Just beachy

Let's get on with this show, shall we? We were finally at the beach!

{we woke up ready to play!! unfortunately so did tropical storm Alberto. He didn't give us much trouble, though...just a little rain and wind}

{finney, offering kisses to Alberto to leave}

{ha! i took this picture because as frankie was cookie breakfast in this beautiful kitchen with this beautiful view, all I could think was....my husband is hot! lol}

{hmmm....}

{kinda funny.....}

{sooooo funny!!!}

{it's silly nanna and Eddie playing peek-a-boo!}

{eddie decided he was on the wrong side of the couch, lol}

{soon Alberto got the message and brought out the sun...Finney's first sandy bottom}

{and his first time with toes in the saltwater}

{family love}

{yes, finn is eating sand. for the whole day he kept trying to eat it! something must have clicked the next day though, because we didn't have much trouble after the first day}

{covered in sand. just covered}

{aw, mom and dad walking to the lighthouse. we came for their anniversary trip! so romantic having your daughter, son in law and two grandsons tag along, right?}

{eddie's beach life. digging, digging and more digging. before we left he told me that he wanted to build a sand castle big enough to sit in, and the next morning i woke up determined to deliver!}

{gah, so cute!}

{there was a creature in there, peacefully sleeping...forever}

{this trip cemented eddie's love of boats. he would watch them all day long}

{were you wondering how i cleaned off the sand man?}

{don't worry, he loved it!}

{alberto did give us a nice sunset that evening, which eddie loved}

{grandpa's boy for sure}

{eddie was obsessed with his 'noculars, which he had around his neck pretty much all day and night}

{he's a genius, i know}

{oh, wee little electric car. I loved this thing! I only bumped into a couple things...hehe :) my parents are the one who took it on the road off the island that was 55mph, while this thing only goes a whopping 26mph. Ha! Eddie loved it just as much as me, though, and was so sad whenever he learned we couldn't take it somewhere}

{turning left out of our little neighborhood was the worst. THE WORST. At least I looked confident, right?}

Can you believe this was only the first day? Apparently I was a little camera happy. Some more beach pictures and DISNEY!! coming up. 

Day Two...we arrive!

Day two started in the smokey mountains and thankfully delivered us to Tybee Island, Georgia in time to enjoy the last of a beautiful day.

{smoke in the smokies}

{i still wasn't allowed to drive}

{so beautiful. because of the road closures we were sent around on little backroads through the mountains. It was such an awesome experience, one we were thankful for while we were still in nostalgic road trip mode. We saw some sights that were off the beaten path, for sure!}

{my brooding teenager}

{we would take a long stop every now and then, and this rest stop was our favorite. This deck was Eddie's pirate ship and he shouted "Ahoy there!" to anyone that walked by. It was awesome}

{a little smokey mountain baseball}

{love}

{last bridge!}

{the boys checking out the amazing view!}

{little house, Maine Page}

{eddie's first time with his toes in the ocean}

{love at first sight}

{dad, carrying finney very safely}

{better!}

{no finn, don't do it!}

{alligators at the Crab Shack}

{our first vacation dinner. it went down hill fast}

{a note: when you've been in a car all day and have crabby, tired and restless kids, DON'T take them to a restaurant and expect them to behave. Everyone was out of patience by the end and all agreed we should have just ordered a pizza, lol}

{trying to keep the crabby at bay}

{boy, was it a beautiful view, though}

{our giant seafood platter, which, after a while, was quite gross}

{we don't eat crawfish, so we play with them instead}

So we're finally at the beach. Yay!! The rest of the night included me running, supermarket sweep style, through the tiny island grocery store as the ladies waiting to close gave me the stink eye. The locals were SO pleasant. NOT. 

