around and went back to the condo!

*Shelby Claire had a small toe problem with her PJ's*

 We had no idea what to do with the girls but they were fired up and ready to do SOMETHING! Apparently, there are absolutely no indoor play places down here. We are so spoiled rotten with the amenities our town has to offer for kiddos. If it is raining, we can pick from a handful of fun things to go do. Down here, the only option we knew of was the McDonald's indoor playground! We joked that Erica drove 5 hours to go play at McDonald's!! We still had fun and the girls could have cared less!

The rain did stop that afternoon and we were able to get out in the sand after nap. Shelby Claire had gotten a new hat and was dying to show it off.

 Audrey drew a picture in the sand of her and her "baby" (Smiley). I loved it!

Even though it rained all morning, it turned out to be a beautiful, fun day. It was probably a good thing that we didn't have a whole lot planned that day because Erica and I stayed up waaaayyyy too late the night before talking our heads off!!

Beach Day Twelve

Today we said goodbye to Too Too and Grandaddy! They left around 10:00 or so and it was pretty hard on Audrey- well, all of us actually! They are a lot of help with the girls and Audrey LOVES them! She was napping everyday at their condo and each morning when she woke up she asked to go see them right off the bat. Thankfully, our friends Erica and Lyric came down tonight and that distracted her!

Too Too got Audrey a flashlight lollipop that projects a funny little character's image.  At bedtime, we pretend that "Flashy" is a dancing "ting" (thing) or that he is swimming in the ocean, etc. Audrey loves her Flashy so much and she thought Lyric would like one also. She got her purse with her money in it and told me it was time to go shopping!

 The little community we are staying at has an ice cream shop, a few restaurants, a pharmacy, cafe, women's clothing shops, and a group of little huts that have all kinds of different artists selling their art in them. The ice cream shop has been frequented by us VERY often. Audrey knows just about everything that they have for sale and the little flashlight lollipops are right on the counter as you check out. It is within walking distance but I loaded the girls up in the bike trailer to ride over there just to make the trip a little more fun!

 We went right before nap so we made the trip short. We were there and back within 20 minutes!

 After nap, we went and fed the turtles and fish that are in the pond in front of the condo. This has become one of our favorite things to do. Those fish are crr-aaa-zzzy! You can see them swimming toward the bridge as soon as we step foot on it! There are also two soft shell turtles in the pond and they are a lot of fun to watch.

  

After feeding the fish and turtles, we just went for a stroll around the neighborhood. I kept telling Audrey to smile at the camera but by the end, she was so over it and was asking for her supper. This picture sums it up!

 Shelby Claire absolutely loved every minute of it though! She also got a new hat and it is super cute!

It was a good, laid-back, soak every minute up with my girls, kind of afternoon. I loved it and even though we are at the beach, those kinds of days are still hard to come by!

Lyric and Erica arrived right at 8:00 and Audrey was so EXCITED to see Lyric! There was a whole lot of squealing and hugging going on! They will be here until Thursday so I am sure that is not the last of the squealing and hugging that we will see!

Day Eleven

Just like lazy beach bums, we spent all morning at the beach. After lunch and naps, we headed to Seaside to do a little shopping. I love that place. My new favorite store is Duckies Shop of Fun. It has the most variety of super cute stuff all in one store that I've seen since I came down here. It reminds me of Smith's Variety in Mountain Brook but nicer. Ha! A proud Mommy moment happened very unexpectedly while we were shopping in there. Grandaddy had given Audrey some money to put in her pocket while she went shopping. She picked out a water toy at one store and then while we were at Duckies asked me if she had any left. She had a truck in her hand that she had picked out for "my baby" and wanted to buy it for her!! I was so proud of her that she thought of her sister. Shelby Claire loved the little truck also!

Here is little Miss Generosity outside of the ice cream store in Seaside. She told me that she wanted to "meet" this ice cream cone.

 This was outside of Duckies right after she introduced herself to the "raffe" and zebra.

We are going to shop tomorrow in preparation for some sweet friends from home to come see us. They will be here tomorrow and Audrey is so excited! I think we will take a day off from the pool and the beach. I got a little too much sun today!

Beach Day Ten

Today we....

.....fed the birds some more bread. A lot of bread!

 ... ate a sucker that took almost all morning to eat! She savored it!

 ...played frisbee and almost got blisters on their hands.

 Explored and let her little brain soak up all the new experiences...

 ...built even more sandcastles....

 ...sat with Too Too and watched her Daddy and Grandaddy float in the water! The water was crystal clear and perfect today!

... just spent time together and enjoyed each other! Ready for more beach tomorrow!