State of Affairs, September Edition

Outings
We kicked off September with a trip to Atlanta to see the first Auburn football game of the season.  Though I can't quite bring myself to cheer for AU, I don't exactly cheer against them either, and it was a fun day with friends.  Addison & Mackenzie had a great time with their NiNi & Grandpa, as always.

The big event of the month, of course, was our beach vacation.  Not much left to say there....except it stinks we have to wait an entire year to go back.

Last Friday night, I went with two friends from work to the Atlanta Braves game.  The season is winding down and this was our last chance to see Chipper Jones, a player we have all watched since childhood.  I was bummed that Jeremy didn't get to go (work--boo!), but it turned out to be a fun girls' trip.  I need more nights like that in my life, I think!

Books read: 5

A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald--A fascinating look into the life of Jeffrey MacDonald, the so-called "Green Beret Killer".  Did MacDonald kill his pregnant wife and his daughters?  Maybe.  Did he get a fair trial?   Definitely not.  If you're interested in legal dramas or true crime, take a look at this book.  (Full review here.)

This Lullaby--Sarah Dessen knows her craft, and she does it so well.  This wasn't my favorite book of hers, and the plot was pretty forgettable....but still, it's always a joy to experience another Dessen book for the first time.

The Candidate--Not as great as I hoped it might be, but a fun look at some of the behind-the-scenes aspects of national politics.  (Reviewed here.)

The Guy Not Taken--A collection of short stories by Jennifer Weiner.  I suppose it says something about my opinion of the book that I didn't realize I had read it before until I was halfway through the first story.  I have a lukewarm relationship with short stories--they have to be really outstanding to make a lasting impression on me--and nothing here struck me as extraordinary.

Sad Desk Salad--An interesting first novel from former Jezebel writer Jessica Grose.  Review to be posted next week.

Music/TV/Movies

All hail the return of fall tv!  I'm cutting down to only the shows I really enjoy and deem worthy of my time, but I am super excited for the return of my favorites.  (For the record, current favorites would include Grey's Anatomy, Revenge, New Girl, and The Big Bang Theory.)

The new Mumford & Sons album was my splurge purchase of the week, and I'm loving it right now.

Notables
-- The dynamic duo spent their first night ever in a hotel.
-- I made my first semi-long-distance drive alone with the girls--from home to Montgomery.  It was just fine, not really a big deal at all, but I realized that was the longest trip I'd made with them by myself with them in the car.
--A & M tried calamari for the first time at the beach.  Addison liked it quite a bit and kept eating even after she found out what it was!
--Addison also had her first run-in with a crab at the beach.  We were playing in a small tide pool, looking at shells and little fish, when A saw the tiny legs of a sand crab poking out a shell she was holding.  She dropped it quickly and was ready to run, but finally calmed down and examined the creature from a slight distance.  It was pretty amusing.  : )

How was your September?

Big Fat Vacation Recap

When we started planning this year's vacation, Jeremy and I decided it was time for the middle-of-the-night driving to come to an end.  It worked really well when the girls were babies, but it was exhausting for the two of us.  They're big enough to tough out the six-hour car ride now, we figured.

A couple of weeks before we left, at Jeremy's parents' suggestion, we decided we would all get a hotel room Saturday night in the Montgomery area, roughly the halfway point in the trip.  The layover provided a great excuse to pull out our zoo passes and visit the Birmingham Zoo.  At the last minute, Jeremy was offered tickets to the Auburn football game--for free!  Being the awesome wife that I am (right, Jeremy?!), I encouraged him to take them and just meet us in Montgomery after the game (AU is very nearby, so they would come through there leaving the game anyway).

Jeremy and his friends left for Auburn bright and early Saturday morning, and a few hours later the girls and I set out for Birmingham.  Jeremy's parents met us for a picnic (at the girls' request) and an afternoon wandering the zoo. 

