"This Is My Best Day Ever"

Patrick's Aunt Sarah and Uncle Mike were so kind and generous to let us use their beach condo in Palm Coast, Florida...again!  It was our third time visiting and the kids second time and it just keeps getting better! We think this was also our first time taking a vacation just the four of us which was special too!  We started the 19 hour drive at 5pm on Wednesday and around 5:30pm on Wednesday the "how much longer's" started up...I was thinking this could not be good....but it was actually just fine and by noon on Thursday we were in Palm Coast basking the sun and jumping in the pool!  The kids got out of the car only twice during the long drive and watched probably 5 or 6 movies... it wasn't bad at all!  We had snacks, they got to sleep, and there were no meltdowns!  They are great road trippers.  Carson has been making long journeys since he was 4 months old and Laney started long road trips when she was just weeks old so we've been training them for a while.  Not to mention they got their Mom's bladder, thankfully.

 Carson spotted the little lizards (they are probably geckos or something but let's just refer to them as lizards) right away....and the hunt began!  Carson got Laney interested and then made her really go after them.   He was obviously a little too nervous to get too close.   But he knew Laney would go on the attack...and that she did.  We only left the resort once and that was to go to the grocery store.  On our way in Carson asked if they could get some nets at the store so they could hunt the lizards.  I laughed and said the grocery store wouldn't have nets.  As we walked in the front door guess what was on display?  Two kids nets just perfect for lizard hunting!  Every time we walked out the door to hit the pool or the beach both the kids would grab their nets like they were on a safari or something.  They never did catch one of those quick little stinkers, but my favorite story was when they both went charging toward a lizard with their nets up and Carson stopped just short (too scared he might ACTUALLY catch it probably), while Laney made the scariest face ever and threw her net down on the concrete on attack.  I was so afraid to look in her net but luckily there was nothing, although I'm pretty sure there is one injured lizard somewhere in the bushes outside the condo.  Laney was also brutishly yelling, "I'm going to hit you in the face!" as she attacked.  It was quite the site and it says a lot about the personalities of both kids.

 Our daily routine while on vacation: Pool, rest, beach, sleep, REPEAT.

 Both kids loved the beach but Laney wasn't so sure about the ocean.  She slipped in probably an inch of water from a wave on the first day and never went back in to swim.  Carson LOVED the ocean.  He was floating around body surfing out there by himself by the last day.  (closely monitored of course)

 Racing to the beach!

 Those lizard hunting nets were also good for grabbing sea shells!

 Laney only referred to beach condo as "The Castle" the entire trip and even still now when she talks about it.  We'd be leaving the pool and she'd say, "Are we going back to the castle now?".

 We had lunch at the pool every day...mac and cheese for the kids...beer for Dad...mudslide for Mom.

 Carson had his floaties on for the first two days and then he went without once he remembered he really could swim!  They are still nice to have around though.  The kids loved jumping in over, and over, and over, and over again.  They went frontwards, backwards, sideways, and even together holding hands sometimes!  I mean they did this for 4 hours at a time!

 Laney skipped her naps all week except for the couple times she conked out at the pool for a power nap.

 Carson and Patrick made up some fun game using Carson's baseball cap.  I never really got the game but they played it for a long time and it looked pretty fun!

 We tried.

 There was a lady walking her horse on the beach one evening and Laney got to feed her!  I love how Carson is holding her in the picture!

 We had to have just a little down time in between the pool and beach each day...usually for Dad :-)  So we'd eat, watch a movie, do some puzzles, and head back out!

It was Carson's idea to throw the boogie boards in the car right as we were leaving the house and I'm glad he did!  He had a blast going out in the ocean and riding waves back in.  He didn't even mind having to dump buckets of sand out of his suit when he was done.  The waves were really huge when we were there so we just rode the waves close to shore.

 Her dress got a little wet from a wave so OFF IT CAME!  And wow did she just feel free!  She started dancing, singing, and doing somersaults!  This girl...I mean really, this girl!

 Everyday of our vacation Laney would say, "This is my best day ever",  Every.  Single.  Day.

 Ice cream at the pool!

 This was the view from Aunt Sarah and Uncle Mike's "castle".  It doesn't get any better!  We can't thank them enough!

 Carson had to take some pictures of Mom and Dad too.

 We decided last minute to take a different route home and drive through our old stomping grounds Charlotte, North Carolina!  We drove through our old neighborhood and showed Carson our old house.  He didn't seem like he remembered it which surprised us, although the trees grew a ton and it did not look exactly the same.  We got Mac's BBQ take out and had a quick dinner with our friends Megan, Ricky, and Cali!  Luckily my good friend Nicole was able to stop by short notice too and bring her little cuties as well!  Getting to see them all made me so happy, it was the perfect ending to an incredible vacation!

 Thanks for the photo Carson!

 I loved seeing Cali and Laney play together.  They are only months apart in age and both have explosive personalities!  I know they'd be the best of friends if they saw each other more.  And maybe, just maybe, they would be as good of dancers as Megan and I were :-)

Nicole's daughter Ayla used to be Carson's best buddy back in Charlotte.  Even though he doesn't seem to remember our old house he remembers Ayla and talks about her pink jeep that he used to ride around inside her house.  He even prays for her at night still.  She really was his little sweetheart!  When he saw her at Megan's he was more stand off-ish than I expected.  Once we got back in the car to head home he asked me where Ayla was.  I told him he just saw her and he said, "That was her?!  But she was bigger!  I thought that looked like her but Ayla is smaller Mom.".  If only they could stay little longer!  Thanks for the trip down memory lane Nicole!  Oh those cute faces!