Beach bound, baby!

Last weekend a huge group of us hit the beach for a full day of fun in the sun & we had an absolute blast!!

Living in Florida definitely has its perks, one being a hop, skip & a jump away from some of the most beautiful beaches in the U.S.  We hit Sand Key Beach which is right next to Clearwater.  Since it's spring break, we couldn't stand the idea of fighting with the massive crowds.

I wanted Reese to wear a swim shirt to better protect herself from the sun, but she was insistent on wearing her princess tankini over it!  Initially she fought me tooth & nail, saying she wanted to wear her princess nightgown & then it changed to her princess ballgown until she finally settled on the tankini.  This stubborn girl is gaga for the princesses!  Oh, and I certainly couldn't zip her swim coverup since that would cover up the almighty princess!!!

Who's excited for the beach?  This hairy guy!

We set up camp a little after 10am & stayed until about 7pm, it was a awesome!

 The water was turquoise blue & beautiful to gaze out over as we sipped the strawberry mango mojitos I whipped up for the adults!

Brooks is such a cutie!

The kids had a blast getting buried in the sand...

See?

Uh oh, sand in the face while you're without the use of arms isn't such fun!

 

 Hahaha, this picture cracks me up!

 So funny, yet so sad at the same time!  Okay, time to yank em outta there!

Samantha's turn!

Unfortunately, when you're in the sun all day long, you're bound to get burned!  As diligent as we were protecting the kids, we were not for ourselves!  The back of my legs were scorched & Mike's back is fire engine red.. I crack up every time I glance at his back! But, we had a blast, so it was worth it!

I've got myself a t-baller!

Cam had his second t-ball game this past weekend & he's still smitten with the game which is so fun to watch!

His coaches are awesome & they even put their names on the jerseys which none of the other teams have. 

Cam's a lefty so he's trying out the switch hitting thing & seeing which way he prefers & thus far it's lefty.  I'm so happy to see him having such a blast playing.  He crawled into bed with us Friday morning, claiming to have had a bad dream, which he never does, and he thought it was game day.  I said, "nope, unfortunately it's Friday & we have to go to work & you have to go to school!"

Little Reesey is the best cheerleader & loves eating snacks non-stop rooting her brother on from the sidelines!

When we lived in Illinois, we would walk around the neighborhoods & admire the little families watching their kids play soccer or baseball & talk about how we hope one day that would be us & here we are! We're so lucky! 

And we can't forget that today is St. Patrick's Day!!  The weather was positively miserable today, raining & storming the entire day, but we were lucky enough to have awesome weather for an Irish fest we spent the afternoon at yesterday!

St Paddy's Day wouldn't be complete for me without a green beer or a Guiness (which I just so happen to be sipping as I type this).

BFFs sharing a water!

The kids had an absolute blast jumping like little beans in the bounce house & skipping their naps!  We ended the day with pizza & wings at Matt & Kelly's & I unfortunately woke up sick as can be at around midnight.  Apparently fatty, mega-spicy wings on my wimpy system was a no-go.  I ended up waking Mike because I seriously thought I was going to pass out which never ever happens to me.  It was awful!  I ended up finally falling back to sleep & had to drag my weak, tired body out of bed & to work.  Other than being tired, I'm completely myself today, thank goodness.

The kiddos will be wishing Grammy a very happy birthday tomorrow!  Unfortunately we won't be able to spend the day with her, but next time she comes to Florida, we'll celebrate!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!   May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks. May your heart be as light as a song. May each day bring you bright, happy hours that stay with you all the year long.

Recent happenings

Things have calmed down around here now that my coworker is back from her medical leave, thank goodness!  It's been hard for me to transition back to normal pace since I was in ultra hyper drive the entire month of February... I'm finding I'm actually even a little bored lately!  Speaking of work, today is Registered Dietitian Day, so Happy RD day to all my fellow dietitian friends out there!  We have a lot of education & don't get a lot of recognition or pay for it, so here's to us being celebrated for the day! 

This is what I look like the majority of the week!  Since I'm off today, my work was nice enough to celebrate yesterday so I could be a part of it so we were treated to Starbucks & whatever we wanted for breakfast.

Daylight Saving Time has thrown us for a major loop as I'm sure it has others with small kids too.  "But, Mommy, it's light outside, we don't have to go to bed yet!!!!"  Um, yes you do, now get in your room & put a sock in it!  Ha.  But, we have been enjoying the extra hour in the evening, playing out back, feeding the ducks or just talking on the patio after the kids have gone to bed.