At the end of the day, we all checked into our Prattville hotel, where a tired and slightly sunburned Jeremy was waiting.  This was Addison & Mackenzie's first time staying in a regular hotel, and I was a little nervous about how they would sleep.  It wasn't too bad, just a little trouble getting them to settle down at bedtime.  They did think the lobby was for hanging out, and kept asking if we could "go down to the living room" or if we could "go to the kitchen and get a snack".  Oh, how those girls make me laugh!

After a delicious breakfast Sunday morning, we were on our way to Gulf Shores.  It was so, so nice to only have to drive three-ish hours.  We all felt pretty great when we arrived, so we just went directly to our favorite lunch spot for some fresh seafood.  We were all happy to be out of the car and in sight of the ocean.

(That's Mackenzie, refusing to give me a smile)

We unloaded at the condo--conveniently just two doors down from Sea N' Suds--and after a little unpacking and digging for swimsuits, we headed straight down to the beach.  The girls were so excited, especially sweet little Addison, who kept dancing around, giggling and squealing.  When I asked if she liked it, she answered, "Yeah, that's why I'm laughing so much!" with a gigantic grin on her face.  That is absolutely a moment I feel sure I will never forget.  

And you know, that was pretty much just how the entire trip went--we hung out on the beach, we swam in the pool, we ate, we read, we napped, we shopped, and we watched lots of Netflix on the iPad--we did what we wanted, when we wanted, without agenda.  It was glorious!  It rained and stormed all day Monday, so Jeremy and I took advantage of the situation and went back to the outlets and got all of our shopping done.  (We usually stock up on fall clothes and warm-weather bargains on this visit.)  Every other day was just beautiful, perfect beach weather.

One of my absolute favorite things was watching the girls play together so well.  Even at home, I am noticing them playing together more than ever, but it was especially evident last week.  They would dig in the sand for hours, carrying on lengthy conversations about their intricate games of pretend.  And geez, do these girls have two wonderful imaginations...they absolutely blow me away sometimes.  Sitting there watching the waves, with a book in my hands, my husband by my side, and my two babies playing happily together...it's hard to imagine a more perfect moment.

Can't you just hear that sweet conversation?

There's not much else to tell...it was an uneventful trip in the best way.  The only thing I'm sad about is the fact that next year will likely be our last late September trip, since A & M will be in SCHOOL the following year.  How is that possible??

(Naturally, I have a few more pictures to share...coming soon!)

The Busy Season

It's back to business as usual for us this week, after a fabulous vacation last week.  We had a great trip this year, definitely our best yet!  Of course, that just makes it even harder to return to the daily grind, but I'm thankful to have this quiet little life to return to...even if the view isn't quite as nice as last week's was:

Our big vacation may be over for the year, but we have plenty going on in the next month to keep us busy.  Fall is shaping up to be quite the action-packed season around here.  Just today I realized that I will have to take an afternoon off to visit the pumpkin patch before Halloween, unless we can go on a Sunday afternoon!

Here is a look at what's on our calendar for the next month:

--An Atlanta Braves game this weekend, with one last chance to see our beloved Chipper Jones 
--A trip with Addison & Mackenzie to see the Fresh Beat Band Live tour...their first "concert" experience!
--A quick pediatrician visit for this year's flu vaccine
--Two birthday parties
--A family picture session, during which we will hopefully get this year's perfect Christmas card photo
--A wedding weekend in Mobile, AL...six hours from here, practically back down at the beach again
--The Mobile weekend will not only be A & M's first wedding experience, but they will also be the flower girls!  That should be...interesting.
--One more wedding the next weekend, a little closer to home.  Thankfully, we will just be attending that one.
--And finally, we will round out the month with a little Trick-or-Treating.  The girls already have their butterfly costumes ready and waiting!

What's on your agenda for these first few weeks of fall?  Are you as excited as I am about this glorious season?

Travels with Twins, Take Four

As we prepare to take our fourth major vacation as a family of four, I can't help but think about the previous beach trips we've had over the past three years.   Thank goodness I have a blog to help me relive all those memories...

