Vacation

Two weeks ago Micah, Audrey Claire and I went with Memaw and Hunter down to Ocean Springs for a week. (I'm just now posting because I spent last week catching up on laundry, housework and both kids had checkups at the doctor!)

We stayed in a house right on a private beach and it was amazing! So quiet and peaceful. We enjoyed eating lots of fresh seafood, shopping (way more than Hunter would've preferred), a children's museum, and just hanging out in the sun. Seth had to work during the week but got to come down a night when we first got there and our last night. We really had a blast. Be prepared to be completely overwhelmed with pictures:)

Stingray that was just casually swimming right at the edge of the water!! I almost stepped on it, had a heart attack and dropped my phone in the water all in a matter of seconds.

Playing with Graypop the night he came to visit!

He has a nickname for everyone in the family. Notice they had written her's in the sand- "Winkie"

Micah enjoyed lots of naps in this swing throughout the week

There were several big windows which allowed me to sit outside but keep a good eye on him.

Hunter and I went fishing one day and he showed me up big time. He caught several fish within the first 30 minutes we were out there. One was this flounder which, by the way, does NOT look like the flounder I remember on The Little Mermaid.

I'd never seen one in real life. It was flat with both eyes on one side of his body

and nothing on the other side. Weird.

Miss Priss caught a fish too!

Ok worth with me here. If you look really close (I mean, REALLY CLOSE), you can see a white speck in the distance.

One morning as everyone was napping, I was sitting on the balcony enjoying the quietness and all of a sudden, 3 dolphins swam by! I was so very excited and immediately went to get my camera. They were much closer when I first saw them but my camera had been inside and immediately upon bringing it outside, the lens fogged up. The lovely thing took years to defog and by that time the dolphins were well on their way. I was so upset I couldn't get better pictures, but they are there I promise!

All of the houses on the road we stayed were completely washed away during Hurricane Katrina. Some have been rebuilt but they are way more empty lots than occupied ones. There was an empty lot on either side of the house we stayed. In one of the lots was a huge tree that I was determined to get AC in for some pictures. By the end of the week and with a little help from Hunter, I finally managed.

The next few pictures are from The Lynn Meadows Discovery Center in Gulfport. It's a children's museum with lots of activities and kid-sized exhibits like a TV station, hotel, barber shop, restaurant, train, airport terminal, and grocery store.

Art class!

"Curting with slissors" as AC would say.

So focused, she's a little cross-eyed!

Finished product

Driving another airplane like Uncle Justin!

These pictures only represented a little of our week. There were several times I didn't get out the camera, instead I just enjoyed the moment!

Birthday parties

Audrey Claire had two birthday parties. The first was Sunday afternoon and the second was Monday afternoon. Since our house is so small, we had family at one and friends at the other. The parties were monkey themed (of course!). We had banana splits and banana bread.

My little monkey has been sick the past few days with a nasty cold so she felt pretty rough for both parties. She wouldn't take a nap either day before the party so we thought she would be no fun at all but we managed to have a little fun! Bear with me because this might get long, but here are some pics from both parties~

What a precious little monkey. This shows how she felt about getting dressed up and having a party...

This little monkey has a lot of boy friends! We would love one of these boys to be her husband one day!

Making banana splits-

Enjoying a yummy banana split-

I have more pictures but can't find them on the computer! I will add them once my honey gets home to help me.

My First Christmas

Audrey Claire had a very busy and exciting "First Christmas". Let me go ahead and warn you this post will be long. I had to narrow down the 95 pictures I took to just a few for you to see!

Have you seen the movie "Four Christmases"? Well, in a way, I completely relate with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn because that's exactly how many Christmases we went to. In a time span of about 36 hours! So that explains the 95 pictures. Take a deep breath and let's get started...

We started in Jackson at Mawmaw June's house. Audrey Claire enjoyed visiting with some of Seth's family and opening gifts, which she really got in to. Most importantly though, she enjoyed playing with Georgie (the dog). And she has started saying "dog" now. Well, her version of "dog". I put a video at the end of the post of her saying "dog" and calling the dog. Some of Audrey Claire's gifts in Jackson were baby dolls, a stroller, a ball, and a cute little monkey!

Here are a few of the pics from Christmas Eve-

Let the unwrapping begin...

(FYI- Seth was in a tie because he was a pallbearer in a funeral earlier that day. Our family get-togethers are not that formal! )

We spent the night in Jackson and actually slept late Christmas morning. (If you call 8:00 late!) Once we were up we headed to Crystal Springs to visit my family and open gifts with them. Here, Audrey Claire got a new movie, some barrettes, clothes, a sippy cup, and more! We had a big lunch there then headed to Brookhaven!

Here are some pictures from CS-

The kids opened gifts before we got there so AC had lots of helpers...

Trying to get her pants on!

Somebody finally helped her get them on!

Showing Pawpaw how to drive...

All of the Lang grandchildren

While in Brookhaven, we visited with more of Seth's family and opened more gifts. Audrey Claire got a new piggy bank, more baby dolls, and a Dippin' Dot maker. Seth joked and said he was quiting his job and opening a Dippin' Dot booth at the mall! I think he might need to stick to the cell phone business though.

Here are pics from that visit-

Um, GiGi, that baby is crying. Can you make it stop?

Trying to feed the baby

Loving the baby

Trying to "grab" the light coming through the window...

Still trying to catch the light...

Our next stop was Wesson for the last of Seth's family. It was getting late by this point but Audrey Claire did great. She played and opened gifts like a pro!

Memaw is so funny!

Annie and Matthew stopped by on their journey from Brookhaven to CS. Memaw loves her some Matthew and Annie and was very excited when they surprised her! So was Audrey Claire as you can tell by her face in this picture!

Hunter playing Santa and giving everyone their gifts.

Wondering what her favorite gift of the day was?

What could it be?

One of the baby dolls?

No...

Her basketball goal????

Nope....

Clothes??????

Not that either.....

BABY WIPES! YAY!!

Haha... That is by far my favorite picture of the day!

So as you can see, we are blessed with LOTS of family who love us and our precious little girl. My little monkey had an amazing first Christmas. It was so much fun and I feel so blessed to be her Mommy and get to celebrate times like this with her!

Here's the video: