More Beach Fun

We really have been enjoying our week at the beach. We can hardly get Keira out of the water, and Cayleigh is getting used to it enough that she is enjoying it more. We saw several jellyfish in the water today, and several of us did get stung. Thankfully, the girls have managed to avoid being stung. We will have to leave the beach tomorrow and head home, so we need to get back out and enjoy it while we can.

Gulf Shores

We finally made it to Gulf Shores, Alabama on Saturday. We went to the grocery to do our shopping for the week and it was a real zoo. The beach house is great, just a short walk from the back door to the shore. The girls have been enjoying their time on the beach. We have found lots of hermit crabs, seen a few herons, and built some sand castles. The only drawback of our beach experience so far is that I was stung by a jellyfish. Yes, it was a bit painful, but thankfully it only lasted for an hour or two.

We are looking forward to having a whole week in the beach house with our friends. More pictures to follow- I had my in-laws UPS my good camera to Pensacola, so I will be taking many photographs during our stay.

Pensacola

On Thursday, we left Huntsville and drove south to Pensacola, Florida. Drew and the girls have not been to Florida before so we were really looking forward to our time here. Of course, we just had to go to the beach and see the white sand along the Gulf shore. We were thrilled to see Keira, who is not quite three, enjoying the water so much. Last year when she was at the beach she just snuggled up to us and said, "scared." What a difference a year makes! Cayleigh was much more interested in beachcombing. We found lots of shells, but we were most excited to find a sand dollar! On Saturday, we will drive southwest to Gulf Shores, AL, and we will stay there for the remainder of our vacation.

Huntsville

We had a nice couple of days in Huntsville. We lingered at the pool, spent some time window shopping, played in a children's fountain, and visited the Earlyworks Children's Museum. When I say we, I mean the girls and myself. Poor Drew had to slave away at his job. Thankfully, that two days on the job here in Huntsville has provided us with this wonderful vacation!

Vacation

On Saturday we traveled from Colorado, through Kansas, and Missouri, to Illinois...we stopped off in Sparta to visit with Drew's family. Drew's Mom is recovering from hip surgery. She had to have her hip replaced last week since taking a bad fall in front of the Capitol Building. After a short visit with Drew's parents, and sister, we made another stop in Carbondale to visit with one of Drew's high school friends. We continued through Illinois and on to Kentucky, then Tennessee and finally to Alabama. We are staying in Huntsville tonight because Drew has to work the next two days. On Thursday we will head south to Pensacola and then Saturday we will travel to Gulf Shores, Alabama where we have rented a beach house for a week. We will be sharing the house with some close friends. We expect to spend lots of time on the beach and relaxing in the sun! I would love to post some photos, but somehow my camera was left behind in Sparta. I'm so bummed, but at least I do have my old camera with me.

Swim Lessons

We have the girls in swim lessons this week and next week. We wanted to make sure that they were prepared to play in the water when we get to the beach at the end of this month. Keira has really taken to the water, she was not afraid like Cayleigh was when she first started swim lessons. Cayleigh has really improved over last year, and it is exciting to see her growth. I think it really helps that the girls have friends in lessons with them. It is also nice for me to have the company of their friends' Moms while I watch the girls at their lessons. Kudos to the city for making swim lessons affordable.

Teva Mountain Games

We went to Vail for the weekend to see the 6th annual Teva Mountain Games. The weather was great, we only had a bit of rain in the afternoon. We watched some kayaking, racing, dog diving, and mountain bike stunts. We had a great time. Drew emailed one of my photos to a competitor and he posted it on his website!