kayaking

One of the fun activities on the trip was Kayaking. We rented kayaks a couple of different times. Mike and Mandy went out one afternoon in beautiful clear waters. Dave took Clare, Brinley and Calvin out that same day and had a great time.  

The following afternoon everyone else wanted to try it. The water is always very smooth in the morning and then gets rougher as the afternoon. This particular afternoon it was really rough!  I was really regretting promising Dave I'd go out!

Dave went out in a Kayak with Ellie and Alexey. It was rough water getting out but Mike and Myles helped them get past the roughest part of the water where the waves were breaking.  They came back in about 20 minutes later and both girls were not happy about the kayaking experience. Ellie didn't like salt water getting in her eyes (this bothered her all week), and Lexey didn't like the big waves.

Mike, Myles, Calvin and Brinley had a LOT of trouble getting in their kayak. I was taking lots of pictures to try to capture this moment. Brinley and Calvin were real troopers and really had a good time with the adventure of it all!  It took about 7 tries (of getting in the boat and then getting dumped out) before they finally made it out!

 Jo was happily playing on the beach while we watched!

 so far so good....

 all four in the boat

 ....and then it tips again!

A little later Myles tried to take Warren out but after being dumped out twice he was DONE! He kept saying, "my dad is too big for that boat!" That evening Warren had a black eye. No one knows how it happened but we all wondered if it was from getting smacked around on the kayak.

The rest of these pictures I must have bummed the settings so they are weird and blue but they still tell a good story.

 lexey loves the babies

 rishelle helping out ellie who was blinded by the salt water

 darling darling jo

 looking grown up

 cute clare bear

 myles and mike finally made it off shore

Beach Days

Sunday - we got up early and Dave and I took all the kids down to the water. It is breathtaking.   Then we went in for a great breakfast casserole Mandy made. We went to 11am church in Fort Walton and stayed for sacrament meeting.  In the afternoon we hung out on the beach and at home. Sun night Rishelle cooked hamburgers and hot dogs. After the kids went downsairs to their den the adults stayed up playing the card game Mormon bridge.


we tried family pictures after church but that was pretty much a fail. It was too bright and we had a big group that we needed help situating.

 love Calvin's arm down his pants in all of these.

Monday  - Rishelle and I went on a run on the beach. Rishelle ran 2.5 miles and then turned around and came back. I ran about 1.5 miles and then walked a ways and then ran the last 1.5 back with her!  She's awesome. I made a comment about how when I run on the beach I feel like I should look like a Baywatch character but I know that is far from the case!
The husbands went and did cross fit. Dave got put in the group with the beginners which consisted of a bunch of old ladies. The workout was a bunch of lunges, squats and other leg exercises. He was very sore!

We spent the rest of the day on the beach

After the kids went to bed, Dave and I picked up Ben and Jerry's for each couple and we watched Warrior. Such a great movie.

some pics from our first couple of beach days

Clare and Ellie were thick and thieves

Lexey played in the sand non stop. She was very content the entire trip. Such an easy and sweet girl.

 Jo and Maddie...best friends. If you want to know true joy it is being next door neighbors with the Hansens AND having them on vacation!

too cute.

Road Trip/Spring break 2015

Ever since we found out we'd be moving to Houston we thought we should take advantage of being in the South and see some of the other southern states. We have been planning this epic spring break road trip ever since we got here.

The itinerary:
Sat -to  Destin beach
Wed- leave the beach and drive to Foley AL to see Dave's uncle Ben. Stop at Alligator Alley. Stay in Mobile AL
Thurs- drive to Seminary Mississipi to see the old speed farm, cemetery and great Uncle Lloyd. drive down near New Orleans for the night
Fri- swamp tour in New Orleans, French quarter, beignets, city park...drive home or possibly stay one more night if we felt we wanted to see more.

What actually happened deviated from our itinerary because Lexey got sick Wed night. She spent the day in the hospital in Mobile on Thursday and then we came straight home Th night late. More on that later. It will get a complete post of it's own.

