Beachin' it // 2017

When you go on vaca with your best friend/spirit animal who is uber organized like you, you know it is going to be an AMAZING week! We started our planning WAY in advanced, right down to the grocery list to tackle when we got there. Winning!

And this is a must before any beach vaca.

And then we were packed up and leaving VERY early for a LONG drive!!

Dane.

A few short minutes after this we had our roof cargo fly open while going 70 down the highway. Needless to say we are one boogie board short for this vaca. We were able to run down the highway and recover the other two. Note to self, learn to work the latch of the borrowed cargo case vs just winging it. BAHAHA! Good story to tell later!

Dane an hour later 😂

This kiddo was WIDE awake while all the others slept!

Have I mentioned how much I HATE bridges?!?

Legit my worst fear. I think they are beautiful but they scare the crap out of me!

I finally had to make the hubs pull over and let me drive. He was determined to drive the entire way but I wasn't having it. I rarely drive on trips but one this long is necessary. I think he needed this nap.

So cool!!

And how beautiful is this! It is going to be a great week!

We arrived the evening before the Lanes but had specific instructions on how to get into the condo...After a long haul up to the condo...

We realized we did not have proper instructions so the hubs had to drive across town for the code/key. It was a bit of a mess but the boys and I had a grand time hanging in the hallway, drinking beer (me, not them...obviously) and doing push-ups (them, not me...obviously)

Late sleeps after a long day of travel!

The view was spectacular!!

Funny how when you are at the beach, the kids migrate to the pool! Why is that?!?!

Oh well, as long as I am in the sun, I am a happy camper!

We did force them to the beach, don't worry!

Cuties!

I LOVE his little side wink smile. I hope it stays forever and ever!!

The hubs is the biggest kiddo of them all!

Such the daredevil!

He has been able to swim for years but the ocean and a lake are different beasts to me so yes, he wears a vest!

Always having a good time. They are just the best of friends! I'm so glad Jackson was able to join us on the vacation. We will certainly need a big kid for Chaz to hang with once the other littles get here!

We got a call they had arrived and straight to the beach they came! Happy day!!!

Such fun boys and for some reason (maybe the smirk) I don't think Jackson is sleeping. HAHA!

I LOVE Jackson's face here.  In all fairness, you never know what Grady is going to do so his look of concern is completely warranted.

I'm pretty sure Jackson took some sand to the face. Thank goodness he is used to younger siblings!

Sweet baby! Goodness, I love him!

SO beautiful and peaceful!

I swear they look like teenagers here! WOW!

Next up!

They were having an absolute blast!!

My absolute happy place. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Take.me.back.

And aren't they just adorable??!

I am not sure what he is doing but it sure makes me giggle

Of course you take a picture when these beasts take over the sky

I'm not sure what they are doing but they look like little old men talking the meaning of life.

When your BFFs send you a picture from the elevator showing we may have gone a little too far past dinner time with the kids and this could prove to be "fun"

A little beach dinner. It really was so much fun even though Grady wanted NOTHING to do with the pictures!

Sweet friends!!

This is probably my favorite picture of the entire trip. Yep, this is our circus and these are our monkeys!!!

The boys had such a fun time just being a big ol' bunch of goobers!

The crack me up! I could watch them over and over... oh wait, I have! BAHAHA!

When you are completely stuck in a hammock but your mom insists on taking pictures instead of helping you out.... and you smile for them! Love this kid!

Their love for each other and silly companionship is something awesome. Just two months between these two sweet cousins makes for a sweet, sweet friendship.

King of the world!

and a little crab hunting!

This was quite the adventure! The story will come in just a minute but lets just say, Dane was certain a crab was going to eat him!

Morning nonsense withe Grady. Again, thank goodness Jackson is used to little siblings.

Somehow D and I convinced the dads (it didn't take much) to go take the boys to the air museum while we had some "Mom time"  It was SOOOOOOOOOO needed!

When you are on vaca and your amazing family photos come through, you just sit at the edge of the ocean and think about how blessed you are. Life.is.good! (Photo cred; Stephanie Henderson)

Now back to your regularly scheduled program!

So the evening before the crab hunting proved to be quite the adventure. Of course we treeked down the beach, which is always SO much fun at night with little to know light and after about 2 minutes you feel like you are sinking in quicksand because the sand is so deep. ... well, Dane had a bit of a freak out and SWEARS a crab tried to eat him. This resulted in him clinging to me like a leach and never again letting his feet hit the ground. He is a pretty light kid but I felt like I had carried 45 cinder blocks in a World's Strongest Man competition. Needless to say after the shrills of terror, the others left me to deal the with the hysterical child. Ugh.  Anywho, we survived that and got to this the next day. He didn't try to eat him... he just.................winked.  This may be my favorite video!

Chaz wanted to go parasailing, so he convinced his cousin to go with him. Actually it took me two days to convince Jackson but he finally agreed.

Little guy wasn't having it but wanted a picture with me before we took off.

Oh did I mention I wrangled my BFF into going with us? Yeah, she wasn't very excited about it either.

I am fairly certain he was having second thoughts.

He seems pretty excited!!

These two.... well, not so much!

And they are off!!!!

They are getting littler!!

I am pretty sure my BFF is dog cussing me right now! BAHAHAHA!!

I promise I didn't slip the dude a $20 to do this but I totally would have! BAHAHA! I was having the best time just watching them!!

I totally cut D off in this pictures because I was laughing SO hard!!

They survived! They may hate me but they survived!