On the road, day one

So I suppose I better start blogging this vacation or soon I won't remember all of the funny things that happened. Damn twenty something brain is failing me already :)


We started our road trip on a Friday, one that was Eddie's last day of school. The rest of his classmates had the next week still, but we decided that a) it's pre-preschool, so who really cares and b) disney world will always win. ALWAYS. It really helped to send him to school, too, because Eddie really doesn't handle a lot of commotion well and I knew that he would be freaking out as we were packing and taking the dogs away (the boy hates to be without his dogs). Not to mention that Frank and I don't do the commotion thing well, so it saved Eddie from hearing a whole lot of bickering :) I do, however, wish that Eddie was able to see me win the trunk packing war. That skill needs to be passed down, because he isn't going to get it from Frank! HA! I did the most epic win dance ever, too. Obviously. The other bonus of leaving after school was that we hoped that Eddie would eat lunch and nap, just like at home. And since Finn naps at the same time (and any time we get in the car, really) we figured we would really be able to haul in the afternoon. Isn't it fun being naive?

{it was clear that Eddie wasn't going to nap after lunch. He slept for maybe 35 minutes and was talking a mile a minute the rest of the way}

{here he is singing "The Yellow Submarine". It was very funny the first 10 times....then the same verse over and over and over again made me want to cry}

{oh, portable DVD player. You saved our lives. We love you!}

{frank wouldn't let me drive, so I took lots of scenery pictures. Bridges and tunnels, mostly}

{Louisville! Jen lived here for a long time, so when it was clear that we were going to be around there at dinner time we asked for a rec. She, of course, delivered}

{Lynn's Paradise Cafe! The perfect place for us to stop for some yummy food and the boys to play for a bit}

{Eddie thought this place was just hilarious, and at the large map on the wall by the bathroom, he pretended to be a weather man! Frank was super excited....either that or he was still excited from the games in the men's bathroom}

{my plan of vacation: drink my weight in sweet tea}

{check out the sweet view across from me!}

{ten million times better than crayons....animals! so cute and fun}

{my fried green tomato BLT. nom nom nom}

{oh, the beginning of Finney's tongue sticking out phase documented!}

From the Lou we tried to make it quite a bit farther, but got concerned with road closed signs around the state line. We decided to call it a night instead of getting stuck in midnight traffic, and ended up having a horrible night sleep of Finn being awake all night with me and Eddie sleeping on Frank's head. Traffic would have probably been more pleasant!

Ramblings.

We interrupt our normally scheduled catch up series with this. My ramblings post! Normally I know these are very light hearted and haha, but my world right now kind of resembles a snow globe, so these are going to be kind of heavy. Sorry, I've got to get this out.


And now that I think about it? Wow. A snow globe is kind of perfect. I feel very much like we're chugging along, a normal little family in a normal little town, idyllic if you will, just like the inside of a snow globe. The first time is gets all shaken up, things floating down as the mess calms, we're kind of like...HUH. That was crazy, right? And get along with our shit. Then the person shaking decides that was kind of fun, so they shake a little harder. And we all go WHOA. That one was a little stronger, and that kind of sucks. And then, the person up there is kind of like a kid picking on ants and shakes the ever loving SHIT out of the snow globe and everything goes flying around in a tornado of crazy and we're all sitting here going WHAT THE FUCK.

Yes, that's a lot of capital letters, and you better believe I am shouting each one of them. People are sick, other people are shitty human beings, other people are really really sick. And I feel like all of the time I'm left hoping for the best of a crappy situation. Like, there never is a good option for me to hope for...either way my options (or theirs, or the person making the decisions in some cases) are crappy either way. So you're left juggling CRAPPY, OR REALLY REALLY MOTHER FUCKING CRAPPY... and you know what? BULLSHIT. That's just about all I think of lately.

Cancer is bullshit. Crappy people are bullshit. BULL.SHIT.

(sorry)

I am a fixer by nature, something I hate about myself, because if you come to me with a problem I am going to give you a 20 minute speech chock full of advice that you probably don't want. I can't fix any of this though, and I have a problem with that. I talked to my Aunt Lorrie yesterday and she mentioned something about how she knows God will get her through this, one way or another. And I mentioned that her thinking is about the exact opposite of what I think right now. I really wish that I could have faith in God, faith in the way things are supposed to work out. But I don't. "I'm just angry", I told her. She let out a small little chuckle and said "You can be angry at God, Mag. He doesn't care. Be angry all you want."


So I'm angry, and I'm yelling at the skies and asking what's next. Waiting for the next shake of the snow globe, the next time shit goes flying. And I'm praying, not to God or anyone. I'm praying for medicine. For doctors and science. Because that's all I believe in right now.

