Lunch got a little crazy....

Ranch dressing.

Is it food...or face paint?

The Big Weekend: Part 2

The middle of the weekend was filled with lots of eating and shopping. We ventured to Destin twice...and that is a big venture in the summer (with all the tourists).

On Saturday we all had gelato for the first time. It's basically ice cream with a fancy Italian name. 

 Maddox made me a birthday card and he was very proud of it. He didn't think it was fair, though, for me to have the only birthday card, so he made one for Andrew, Jude, Piper and of course himself.

On the big day (when I turned the big 27), I woke up to a super sweet card from Andrew. Then I did what I wish I could do every morning: hit up Starbucks for an "artisan breakfast sandwich" and a white mocha. It started things off right. The boys had a blast tip-toeing around the water fountains at the splash pad while I shopped. Eventually, they were soaked, but it was ok. It was so hot they dried in no time.

 Lunch was Tropical Smoothie. And that's when the birthday starting going downhill. Jude threw one of his all-time most memorable tantrums (complete with lying prostrate on the floor, throwing food, and screaming so loud everyone in the restaurant actually jumped). That's our Jude! The boy has a temper.

I've learned to just let it go, though. All of the eyes looking our way is not the greatest feeling in the world, but what can you do? We plopped his cranky butt in the stroller as fast as possible and made our escape. 

Still, the strawberry lemonade was worth the embarrassment. 

To continue our "get fat in one day" plan, we did Longhorn for dinner (we were smart and went with the carry out option) and Baskin Robbins/Bippy's for dessert. Last year I had a strawberry sundae from there and I needed to keep up the tradition.

We waited in the drive through about 20 minutes for it.

Andrew said, "If it wasn't your birthday, we wouldn't be sitting here all night."

But it was my birthday...and a fun one it was! I mean, it had its embarrassing moments, but those keep us humble. 

The Big Weekend: Part 1

It's a big weekend. Andrew has four days off, I have a birthday, and of course it's Memorial Day weekend too. We started things off with a trip to Okaloosa Island right after breakfast.

The boys played in the sand a little. Then, they were ready for the water. It was clear and gorgeous. There are lots of things to love about the Emerald Coast and the water is a big one. 

 We saw schools of fish swimming by our legs. A seagull came by and dropped a present: a dead fish. Maddox and Jude were kinda fascinated and watched the poor fish float on by.

Jude hated the seagulls. He liked them at first, but when they swarmed the goldfish he had dropped in the sand, he freaked out. "Bird! Bird!" He yelled at them, spit at them, but still they grabbed the goldfish and ignored all his gestures.

After 2 hours, we called it a day. Sandy and a little toasty, we came home, all took a nap and then ate lots and lots of chicken pasta. And this.

This (banana peanut butter frozen yogurt) is heaven. But I'm never buying it again...or else I'd be 300 lbs.

And just because I didn't blog for a couple weeks, here are a couple pictures of the boys to catch you up on all their cuteness.

 It's just the usual. You know, driving cars...

...youtubin'....

...and growing out the 'fro. 

Few Words, More Pictures

We ate our first strawberry from the "kid garden." So far, it has been the only one, but more are growing! We also have a little tomato in the works and a fig.

The weather is hot; the days are long (but good). Last week the Therrells came for a visit. We missed out on the beach and the water park (boys got sick, of course!) but we did have some good eating, shopping and visiting. And the hubby and I squeezed in a couple much-needed dates! 

I was too lazy to caption all the pictures.

But, the point is we had fun. 

A picture is worth a thousand words, after all!