Orange Beach- Day 1

We got to Orange Beach Friday afternoon and the kids ate a quick bite in the condo before we headed down to the shore.

Can you tell how excited they are?

This is Matthew's first ever time to have his toes in the sand. At first he was a little hesitant but he loved it! He said it was 'soft'!

Madeline is ready to scour the beach for shells. She's got her bucket, shovels and a net.

Our first day, there were TONS of jellyfish washing up on the beach! They were everywhere!

Collecting shells.

She did such a thorough job of collecting everything she came across that we even ended up with broken wood and some sort of sand crystallized poop in our bucket! Yuck!

Matthew was fearless about the water so we had to keep him close by.

This is one of my favorites.

He liked to dig up sand and fling it back into the water.

Sissy got her bucket very full of shells, they were everywhere!

"Toes in the water, toes in the sand...."

There were sooo many jellyfish, people were digging these holes along the beach and collecting them inside. Matthew says "Don't touch the jellyfish!!" He was fascinated!

This big hole was a great source of entertainment.

As written on Madeline's knee on the car ride down "I love the beach".

After the beach, we changed into swimsuits and went to the pool. Another first for Matthew. He LOVED it!

Madeline was like a little fish this time. She has gotten the hang of swimming and would stay in the pool all day if she could.

After swimming we went to our traditional ice cream parlor, Scoops.

And yes, we did take Matthew there in a shirt, but due to poor planning on my part it was a white shirt so Jeff suggested we take it off while he ate his chocolate ice cream. =)

Sweet

The night before we left for the beach. Madeline read a story to Matthew while we packed.

Beach Bound!

Orange Beach, here we come! We are going back for a Beach Break! This will be Matthew's first time to get his toes in the sand, the last time we went was right before he was born. We are even staying in the very same condo. I also plan to go to Scooops for ice cream and eat fried crab claws.

I've got the beach toys all packed and ready. I'm hoping to get some great pictures of the kids on the beach too!

Purge!

This weekend Jeff did a major clean out of ALL of our paperwork. Years and years worth. We don't have a shredder anymore so we just built a fire and burned it up. That's a big mound of papers in that pile!

Finally! Success!

Madeline has finally learned to ride her bicycle!

On Sunday we went back to the school parking lot to practice.

We took Madeline's old tricycle for Matthew to ride.

After a few practice runs........

she took off on her own!

Turning and stopping are next on the list to master!

Is it real?

This little guy gave me quite the scare as I was cleaning off the coffee table! I reached down to pick up Matthew's puzzle and thought it was a real lizard!! Life with a little boy.....

A Boy, His Spider Man Shirt, And A 'Bloon'

My Girl

Madeline is so happy to have her closet back, she's going all out on her outfits! This is her before we left for school this morning. She's got a tad bit of Punky Brewster in her!

Say hello to my new best friend:

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Happy Birthday to Jeff today! Below is the envelope Madeline made for his birthday card. She picked out the card but I told her she had to put Matthew's name on it too. Hence the 'mostly from Madeline' written on it!

What??

I told Madeline that was going to be coming up to the school tomorrow to take her class to lunch so that the teacher could have a duty free lunch. Madeline without missing a beat said "Mom, can you please wear your contacts and put on make-up for that?"
What????
=)

Newest Canvas

Madeline's newest canvas of a cross. She said her teacher didn't like the little butterfly she added, but I do.

Amelia Earhart Speech

Madeline's speech: "Hi my name is Amelia Earhart. I was not afraid of doing the same things as boys. I was born on July 24, 1897 and I was a pilot. I won awards for flying in my airplane. I died because I tried to fly across the world but when I was almost at the end I fell in the bottom of the ocean. No one knows what happened to me. Please remember me, Amelia Earhart."

The Living Museum

The Living Museum at Madeline's school was on Thursday. This was the event that she researched Amelia Earhart for. Here she is eating breakfast and heading out for school.

In the hallway getting ready. The children were lined up along every hallway, sectioned off like a museum. The teachers were dressed at museum curators. There were footprints in front of each child and parents would step on them to hear the child 'come to life' and give their speech about who they were dressed as.

I saw at least 6 different parents go to hear Amelia. Madeline did it like a pro. She has earned her entire closet back for her good behavior, conduct grade and her performance at the Living Museum.

Madeline was stationed on the Historical Figures hall, next to Davey Crockett.

Just down from her was Helen Keller (her mom sewed her blouse!).

Annie Oakley.

Robert E. Lee, Susan B. Anthony and Wild Bill.

Florence Nightingale and Rosa Parks.

Pocahontas, Sachajawea (sp?), Stonewall Jackson, Swamp Fox, Martin Luther King.