First Beach Trip, October 2009

Addison & Mackenzie were six months old when we they visited the beach for the first time.  This was before the state of Alabama was completely broke and everyone in our office still got to attend a conference each year.  (I'm just a little bitter about the loss of that perk, can you tell?)  Perhaps the phrase "visited the beach" is a little misleading.  Although there was gorgeous fall weather, I think we walked down to the beach twice and stuck the girls' toes in the sand. 

I know my family thought we were crazy to be taking the trip that year.  Looking back, I think Jeremy and I were so overwhelmed with the difficulties of adjusting to the first year of life with twins that we were desperate to do something "normal" again.  We thought a nice fall getaway might give us some time to relax and enjoy spending lots of time together.

HAAAAAAAA.

Looking back at my posts from that first trip, I see that I had an overall pretty good attitude about the trip.  But I remember that it was hard.  I remember Mackenzie having her first-ever public meltdown in a restaurant, and I remember sitting in the backseat, between the carseats, singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" over and over to keep the girls calm.  I do remember that we were glad to spend several uninterrupted days together as a family, but I also know that we weren't at all sad to pack up and head home.

Second Beach Trip, May 2010

Once again, when the opportunity for a work conference/vacation presented itself, we weren't about to pass it up.  Although we said after the first trip that we would NOT be doing it again anytime soon, we were positive the second trip would go more smoothly than the first.  After all, we had one-year-olds instead of six-month-olds, which sounds so much better, right?  (Right???)

In some ways it was a much more fun trip; at other times, not so much.  We drove at night again, and I remember the trip down being fairly smooth, except for an exhausted mama and daddy.  Since it was May, the weather was much more beach/pool friendly.  We schlepped over to the beach once (we were across the road at an amazing resort), where Addison slept the entire time and Mackenzie cried when she touched the sand.  After that, we spent a lot of time at the pool.  (Not in the super-awesome lazy river, which I didn't get to enjoy even once...not that I'm bitter!)

The upside to this trip was my sister and her friends staying with us for most of the week.  Having a few extra hands around to baby-wrangle was nice, and Jeremy and I were able to go out to dinner alone several nights after A & M were in bed.  That was definitely a high point for us. 

A few days into the trip, the girls seemed to grow tired of being in an unfamiliar place and started to get cranky and have trouble going to sleep.  Rather than fight it too much, we gave in and headed home an entire day early.  We left at bedtime on Thursday night, leaving the condo to my sister for the last two nights.  I know I was very, very glad to see my bed around 2 a.m. that night!

Third Beach Trip, September 2011

Because Jeremy and I went on a cruise in May of last year, we didn't really plan to take another vacation.  But come late summer, we were itching for another getaway.  Luckily, his parents were up for a short trip as well, and we made it happen in late September. 

Finally, we had the laidback, fun, relaxing family vacation we'd been dreaming of since our first attempt in 2009.  Addison & Mackenzie were not just well-behaved...they were sweet and happy and just pure awesome.  We didn't have to pack up half the house with us for this trip.  We didn't even have to take those dreaded pack n' plays...the girls shared the bottom bunk in their own room and they have seriously talked about it ever since.  It was the highlight of their year, I believe.

We had such a good time last year that we wished we could stay a couple more days.  This time, we have almost an entire week to enjoy together, and I am ever so hopeful that it will be our best vacation yet!

Ten for Tuesday

• Thanks for all the input on our next computer.  After much dithering, we purchased a Macbook Pro yesterday.  If you ask Jeremy, it's probably my Valentine's Day/Mother's Day/birthday present for the year, but hopefully it will prove to be worth it!

• On that note, I am quite sure I will be asking you experienced Mac-users many questions in the weeks ahead.  My first question--Do you store your pictures in iPhoto on the hard drive?  I want to use the editing features in iPhoto, but I like to keep my pictures on the external hard drive, and at this point, I am a little overwhelmed by all of that.  What's your photo-editing and -storing method? 

•  There has been a virus going around our town and I am so very ready for it to move along and leave us alone.  Nearly everyone I know has had it in some form over the last few weeks, including Mackenzie (last week), Addison (right now), and my mom (also right now).  I am feeling the urge to deep clean the entire house...which, if you know me, is SO not normal.  

