Thoughts on Thursday

Today is a great day for many reasons. 

#1- Gamecock football starts today!!  I am so excited to watch my team play.  I have grown up being a Gamecock fan my whole life.  Both of my parents went to USC (the real USC- The University of South Carolina), and although I swore I was going to go far away to college, somehow I ended up becoming a Gamecock as well.  It was probably the best decision I ever made (no student loan debt since I stayed in state, incredible friendships made, AND met the man of my dreams and now husband).  God always has a greater plan :).

Tailgating back in my college days with my ZTA sisters.

#2- We are packing our bags and heading to paradise tomorrow!!  It has only taken five years, but I finally convinced Paul to take me on a second honeymoon.  I know we will probably spend 95% of the time talking about the kids, but it will still be a nice, much needed break from normal life.  I can't wait to have some one on one time with my husband.

Honeymoon in Aruba

#3- Speaking of our trip, it is in honor of our 5 year anniversary tomorrow.  It is hard to believe that is has been 5 years.  Although our lives are much busier and much more stressful at times, I love you more now than ever.  Thanks for being my best friend, my rock, and the best father to our children.

That's all I have for today.  I have so much packing/organizing to do (not to mention I have to go to work and watch the football game this evening) I better get going!  Please pray for us to have a fun and safe trip.

Go GAMECOCKS!!!




Linking up with Natalie and Annie for Thoughts for Thursday.

Beach Trip 2014 Part 2

Katelyn was absolutely loving the beach this year.  She would crawl right into the water, and then turn around and crawl away when the waves came all while giggling.  It was the cutest thing!  Brady was really into digging a hole on the beach.  We dug a hole each time we went out there, and it kept them entertained forever.  Katelyn would get a little hot and liked to go sit in the tent and have a snack.

I bought these snackeez cups, and they were perfect to take out to the beach.

I can hear Katelyn saying, "cheeeeese" in this picture. 

Brady has gotten really into playing golf lately, so his daddy took him to play some golf while Katelyn and I went on a stroll on the beach one afternoon.  I asked someone to take our picture, and you can see by the picture below that she was not amused.

That is the stank eye if I have ever seen one.

We invited their cousin, Henry, and Aunt Paige to come play at the beach while the big kids were at school.  They had a blast together!

Working on that hole!

Aunt Paige with Katelyn

They went on an alligator hunt in their matching alligator outfits, naturally :).

There is still more to come...

First day of school

My babies went back to school yesterday.  It was bittersweet.  Brady was SO excited about going to school (mainly because he saw that they had lots of "cars" when we went to meet his teachers).  I was a little worried about Katelyn, because she is very attached to me these days, but she did great!  She did give her teacher the stare down, but she managed a little grin and didn't cry when I left.  I honestly think she recognized her friends that were in the nursery with her, and that made her happy.  Paul said that were both super happy when he picked them up in the afternoon.  I hope that we have a great year!

Katelyn is in Toddler 1 and Brady is in the 2's (due to his birthday just missing the cut-off).

Book bags from L.L. Bean.

Beach Trip 2014 Part 1

What a fabulous week at the beach we had!  We had perfect weather the whole time, and the kids absolutely loved it.  Brady literally cried when we told him we had to go home.  But, hopefully we will get another weekend trip in sometime soon now that renting season is over and it stays warm here pretty much through October.

It was a packed house with 6 kids all four and under (and their parents of course).  This meant all 4 of us shared a room which actually turned out to be fine.  Brady and Katelyn loved sleeping in the room together.  Katelyn would wake up and see us, and start saying, "Hi! Hi! Hi!"  We did lots of playing on the beach, golf cart riding, swimming at the pool, and just hanging out with family.  I can't wait until next year!

Clearly I took a bazillion pictures, so I am going to have to break this up into several posts.  If you aren't into the family vacation posts, I apologize, because this blog is about to be taken over by loads of cuteness from the beach :).

The Angel children slept the whole way there.

We made it! Katelyn, Frankie, and Connor.

We headed to the beach as soon as we got there. 

This girl loved it!

Brady just wanted to dig a big hole.

Pool time!

The sweetest :)

Waldo actually played for a while! (If you know my dad, you know how fair skinned he is and that him being in direct sunlight on the beach is a very rare event.)

Best buddies!  Brady had to take his milk and all his animals up to Waldo's room every morning to hang out.

Fun with Frankie!

We love the golf cart.

Brady even let Katelyn have a turn.

To be continued...