Then it was our turn! The boy wanted me to go with him. I was happy to!

And we are off! Chaz was a little more nervous than I thought he was going to be!

He asked me to hold his hand, which I will gladly do any day of the week!!

WOAH! I will admit, this was kinda freaky! All I could think was how we were about to be tangled.

But they obviously know what they are doing :)

Oh don't you worry, we got dunked as well!

SO.MUCH.FUN!

And they actually LIKED it!

I am usually one that really likes comfort zones. And I am crazy scared of heights. BUT for some reason, I LOVE parasailing. I am pretty sure I would do it every time I go to the beach!

And then it was back to the beach for sun, fun, swimming, digging, fighting and having a great time!!!

HAHA! Love this kid!

He is a wee bit proud of his name in the sand! Look at that grin!!

Nope, not sand push ups! They are actually trying to get as close down to their names written in the sand as possible. Goobers!

This would be the two oldest "children."  Trust me, they too need to be supervised!

And then they had a legit kiddo join them. I haven't a clue what they are doing here!

My sweet baby!

Crazy Grady! This kid is just something else!!

Why wouldn't you build giant moats and walk in them?!?!

We flip flopped from the beach to the pool and back so many times, we couldn't keep up with it! The trek, although not far, was exhausting!!! Darn kids!

Back to the beach! I just heart this face!!

Who knows what exactly they are doing!?  Chaz and Grady are the sweetest together! They have always had a special little bond.

In his own little world!

He clearly gets this look from his momma!

And there it is. Did I mention he is the youngest of the crew and officially in the age bracket I HATE?!?! Well, for as long as we kept him on the beach, he did well! I think this one had something to do with a truck. #bringonthebeerplease

This looks dangerous... but oh well! He is ALLLLLLL boy!!

The big boys had the best time figuring out how to boogie board. Thank goodness at least two of them made the trip! HAHAHA!

CRAYCRAY!!

Yeah, that looks like it made put a damper on our day... see what I did there?!?!

Off to dinner for the evening! Yes, there are five children and four adults. We are outnumbered!

BUT aren't they adorable?!?!

And we were smart enough to go somewhere with fun things to do!

And guess what? Everyone was AWESOME!!!!

We did NOT bribe them with sugary drinks and a late bedtime AND crab hunting... 

Ok, yes we did... we certainly did!

BUT it worked! 100%

The mom's opted out of the crab hunting this night and let the big boys go. .

We celebrated 16 years of marriage while on our beach trip! SIXTEEN!!!!!

We decided to take a break from the beach and the pool and do a little shopping and exploring. The Lanes stayed back so it was just the five Hills.

Tourist shops are SO much fun!!

Even outside the shops is fun! But really only when we are rolling with some goober kids who aren't afraid to be silly!

OMG. LOOK! They are being super sweet to each other!! Sometimes you just have to get it in a picture! I love these two so much!

HAHA! Jackson! He knows they are probably up to something and working me but I will take it!

The three amigos!

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd, back to the beach! Why not?!?!

Coop wanted in on the fun with the big kiddos!!

Just over here living their best life!!

I am not laughing, promise!

Nope, nope, certainly NOT laughing 😂

I swear he looks as old as the big kids here! WOW!

And he looks like he could be old enough to drive!

These really make me giggle! They were in it for the fight as I was hanging back in my beach chair!

And look how happy these two are!

Goodness these two are just the best! They are funny, sweet friends/cousins and have the best time!

I am pretty certain this is the truck that created angry Grady and I am also pretty sure it isn't his...

This hair is something else!

and a little football by the pool!

That was until they kept hitting other patrons with the ball.... so we retreated back to the beach!

This face! I love this face. I wish I knew what he was thinking about... is it life? is it a snack? is it that silly truck? Who knows?!?!

Oh wait, I know..... he wanted to go BACK to the pool! We sent Ryan to be on duty because he is always walking around working on the phone. Grady was NOT a fan!

LOVE this one!!!  For sure King of the World!

Everybody was all about boogie boarding..........except Dane! BAHAHAHA!

One day they will realize they are old! HA!

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack to the pool!

We paused for a little lunch and then guess where we ended up? Baaaaaaaaaaaaaack at the beach!

Just scroll through these few... I am pretty sure Jackson is the only one who heard or cared to my "Hey guys, look over here please"   Ok, too be fair, mine kinda looked but J is straight up posing!

Preciousness!

And back to the get along gang. Digging a hole to either bury one of the other kids in or put sea creatures in, either is possible.

Well, I was sort of right! I guess brother jumping in it counts, right?!?!

And then he wanted "washed"

Well, that escalated quickly! This too is an awesome age.... not

Luckily he got over it quickly and the gang could continue their mission!

Oh look, someone grabbed the camera to show I really do exist!!

And he put me in the hole!

Just a little bit more boogie boarding/snorkeling on our last day!

Woah, weird!

annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd back to the pool 

Smores? Why not!

Pack it up/clean it up!

One last "night out on the town!" These pictures are a MUST on the recreation list in 8-10 years!

Night, sweet boys!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, happy place!

And one last picture! Say peace out to the beach, kiddos!!!

And this little gem is to remind us of how we almost (REALLY CLOSE!!!) ran out of gas in the middle of nowheresville-soybean-country-Alabama. You know, when the hubs says "we are fine, just fine" Only to realize he really doesn't know we are in the middle of REALLY nowheresville-soybean-country-Alabama?!?!?!

This was one of my favorite trips ever with some of my Favorite people ever! #takemebackplease