Summer Fun-Beach Vacation Day 4

Wednesday morning Eli woke up bright and early to find that the Tooth Fairy had visited and left him some money and a new pair of goggles for the pool. He was super excited and we sent this picture out to all the grandparents just after he woke up. 

Josh wanted to do something different than just our regular beach routine so we looked at all the things to do in the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area and we found a local water park called Waterville. We got dressed and went there that morning and had a blast! Eli was now tall enough to ride all of the rides-even the ones that made me really nervous-and he loved every single minute of it. He's going to be a little daredevil like his Daddy :) We did tons of slides, the wave pool, the kid splash area, the lazy river, and much more. Eli's favorite were the slides where we all got to go at the same time and race down the bottom. It was lots of fun! This is the only picture I took because I stored my phone in a locker while we were there. We had a blast!

Ready to conquer Waterville!

We stayed at Waterville until well after lunch time and by the time we left we were starving! We stopped at Rotolo's before going back to the condo. I took this picture of Eli because he was rocking some serious water park hair :)

Our friend (and Josh's old boss) from college just happened to be on her beach vacation at the same time as us, so Wednesday afternoon Lori drove over to our condo to spend some time with us. By that time the water had calmed down a lot and you could immediately tell just from the color of the water. It was BEAUTIFUL! I spent the entire afternoon while we were waiting on Lori on the balcony reading my book and looking out at the water. This beach bum couldn't wait to get down to the water!

We visited with Lori in the condo for about an hour and then we all put our suits on and headed down to the beach.

We took a long walk down the beach altogether and found lots of jellyfish and more starfish. Then we went back to the pool at the condo to relax some more. We sure do love this lady a lot! 

We made dinner reservations at a local place called Shipp's Harbour Grill and it was FABULOUS!! Oh my word, the food was SO GOOD! I definitely recommend eating there and the Wilson family will for sure go there again next year. Eli was so tired from our incredibly busy day that he actually fell asleep in the restaurant. I can count on one hand how many times that has ever happened in his life. Lori, Josh, and I stayed late at the restaurant enjoying our food and catching up and were some of the last customers to leave the restaurant that night. It had been a wonderful day! We said bye to Lori, carried our little sleepyhead to the car, and drove back to the condo. Tomorrow was our last full day on the beach and we wanted to make the most of it :)

Summer 2014-Update #4

June passed way too quickly and before we knew it July was here! Several years back Eli got one of these build-it-yourself kits for Christmas from Jordan and Addi. He was kind of too young then to use it so I put it away until he was old enough. One night when I had to leave for a little bit, Josh and Eli built the train together. Eli had lots of fun! The next morning he decided to paint it :)

The Saturday after the Fourth of July two of our good friends, Ms. Lori and Ms. Jenn, came over to visit and spend the day with us in the pool. Eli was shy at first but then warmed up quickly to them. We ate yummy food, played in the pool, played basketball, ate more yummy food, and spent lots of time catching up and visiting. It was lots of fun!

Eli has been wanting to learn to tie his shoes for a long time. We've showed him how to do it before, but he lacked the coordination to make the loops and do the wrapping around. This summer it all came together for him. We showed him about 3 times how to do it and by the 2nd or 3rd time Eli had it. We were so proud! I listed all the big kid milestones he's achieved so far (tying his shoes, riding a bike without training wheels, snapping his fingers, blowing a bubble, and reading) to him and told him that my job as a parent was almost done ;) We sent a video of him tying his shoes to all the grandparents so they could see Eli's latest accomplishment! Way to go, dude!

I was washing clothes one morning and came in my bedroom to find Eli watching Toy Story 2 with all his Toy Story friends. These are moments I will remember forever. Anytime he watches a Disney movie and has the characters from that movie they have to watch it with him :) 

He loves Woody and Buzz!

Our zucchini plants are making zucchini like crazy so I'm finding lots of ways to incorporate zucchini into yummy dishes. My favorite is chocolate zucchini bread. IT'S. SO. YUMMY. Plus, it has a vegetable in it :) Also, even though it tastes like cake it's called bread so you can totally have a slice warmed up in the toaster oven with melted butter spread over it every day of the week...if you wanted to that is. It's not like I've ever done that ;)

My zinnias in my flower bed in the front are huge and beautiful so one day I cut some and brought them inside. It was like a vase full of happiness for me :)

My friend Sarah and her family went out of town to Disney World and before they left she told me that we could go out to her house to pick blueberries because they'd be ready while they were gone. Eli and I had fun picking and eating the yummy blueberries. 

On the way back home, we stopped by the library so Eli could get some new books. He's still in the early stages of reading but the Level One books are perfect for him. They're the right mix of known and unknown words. We sat on the floor of the library and read a couple before checking them out and bringing them home. 

I'm very very proud of my beginning reader! I hope he falls in love with reading at an early age :)

Swimming at Ms. Lori's

At the end of Eli's week of swimming lessons with Mrs. Tanya we went to visit our friend Ms. Lori. We hadn't seen her since she came to visit us back in the winter so a visit was long overdue. We also had to take some pool stuff that we didn't need back to the store where I used to work. I worked at this pool store all through college and loved it. My bosses, Mr. Robin and Mrs. Suzanne, are two of the kindest people ever and they were so good to me! I hadn't visited with them since I was pregnant with Eli, so it was so nice to see them and catch up on everything going on in their lives.

After our visit there, we met Lori and went to eat at Five Guys. Josh was super happy about that! Sam's Club was nearby, so we made a special trip there to look at pool loungers and chairs. We ended up finding exactly what needed :) Success! We headed back to Lori's house so Eli could take a nap and the adults could get some pool time. Just what we needed. It made us miss the days that we got to spend relaxing with Lori and our friends during college. 

When Eli woke up from his nap, he joined us in the pool and showed off some of his new swimming skills. We were all super impressed! Another friend of ours, Jen, came and joined us at Lori's pool for a pool day. We literally stayed in her pool swimming, jumping off the diving board, doing tricks, and having fun until about 7 o'clock that night. It was wonderful, especially when we got to order BJ's Pizza (almost identical to Johnny's Pizza) and eat it poolside. Yum-o! 

Swimming to Ms. Lori

Jen

Aren't we a fun family?

Josh is such a kid at heart and can still do all the tricks he learned growing up! 

He puts me to shame :)

Loving on Ms. Lori

Since Eli was going so well jumping in and swimming to the side, we decided to let him branch out a little more. We asked if he wanted to go off the diving board and swim to the side. At first he said no, but when Josh said he'd help him, he was ready!

He was a little nervous at first...

Then he jumped and a little daredevil was born :)

After that first jump, he literally jumped about 30 more times that afternoon. He LOVED it! 

We all took turns being down in the deep end just in case Eli needed us, but he never did. He'd swim to the side or to the ladder and then go again. I was so impressed!

Eli and Jen

Josh had lots of fun showing all the things he could do off the diving board. I could never do this....

Ms. Lori and Daddy had a little water fight...

Then everything was all good :)

Eli discovered the joys of being thrown into the air by his Daddy.

Daddy showed us his perfect dive.

I showed off the one thing I can do well...a cannonball :)

I also attempted to do a flip off the diving board and ended up doing a belly flop and then a back buster when I tried again. There may or may not be footage of that somewhere ;)

At the end of the day we were all thoroughly exhausted, but in a good way. We can't wait to see Ms. Lori and Jen again! Thanks for a wonderful day!