• We are starting to talk about the girls' THIRD birthday, which is coming up in just over two months.  I keep saying they are almost three, leading them to some confusion when asked how old they are.  Two?  Three?  Somewhere in between?

• A & M have gotten the idea in their heads that they want a blow-up bounce house at their party.  In our previous experiences with bounce houses, they only wanted to jump when there was no one else in it, so I'm not too sure how that will go over at the party.  I foresee my girls doing their jumping after everyone is gone, but maybe the other guests will enjoy it.  

• They got the idea of the bounce house while watching a child fly off of one on America's Funniest Home Videos...maybe it's time to discontinue viewing that show before they get any more ideas?

• I really want to go see my sister in Baton Rouge next month, so I'm on the lookout for cheap airfare.  She is working as a missionary with Campus Outreach at LSU and will be moving into her first real house soon.  She's all grown up, and I could not be more proud of her!

• I am debating the possibility of scheduling my trip to coincide with Mardi Gras, which I have never experienced.  I'm a little worried that I am too old and uptight to enjoy it, but I still want to do it at some point in my life.  Have you been to Mardi Gras?  

•  Looking at airfare really gives me the travel bug.  I have all sorts of trip possibilities planned in my head right now.  Looking back at 2011, we did quite a bit more traveling than I expected at the beginning of the year, both as a family and Jeremy and me.  I look forward to many more adventures this year...mostly nearby, but we might sneak a couple of larger explorations in there as well!  I dream of a relaxing getaway to Charleston and Savannah, but I feel like it could get a little expensive, so we'll have to see on that one.

• Speaking of expensive traveling, we are very tentatively beginning to talk about a trip to Disney World.  I have my sights set on December 2013.  I have heard December is a good month to go, with mild weather and not too many people.  The girls will be four--old enough to enjoy it, but still plenty young enough to really love the magic and wonder of the experience, I think.  Also, that will be the last year before they are in school (!!!!), and I like the idea of not trying to plan around a school schedule.  Is Disney on your family must-do list?  

 Happy Tuesday....I'm off to cuddle a sick little girl and hope this is the LAST of this virus for our family!

Last Vacation Post, I Promise

So, after our marathon first day at the beach, the rest of our short vacation was pretty low-key and, dare I say, even relaxing.  We were only there for the long weekend (Friday-Monday), so we really had no agenda other than to just let the girls enjoy the things they wanted to do...and eat a few good meals, of course.  (If you know me at all, you know that the number one thing I do plan for vacation is where we are going to eat!  Priorities, you know?)

We hit the pool first thing Saturday morning and basically stayed there until lunch and nap time.  A much-anticipated visitor arrived mid-morning, and was greeted with shouts and hugs from her nieces...

We had a great day playing at the pool and beach, grabbing some take-out lunch, and taking a long nap.

Mackenzie took a little spill in the ocean...

Saturday night, Jeremy, Laura Jo, and I were able to go out for dinner while the girls hung out with their grandparents.  We had a delicious meal at The Original Oyster House, one of our favorite places (crab cakes--yum!).

Sunday, the three of us got a chance to sneak away again and go back to the outlets in Foley to finish up some shopping without so much "help" from the girls.  I think we were a little early for the best fall sales, but I did get a few things for the girls...enough to get them through fall, I hope.

That evening, we took the girls to an amusement park, where we stayed for hours letting them ride small rides and playing games.  After a last dinner at our favorite place (Sea N Suds), we enjoyed a final, low-key evening together.

All in all, we had a fantastic trip.  Jeremy and I seriously prayed that the girls would sleep well, since we knew that would make a big difference in the way everything went.  I also think it helped that we didn't have much of an agenda, so we never felt rushed, and neither did the girls.  We largely followed their cues on what to do and when, which is just about the only way to travel successfully with toddlers, I have decided!  We had so much fun that we're actually looking forward to doing the same trip again next year, except maybe staying a day or two longer (the weather was perfect for the beach this time of year).

Maybe this trip will help erase the memories of our not-so-fun beach trips in the past...it certainly gave us hope for successful future vacations!

This post may be longer than our vacation

After some debate, Jeremy and I decided to drive mostly during the night on the way to the beach again this year.  We were terrified of 6-8 hours in the car with bored children, and traveling while the girls slept has worked for us on the other trips to the gulf coast.

When we put the girls in the car around 2:45 a.m., they were naturally a bit confused.  We got them all tucked in their car seats and whispered for them to go back to sleep, that we were leaving for the beach.  Addison and Mackenzie grinned and giggled and perked up more than I ever imagined they could in the middle of the night.  They requested that I turn on Shrek and they laughed and squealed for over an hour, before finally falling back to sleep.

The trip was blessedly quiet and uneventful after the initial excitement.  We met up with Jeremy's parents (his stepdad also works the night shift, so they were driving through the night too) for breakfast at our usual McDonald's in Bay Minette, then made it into Foley around 10:00 or so.  The plan was to shop at the outlets in Foley until after lunch, when we could check into our condo in Gulf Shores.  It worked out pretty well, and the girls had a blast playing on the playground and riding the carousel (at $3 per kid, per ride!!) at the outlet center.  By the time we ate lunch and loaded up to make the 20-minute drive to Gulf Shores, they were exhausted.

This is the face of a girl who is dying to close her eyes, but is seriously afraid of missing something.

And the one who gave it up...

I had this idea that they would take a long afternoon nap at the condo, allowing the rest of us a few minutes of much-needed sleep as well.  Guess what?  It didn't happen.  The girls were so excited to check out the condo and the beach views, and there was just no way they were going to miss it by going to sleep.  After nearly an hour of struggling to get either of them to close their eyes, we admitted defeat.  We left NiNi and Grandpa to take a short nap, and Jeremy and I changed into our bathing suits and headed down to the pool with Addison & Mackenzie.

The condo had a zero-entry pool (you know, the kind where you just walk in and it gradually gets deeper?) which was fantastic.  Our girls are normally a bit overwhelmed and nervous in large pools, and they cling to us desperately the entire time.  Not so with the zero-entry pool, thank goodness.  About half the pool is under two feet deep, so A & M could walk around, sit, splash, and play. 

We spent the majority of our time at the pool, until the girls were solidly worn out from all the swimming.  We did get down to the beach a few times, but after a few minutes of playing in the sand and at the edge of the ocean, Mackenzie would ask to go back to the "big water up there"--that is, the swimming pool.

After the girls got their first visit to the beach and pool out of the way, we all changed and headed out for dinner.  We were all pretty exhausted by that point.  Mackenzie had slept the few minutes it took to drive from Foley to Gulf Shores and was feeling okay (it helped that she was getting to hang out with her NiNi, whom she looooooves).  Poor Addison had not closed her eyes all day, and it finally caught up with her at dinner:

Despite a little stressing on my part about where/when/if the girls would sleep, everything went better than I could have expected.  There was a teeny tiny "sleeping" room at the front of the condo, barely big enough to contain a set of built-in bunk beds.  The bottom bunk was the perfect size for A & M to sleep (I put them at each end of the bed, so that their feet met in the middle).  Because the beds were built-in, there was a wall at either end and along the back side, leaving just the front open.  We were prepared with a toddler bed rail that fit perfectly along the front.  We tucked the girls in, hyping up the idea of sleeping in their very own "bunk bed clubhouse", and to my surprise and relief, they went right to sleep and slept the entire night.

After such a long day, I desperately needed a shower and when I got out at 8:30, everyone except me was sound asleep.  We live such an exciting life.  : )

Part two of our vacation coming tomorrow!

Sneak Peek

There are many more to come, but here are a few of my very favorite pictures from the beach last week...

 

 

Actual post coming soon!  : )

What day is it again?

This past weekend was our somewhat-spontaneous family beach trip.  My family often took short, last-minute trips when I was young, but Jeremy's didn't, so a vacation without months of planning is relatively new for him. 

