A day at the beach

Sunday I was going stir crazy. I had to get out of this house and better yet out of town. I took the kids to Gulf Shores. They have a huge outlet mall and it was fun to walk around. Then we headed to the beach. Even though it was a cloudy, muggy day we had a blast.

Owen is definitely his fathers son. On our way home he demanded I stop at this car dealer so he could "check out" the mustangs. The highlight of his day!

Why are kids so mean?

So this afternoon a group of kids from our neighborhood, about 6 of them, were gathered in the pool parking lot which happens to be right across the street from our house. Owen and Gracie were watching them through the window and I told them to go out and talk to them. Within seconds they had their shoes on and were headed across the street. I should have taken a picture because Owen was holding Gracie's hand. He's such a great brother! Anyway, I'm standing up by the front door watching them, but not letting them know I'm watching, and two of the boys pointed at Grace and said "why does she walk so funny" and chuckled. Then all the kids started laughing very loudly. Keep in mind these kids range from about 6 to 13. Being the mom I am I darted over there to rescue her. I told the two little boys that it wasn't very nice to laugh at people and that she has very special legs. Then I scooped her up and grabbed Owen by the hand and ran in the house. I know I didn't handle the situation appropriately, I just didn't know what to do. I guess I should have been preparing myself for this exact situation long ago. Gracie is fine, didn't seem to bother her a bit thank goodness. Needless to say I am still in tears for my little girl while writing this :(

Homesick

Well Luke is officially into his third week of academy. It's going as well as you can expect it to besides the nasty shin splints he has. We are both counting down the days til he's done.

The kids are great. The move almost hasn't phased them. I'm still anticipating the moment they both have meltdown and realize this is permanent. I, on the other hand, am still very homesick. I can't wait for my visit home this summer.

On Sunday we attended a church around the corner from us. It reminded me a lot of our church in MI only smaller. We felt very welcome and the people were friendly. Later that afternoon Luke took a nap so I took the kids to the mall. Our mall is outdoors and it was such a beautiful day I thought it would be fun to walk around and window shop.

Yes, those are palm trees :o)

When the weather is warm water the circle above is a giant water fountain and kids (or adults) can run through it.

This is in the center of the mall area right next to the big circle fountain. In the summer they hook up a screen to this stage and play a movie every Friday night.

The grand tour...

OK so here is the tour. Keep in mind we still don't have any furniture, except our beds, so it's pretty empty.

This is the front door and entry way. The door on the left is a coat closet and the one on the right goes into the laundry room.

From the entry area you walk into the living room. First pic is the back wall of living room looking from entry. Next one is the wall to the right. Notice in this pic the hall to the right goes to the kids rooms and the one on the left goes into the kitchen.

Hall that leads to the kids rooms and bathroom.

So we made the decision to put the kids in the same room at least for the first few weeks until they are used to the house. This will soon be Owens room and closet.

This will eventually be Emmalyn's room but for now it is the playroom. Or should I say disaster area. I just love the high ceilings in there.

This is the kids/guest bathroom.

So back into the living room where you walk into the kitchen.

Dining area. You just gotta love that blue:o)

In the picture above, the door on the left goes into the sun room. Not sure what to do with this space.

Out the door on the back right above you go into the back yard.

Back into the house on the opposite side of the house is the master bedroom. This short hall leads there.

Off our bedroom is the master bath.

In the picture above, the door on the left is a linen closet and the door straight back is our closet. Yes, I finally have a walk in closet!

This is an opposite view of the bathroom. Door straight back goes into our bedroom.

Thanks for touring my crib, peace out...LOL.

I can't wait to get some furniture in here. Better yet some visitors:) I miss you all so much!

On the road

It was for sure a tearful good-bye but in some ways I was looking forward to being on the road. Things at home in MI were getting so chaotic and unorganized I couldn't wait to settle into our new home and start fresh.

The kids did the best they could on the long trip down. If it hadn't been for the in car DVD players (thanks you mom and dad VW) Luke and I would have gone insane. We made it to Kentucky and stayed there overnight. The beds felt amazing but I'm sure any mattress would have considering the five nights prior were on an air bed or the floor. After a lovely continental breakfast we were back on the road. Our goal was to make it to Fairhope before 5pm so we could get all the utilities turned on in the house. Thanks to Louisville, and Nashville traffic we didn't make it in time. Needless to say power and water didn't get turned so it was one more night in a hotel for us. We had a great night sleep and were finally at the house the next afternoon!