Overall the vacation was great. The kids did well in the car. We enjoyed the beach house, we enjoyed the southern states, we enjoyed the break from work and the hospital.  It was hard to come home, especially when home is Houston! 

Here's a recap of the first day and the night before we left

T minus one day. Friday we worked hard to get everything packed and ready to go. The car was pretty much loaded before we went to bed and clothes were laid out.  The kids had a hard time falling asleep.

Dave had been worked to the bone that week. He had been in the hospital doing cases 3 of the nights this week leading up to vacation so we knew he'd need a good night of rest Friday. The Hansens left Friday afternoon to drive part way and the Scott's were leaving at 5am Sat. The kids were a little bummed to be the last ones to be leaving but starting strong and rested was important!  As it was Dave had to work until 8 or 9 that Friday evening instead of being able to slip away a few hours earlier to start getting ready.



Day 1.

Because of Dave's schedule we didn't plan to leave until 8 or 9 in the morning instead of trying to get a really early start. As it turned out we hit the later end of that window and then got a really slow start. The kids were up super early and told me about how hard it was to go sleep the night before vacation.

Lexey said." I just told myself it is an ordinary day....just an ordinary day....we're not going to florida for another year....."

Clare said " Mom told me to think of something boring so I thought of Tressel and that made me think of Remy and that made me think of the Hansens who were on their way to the beach house! Then I thought of barbies and that made me think of the Hatches who were getting our mail while we were at the beach house! No matter what I thought of, it always came back to the beach house!"

Cute kids.

The kids got in the car and were ready to go an hour before we were. That makes for a long trip! (they did the same thing when we moved out to CA).  I think we hit the road a little after 9.






































When we stopped to get gas Dave noticed the gas tank was loose. I guess I should re phrase that. The gas tank was so loose there was gas pouring down on  to the sidewalk. So Dave drove next door to an auto supply store to get tools to fix it.  I'm glad it broke when Dave was there so he could fix it for me!  We were finally on the road for real a little after 10.

 The kids were SUPER bummed about another delay.  Lexey is SUPER cute!

The drive was pretty uneventful until we came on some really bad traffic just outside of Baton Rogue. We found an alternate route along some county roads which showed us what Louisiana looks like! We got a kick out of that. It looks just like you'd think it would.

I loved the bridge crossing the Mississippi (minus the traffic).

As with all road trips we stopped for milkshakes at dairy queen in Mississippi.

We arrived in Destin around 9pm. Jo and Calvin were asleep in the car. YAY!  All the other kids had just gone to bed but of course they jumped out of bed to see us arrive. The girls talked and played for a while before going to bed. There was a bunk bed room downstairs where Clare, Ellie, Brinley, Lexey and Warren slept. Poor warren got kicked out of Ellies bed 1/2 way through the night and had to sleep on a cushion on the floor.

cute kids

Sometimes Dave tries to sneak into the TV room (in the center of our tiny tiny house) and play wii u by himself. That never works. The kids always find him. These are the Mealey boys. We love having them over.

Epic photo bomb by lexey. Jo and Madelyn such sweet best friends and dressed like twins.

growing kids

A few days ago dave and I were hanging out in our room with the door closed (during the day while all the kids were home).  Clare knocked on the door and asked for a bobby pin, which I keep in my room. I slid one under the door for her, thinking to myself, "I'm so glad Clare is doing her hair without me having to tell her to." Then about one minute later we hear a POP and then all kids pour into our room giggling. They had used the bobby pin to pick the lock on our door. Clare said, "rule #1 in the judy moody detective book: Always have a bobby pin handy!"

About a week ago we were in our room and the kids all ran outside so they could sit and peek in the window. Nobody is at all interested in what we're doing until we try to go in our room and spend some time without the kids!


On a related topic, it is kind of fun now that the kids are getting old enough to entertain themselves sometimes that we can sit and talk or play a game while they play with each other.  Lately we have been loving Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride Europe. Sometimes Clare will play with us too.  Clare beat me once and then beat Dave and I. She was so proud. She was overthrown as family champion not too long after that though! I believe Dave is reigning family champion.