We live where people vacation...

This trip could not have come at a better time.  With only about a half hour drive, we were on vacation!

There were popsicles in lounge chairs...

Beautiful views...

Serious sand castle building...

Connor learned how to use a mask & LOVED diving for sand dollars.

The boys hunted bait fish together with their cast net and bucket in tow.

Noah was a hoot, as usual, and thoroughly enjoyed jumping, "...the big, BIG waves," as well as scarfing endless chips and M&M's.

This guy got a nice break from the stress of work, which was extremely refreshing to see.

These guys got to cruise around on a Wave Runner, which Connor declared was his favorite part of our whole trip.

We trotted across the street to get some Slurpees.

We got to watch my dad relive memories from when he was a kid staying at the beach with his grandparents.  And now, my kids are making memories with their grandparents on the beach.  Funny how life comes full circle.

We had a nasty storm blow through, but it cleared just in time for a gorgeous sunset.

(PS--I wanted to make sure I made it into at least one of our vacation photos, so had Dad take our picture.  He snapped away while Mom got the kids' attention & we got this beauty out of it.  Good work, parents!)

If you give your kids a sea pen...

...Noah will litter the beach with alphabet graffiti

My kids are SO incredibly blessed to have these two as grandparents.

These two can drive eachother bananas one minute and are best buds the next minute.  They definitely bonded this trip and LOVED sharing a bed for the first time.

Adventures with Papa....

Who doesn't stick Twizzlers in their nose?!

Ever wonder how I became so cool?!  This lady right here.

Best buds.

The sand bar was loaded with sand dollars.  I've never seen so many!  We had fun seeing how many we could scoop up.

And made sure we set them all free once we were done :)

 The beach is always so therapeutic & it was just what we all needed.

Celebrating the life of my Grandma

Today we celebrated the life of my Grandma Couchman.  It was a day full of tears, laughs, love and family time.

My grandma didn't fit the mold of the 'typical grandmother.'  She never knitted me anything that I can remember or passed down any recipes.  Instead, she taught me how to do the splits for my junior varsity cheerleading tryouts.  I did the splits one time in my entire life at tryouts to make the squad & it was all after she helped me.  She never missed a holiday or birthday.  She was Aaron Neville cassette tapes in the car, humming to any song, dessert lover, squishy hugs, house slippers, frequent cruiser, and my biggest blog fan.

I don't know if it hurts more to lose my grandmother or to see my mom lose her mom.  She passed away before we were ready.  She 'danced' her way into people's hearts & she will be greatly missed my many.

Having all of our family together definitely made the day a little brighter. 

Heaven got a little brighter

To my favorite blog reader~

You went before we were ready, but not sure you're ever really ready.  I will remember you when I hear Aaron Neville, see ball room dancing, see house slippers, or walk past the Walmart brand peanut butter cups at the store.  You were always there to support me through my ex-husband non-sense and always reminded me of how well I was raising my boys.  You had more stories than a library of your 88 years on this Earth.  And now, you can dance your way through the clouds of Heaven with your Del.  It doesn't feel real just yet, but my heart is hurting.

We will surely miss you.

Keep dancing, Grandma! 

 And all those dessert calories don't count in Heaven, so indulge yourself!  

xoxoxo

If toddlers ruled the world...

Noah & I took our first road trip together and ventured to Mount Dora for a quick stay with my dear friend, Rachel.  Rach's husband was working a 24 hour shift at the fire station & loves company.  I am missing my Connor horribly as he's gone for 10 days, so needed to stay busy.  We thought it was the best time to get together!  

The car ride was close to four hours of kid music and hunting for alphabet letters on road signs, but it actually was a very enjoyable ride together!  

I didn't know what to expect with Noah sleeping away from home, but he went to sleep fine in a Pack N Play (after going all day without a nap & being exhausted).  He was asleep by about 9:15pm and I fell asleep in the same room shortly after.  I received a phone call from my homesick Connor at 10pm, so I tried to wake myself quickly, talk quietly enough to not wake Noah next to me & help make Connor feel comfort.  I was mentally prepared for loading up & driving all the way to him the moment Connor said he needed me, but we were able to talk & he settled for bed that night okay.  From that phone call on, I was now awake & my mind was all over the place.  Noah woke about a half hour later, so I plopped him on the air mattress with me and he snoozed the rest of the night.  I survived on caffeinated beverages the next day!

It was a trip all about toddler fun & it was great to see our boys interact with one another.  With two moms and two toddlers, it was a great dynamic where we both understood each other & worked as a team to corral the beasts when needed!

The boys are a year apart in age, but are basically the same size!

Although it's nice to see Noah enjoy his regular 3 hour naps in his crib at home again, we are SO glad we made the mini trip!  We ventured all over in a small amount of time & the kids had such a great time together.

Now, hurry the heck up, Monday.  I need my Connor home again!

And just like that, 1st grade is almost over. Why is it that I vividly remember being in Mrs. Van Cleve's 2nd grade class & now MY baby is going to be in 2nd grade?!

Big awards this morning~ Connor racked up the citizenship award (behavior/manners), AR award (reached his reading goal all year), PE award (top athlete in class), Sight Words award (100's all year on sight words), Straight A's all year award, and Team Player award just to name a few. I am SO SO proud of my sweet boy! Noah did really well sitting through the whole ceremony, although he exclaimed, "All done now! Are those cookies?!" numerous times throughout as he anxiously awaited the post-ceremony refreshments.

Summer time is just around the corner! 

 Here's to later bedtimes and less routine!