I'm back at work today, struggling to readjust from "beach time".  Coming back in on a Tuesday that feels like a Monday is never much fun, but today is especially disorienting.  It doesn't help that views like this are so fresh in my mind...

This was the girls' third trip to the Gulf Coast, and as I mentioned before, we hoped and prayed that this vacation went more smoothly than the first two did.  Thankfully, things finally fell into place for this family vacation, and we had a great trip!

We had a wonderful time, and Addison and Mackenzie were little angels...even on Friday, when they did not have a nap.  Addison slept in my arms through dinner that night, but I didn't mind a bit.  They slept well; they ate well (as well as they usually do, at least); and they had a blast playing in the sand and the pool.  We really could not have asked for a better trip.  Even the six-hour ride home, which was our biggest fear, went so much better than we dared to expect.  They were so exhausted that a lot of the time in the car was spent like this:

I have much more to say about our trip and lots of pictures too, of course, but it will have to wait until I'm feeling a little more caught up here in the real world.

How was your weekend?  Did I miss anything exciting?  (I mean, besides the Grey's Anatomy premiere, which is waiting on my DVR at home!)

Yard Sale, Etc.

I am having a yard sale this upcoming weekend.  It will be the first I have had since the girls were born, so I am unloading a massive amount of baby clothing and equipment.  Yes, I'm a little sad to be pricing and tagging all the little remnants of my girls' infant days, but I am also looking forward to neater closets and a bit of extra cash.

Everyone knows people love to buy clothing for new babies, and who can resist TWO tiny little GIRLS??  As a result, we have boxes upon boxes of baby clothes, including quite a few never-worn pieces.  I have priced and boxed at least ten large boxes already.  Just last night, I finally got around to the nicer dresses and outfits hanging in the girls' closet...and there was a lot more than I had realized.

After removing all of that (and more!), their closet now looks practically bare.  Time to start rebuilding!  : )

We didn't go into the whole yard sale idea with a specific financial goal in mind, but we have been tossing around the idea of a wooden swing set for the backyard.  They're so expensive though...it's hard to think about spending that much money on something we can find for free at the park just a couple of miles away.  I do like the idea of just walking out the backdoor to spend a fall evening watching the girls enjoy something like this:

 

Image credit

It would be nice to make enough money to pay for most of the cost of a swing set, should we decide to get one.  If not, I suppose we could put the extra funds toward our beach trip in late September.

Oh, I haven't mentioned the beach trip?

That's because we just decided last week that we were going to take one.  Vacation on a month's notice is about as spontaneous as my husband gets, so we are pushing his limits with this one.  We were discussing some friends who are getting a good deal on a condo at the beach later in September and after perusing some of the available deals, we decided it sounded like a good idea.

After the not-entirely-successful beach trip last May, Jeremy and I publicly announced that we were not taking the girls to the beach again until they were at least four or five. In fact, my dad reminded me of that very fact when I told him we were going next month!  I am desperately hoping this trip goes better than the last one...and I have reason to believe it might...

(1)  The girls are almost a year and a half older than they were in May 2010.  They weren't even walking alone at that point, and so were still very dependent on us for everything.  At this stage, they will understand a bit about where we are going and can enjoy a few more fun activities than the last time.

(2)  Unlike last May, my girls actually understand the purpose of sand and water now:  it's supposed to be fun.  They love the sand, and we have really been talking it up this week.

And the biggest reason I have high hopes for the success of this trip:
(3)  There will be grandparents!  My mom hates the beach, but Jeremy's parents jumped at the offer to accompany us.  It will be awesome to have two extra sets of adult hands along to help out.


Of course, I have adjusted my expectations for the trip as well.  Jeremy and I already had our relaxing, restful trip this year, so this one is much more for the girls' enjoyment than for our benefit.  If they have a good time, we all get a decent amount of sleep, and I get to eat a meal at both Sea N Suds and The Original Oyster House, I will call it a success!


Have you been on vacation with your kids lately?  Any advice??