Randoms from our week

We've had a busy, fun week. Well, most of it has been fun. Our air conditioning was out for about four days last week (the not fun part), so in our efforts to beat the heat, I bought an ice cream maker. I've been wanting one for a while and having no air conditioning in 95 degree heat could not have been a more perfect excuse!! The kiddos were so excited (and I'm not gonna lie- Chris and I were pretty excited, too!). 

 Waiting....

 And waiting...

 Homemade peach ice cream- perfecto!!

 Cade and Ella went a little nuts for that ice cream!

 Harper was not going to miss out! She loved drinking out of Daddy's bowl!

 It was all fun and games until Cade got splattered. Taking a picture probably made it worse, but these are the funny pictures my brothers and I love from when we were kids. Sorry, Buddy! Ha!

 In other news, our girl is on the move and loves to hide from Mommy.

 Papaw, Mamaw, and Payton came up for a visit on Saturday, and we went to Keehner Park for a picnic. Love those warm summer nights outside!

 Fun memories!

 Harper had her first taste of fried chicken and loved it.

 She also enjoyed her time on the swing.

Ella, Payton, and Cade had fun exploring the woods.

Yay for summer picnics!! =)

 Ella has hip hop dance camp every night this week, so we've been trying to do some special things with Cade while she's gone. He tried his first sushi Monday night, or "shushi" as he called it.

 It was a hit!!

More big news- Harper is finally standing up! She had us wondering there for a while if she was ever going to walk, but she is pulling up on everything this week. It won't be long now!

Harper also took her first ride in the Jeep last night and just giggled her little head off. Here's to our three big kiddos! They are growing up too fast!

More fun vacation pics

I have too many fun pics of other vacation stuff not to share! Papaw brought along some binoculars, and one of Ella and Cade's favorite things was to stand on the table on the balcony and see what they could see.

 It was vacation, so all rules flew out the door! This meant Ella and Cade could help themselves to as much junk and pop as they wanted. They took full advantage!

Harper and Pap

 We drove to Grayton Beach for dinner one night. We had a room all to ourselves, which was a good thing with our crew! Love my two boys!

 Me and Little Miss Personality

 Mom and Jared

 Harper enjoyed herself.

 Just because he's too cute!

 Mom and Dad offered to watch the kids one night so Chris and I could have a DATE!! Just another reason I love vacation! My sweet boy wanted to go along, too.

 Me and my honey

 Sunday was rainy pretty much all day- boo! We decided to drive down to Seaside to check out the town. I had heard Seaside was a neat place, but, again, we were blown away. Imagine the perfect, little beach town with beautiful homes, food stands on the corners, artist shops everywhere, kids riding bikes- that's Seaside. If you remember The Truman Show, that movie was filmed in Seaside and that's pretty much the way it is. It was so fun just walking around, checking it all out.

 Cade loved running the streets.

 We hunted down the Truman house so Jared could get a picture.

 And this is the home I picked out to retire in. My hubby said he'll make it happen. =)

 Our family

 Uncle Jared and the kiddos

 My dear friend, Andrea, and her family were staying not too far away in Okaloosa Island the same time we were there. I was so excited to find this out!! We met up for dinner in Destin one night. It is always so great to get to spend time with each other and our families.

 Abby and Ella would be such big buddies if we lived in the same town. Mom and Dad kept saying, "Look at little Andrea and little Melissa." They're just a tad younger than Andrea and I when we first became friends.

 My awesome parents. Love these two so much!

Our last night at the beach, we stayed in and enjoyed a shrimp feast on our balcony. Cade was excited to try his first peel and eat shrimp!

I enjoyed my time with my family sooo much! 

Fun memories

My little sweetie (can't get a picture with her eyes open to save my life!)

We were a little bummed to have to pack up and head home. BUT, we are so, so thankful for the opportunity to go on vacation and for all the great memories made.

My favorite things about vacation: time spent totally focused on my kiddos, having my husband around, no housecleaning, no school work, no clock watching, RELAXING!
I'm begging my husband to take me back next month! ha!

Seagrove Beach

 We been to lots of places in Florida, but none as beautiful as Seagrove Beach. We stumbled upon this place online, and actually thought we were heading to Santa Rosa Beach, but ended up being a few miles down the road in Seagrove. These little beach towns are all just a couple of miles apart and all so quaint. And we couldn't get over the beaches- they are just gorgeous!
A rainbow welcomed us to town.

After a long ride in the car, we were more than ready to check out the beach!!

{Insert loads of squeals and giggles here}

Harper wasn't sure about that sand and water on her toes. =)

Gram & Pap were excited to be there, too!

View from our balcony one morning

Ready for a beach day!

My little heartbreaker =)

 We spent lots of time relaxing and playing in the sand.

 Papaw was the construction supervisor. =)

We buried Ella in the sand while she just giggled.

Harper enjoyed the sea breezes on her face.

Then she and I worked hard to fill our bucket.

She had a blast in that sand that day until she decided to put a handful in her mouth! Her (and my) beach time came to an abrupt end! ha!

Happy girl

 Some shots of the beach. I took so many of these because it was just so beautiful.

 Harper liked pool time quite a bit better than beach time! Or maybe she just liked all the special attention from her daddy. =)

 Relaxing poolside

Cade is absolutely fearless in the water. He loved showing us all of his pool tricks. No telling how many times I heard, "Watch this, Mom!"

Just a fun one

My favorite shot of the beach

 I loved watching these two.

 Most definitely one of God's most amazing creations and most definitely our new favorite spot in the Sunshine State. We can't wait to go back!!