Stef's WEDDING!!

Another thing we missed? Stef's wonderful wedding! Now, to be 100% honest, I probably would have slacked on blogging during this time anyway, because things were off the wall crazy for me. I did all of the flowers for the wedding so it was a mix of deliveries and makeup appointments and arrangements and rehearsals and on and on and on. I have never drank more coffee than I did in the days leading up to that wedding! It was so, so worth it though, and I don't think I have been more proud of any arrangement I've done as I was of her arch. It was GLORIOUS and one of the things that went wrong in the beginning of the week. I love it when one disaster opens a door for beauty.

Hopefully I'll be able to share some of the professional pictures soon, because there are some amazing ones. It was such a beautiful day for two people I love dearly!

{just the top of the arch...OMG I still die for this arrangement. So pretty.}

{my stefie!!! (and yes, I have bangs. Blame Jen.) Didn't Stef pick the most gorgeous bridesmaid dresses ever? So lucky!}

{Tatiana's fiance, Jon, took this beautiful picture of me, Tat and Holly. Aren't we gorgeous?}

{to say Eddie enjoyed dancing is the understatement of the century. That boy tore up the dance floor for as long as we would let him}

{goodness this is a horrible picture, but Eddie's signature move was sliding across the dance floor and wiggling and spinning around in circles on the ground. It was fantastic!}

{and of course, photobooth pictures with my crazy boys! Finn was obviously thrilled.}

Again, sorry for the crazy iphone pictures, I can't wait to share the professional ones...except the ones from the end of the night. Holy hell, I apparently forgot that I don't drink often and kept up with the other girls, and was promptly making bad choices. That's allowed at your best friends wedding, right? At least Stef still loves me, and can laugh at the horribly awesome dancing pictures from the reception. The one thing I'm not excited to see? The video. Still pictures are funny. To see those moves live action? OMG, TERRIFYING. 

Butterflies!

One of the things we missed out on blogging about were our awesome butterflies! Nanna got the boys a kit through a school fundraiser (so much better than wrapping paper, no?) and soon she was calling me to let me know that she had a cup full of caterpillars. And then she called me freaking out that the caterpillars were already changing, so we ran to her house to grab them before we missed the big moment.

Something to know: that big moment a) doesn't happen as quickly as my mom thought it does and b) takes FOREVER. Oh, and also? This process is pretty damn gross. OH! And? The red stuff that comes out with the butterflies when they emerge from their cocoons? I know the info sheet kept saying it wasn't blood, but crap, try explaining that to your preschooler. GROSS.

{the more brown than tanish stuff? poop. it smelled so unbelievably bad when I opened up the cup to put them in the tent thing}

So we waited and waited and to be totally honest kinda forgot about the little guys. Oops! Until one morning when something fluttering around caught my eye...and you better believe I pulled that first butterfly out right away to play with! Eddie was fairly terrified.

{iphone picture}

{he was so nervous, but when the next couple of butterflies came out days later, he was ok with holding them}

{the first butterfly was named "LuLu" and each butterfly after that was "The Other LuLu" and "The Other Other LuLu"}

{and of course, right before we let the last ones go, we had to let Finney play too!}

{hard to see, but on his hand is "Last Lulu". Any guesses on how long it took before Last Lulu was almost in Finn's mouth? BEST EDDIE REACTION EVER.}

Our butterflies were so much fun, even if they were stinky little creatures. They opened up so many discussion points with Eddie...I can't wait to have them again next year so we can talk even more in depth about the process! Thanks, Nanna :)

We're live, people!

Let's get this show back on the road, shall we????

Goodness, it's been a long time since I have been blogging. A lot has happened since then, too! 2 weddings, a trip to Georgia and Disney World and a quick trip to Nebraska....Mother's Day, Father's Day and all other end of the school year and start of the summer happenings. All of the above mean one thing....lots and lots of pictures!! I'm going to have to split them up as best as I can as to not overwhelm every post :) Guess I'll just have to post every day until we're through!

Sooooooo happy to be back, little blog! Hope I still have some people who haven't given up on me :)