The weather has been spectacular so we're taking advantage of that too since it'll be a humid swampland in about a month or so.  YUCK.  Florida's summers are not my cup of tea!  But neither are Illinois' winters, so I guess I'm just impossible to please.  Perhaps I need to just move to San Diego where the average daily temp is 70.5 degrees.  Yes, please!

I put this pic of Reese picking flowers on Instagram & my friend Lesli commented that she's glad she isn't the only one that has kids running around in undies or without pants altogether.  Nope, my kids, especially when still in diapers & potty training, barely ever have pants on when we're home!  Who's got time for that nonsense?!  ;o)  We've been pretty lackadaisical about potty training with baby #2, just like we've been more laid back about most everything.  Oh, you want more fruit snacks?  You'll stay out of my hair for another five minutes?  Sure, have more fruit snacks!!  Ha, ha.  But, now we're starting to get more serious about potty training by putting her on the potty much more often & even breaking out the princess undies she got at Christmas.  I keep telling her, "don't pee on the princess!"  Unfortunately, Rapunzel was peed on last night, poor gal.

I took this picture Saturday morning after Cameron's first t-ball game which he positively adored!  We had him in soccer last year & he was not at all a fan, but with t-ball he was smiling ear to ear the entire game & we never had to push him out on the field since he happily ran out there himself.  After the game, I put this picture on FB & commented that my kids don't go more than four minutes without asking for something All. Day. Long.  It's the truth, the requests never end!  Being a parent surely takes a lot of patience & work, but I sure do love it!  Sometimes I wonder how stay-at-home moms do it all day, every day without losing it!

Since I barely blogged last month, I never put the pictures from our family weekend to Sarasota.

Cam is in seventh heaven when we're with his cousins & you can always find him with his partner in crime, Mikayla! 

And Maddy is always so sweet with Reese.  One time, they spent a few days together while the parents got a break & my mom overheard her tell Reese, "you can call me Mama!"  Ha, ha!

My gal pal is home with me today & we'll be picking her brother up after pre-K this afternoon.  I miss being able to keep Cam out of "school" whenever I want like I used to when he was just in daycare, but I'm glad to be having more one on one time with Reese.

I was talking with Mike this weekend about how much we love this age... she's still a baby but getting to be such a big girl & just says & does the cutest things.  The drama, tears & fits over the smallest things?  Not so much!

Anyway, hope you're all having a great week so far!!

Trip to St. Augustine

A month or so ago my friend Kelly asked if we'd be able to take a birthday trip with them to St. Augustine & I immediately thought no.  Of course I wanted to, but when you're following the Dave Ramsey cash budget, you don't have dispensable money laying around.  When I finally accepted it wasn't possible, Lauren offered her aunt's house up for all of us to stay.  Suddenly my mom was free to watch the kids & we were on our way.  I picked up Wednesdays all last month & even worked overtime so we treated ourselves to an adult weekend away with no kids!

Touring around the fort

We saved money by carpooling with Lauren & Marc, eating breakfasts in, skipping lunch & sharing entrees at dinner.  All in all, it was a pretty affordable trip.  If you've never been to St. Augustine, it's absolutely beautiful & you should definitely go!  Lucky for us, it's only three hours away.

Flagler College

We had an absolute blast & every moment of the trip was awesome, I ended up laughing my butt off most of the weekend.  I've only been away from Cameron a handful of times & Reese about 3 nights in her life, so as much as it's nice to get away, I miss the kiddos so much too.  But, it's good for everyone to have a breather!  After Reese bolted up to me Sunday evening & showered me with hugs, she promptly reported, "I have poop, you need to change my diaper!"  And it was back to business.

Cheers to awesome friends!

On our pub crawl ghost tour

We had the best dinner EVER on Saturday night at Caps' on the Water!!  It was the best ambiance, amazing food, beautiful views & we even got to see a fireworks show over the water on our way out.

We ended our trip perfectly with lunch at an Irish pub looking over the water.  I was definitely not ready to leave & wished we had one more day, but all good things must come to an end!

Meehan's Irish pub

Unfortunately as good as the weekend was, yesterday was awful.  I got up early to hit the gym before work & felt a little nauseous.  Fast forward an hour & I was barfing, fast forward a few more hours & I full blown flu symptoms with aches, chills & all.  I was absolutely miserable, left work early & laid in bed ALL DAY LONG.  I'm so much better today & back to having Wednesdays off which I'm exceptionally thankful for.  Both kiddos will be spending the day with me & I look forward to a relaxing, low-key day at home!  Hope you're all having a great week!