Vacation and...a new record!

Hi y'all!  It's been an absolutely crazy couple of weeks.  My mom, oldest son, and I went on vacation. Unfortunately, the hubs had to stay home and work.  Booooo!  But, being the nice wife that I am, I decided to leave my youngest son at home with him so that he wouldn't be lonely. (Or, maybe it was because I was stressed out thinking about taking two young children on a plane on vacation without him??  You decide. =) ) Anyway, we had a fun time despite leaving half my family at home.

So, my family and I are beach people.  Vacation to me always includes water of some sort, and preferably sand, too.  To me, going to the mountains is not a vacation.  And, no, I've never been to the mountains, so my opinion could possibly be a bit skewed.  But for now, I will stand firm that I am a beach person.We had originally planned to head to our stand-by vacation destination of Cozumel or to try something new by going to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  I've heard really great things about the Dominican beaches, and we were interested in trying some place new.  After much consideration, though, we decided it wasn't really in our best interest to travel to a third world country with half of my immediate family remaining in Oklahoma. I'm so glad I inherited some common sense. So, in the interest of staying in the continental US, we settled on Destin, Florida.

Reid is ready to go!  He's been on a plane before, but he was 8-months old, so this was basically like his first plane trip.

To be honest, we were a bit disappointed with the beaches at first.  They were PACKED.  I mean, I'm okay with a crowded beach, but when I say PACKED, I mean...like sardines!  On our first full day there, we managed to find a beach that wasn't as busy, which was great, BUT, it was filled with seaweed.  Oh well, beggers can't be choosers, I suppose.

The good news is...our awesome and amazing front desk guy gave us some tips on where the better beaches were that were less crowded, so we ended up really liking our beach visits the rest of the time.  Shout out to the Sandestin Courtyard Marriott on Grand Blvd, by the way!  If you are ever staying in the area, you should definitely stay there!

Here is a picture of the beach that came recommended to us.

Reid had a blast playing the sand.

Looking like the cool dude that he is!

Doing some work!

The really good thing about Destin, if you haven't been there, is that there is an area called The Village of Baytowne in Sandestin.  It is a family-oriented area that has restaurants and tons of activities for kids.  Here is Reid doing some of the fun things they had to offer.

Zip line (I'm not sure who this daredevil is???)

The rock wall (again, who is this child??)

Bouncy thing

There were also a lot of really great places to eat in the area.  Apparently, this area loves grits.  Cheese grits, shrimp-n-grits, buttered grits!  Yum!  Any town that has grits on practically every menu is a town that I love! I may consider moving to the South merely for the grits.

Here is Reid dining outside before we enjoyed the most amazing creamy grits ever!  Clearly, he's excited, too, and is telling YOU that should try these grits!

We had fun, fun, fun and were busy, busy!  I'm not quite sure if Reid really had a good time?  It's a shame there wasn't anything for him to do.  ;)

And just because all the pictures are of my firstborn, here is picture of the one I left behind for the sake of my husband.  Ahh, I love these boys!

That's it for now!  I shall return!

(Oh, and I'd also like to point out that I've met a new record for people reading my blog!  I had 2 views on August 10th!  Woot woot! )  =)

To be continued... Catherine

Little Guy and Big Guy Palmer

A few years ago, I got Chris and Reid (now six) matching t-shirts.  Chris' t-shirt said "Big Guy Palmer" and Reid's shirt (then two) said "Little Guy Palmer".  It was pretty darn cute if I do say so myself.  Here they are wearing their matching shirts:

Seriously, is that not too cute?  Reid looks so proud!  This was taken in June 2009.

Anyway, Chris was home the other day staying with a sick Rhetty Roo and guess what he dug out of the closet?!?  "Little Guy Palmer" was resurfaced! So, of course Rhett had to wear it that day. Here is he looking like a chunky monkey at almost 21 months.

Cute, eh?  Now, he's wearing blue shoes and is wearing shorts that are 2 sizes too big, but that's what happens when dad dresses him.  =)

Chris is now on a mission to find his shirt so he can get a picture with Rhett. 


To be continued... Catherine

A blog is born!

I am absolutely terrible at documenting the lives of my children. TERRIBLE.  I have major guilt about this. Their milestones...I think "oh, I'll remember when this happened, I don't need to write it down".  Their baby books?  Practically nonexistent.  Pictures? Sure, I've got an iPhone filled with pictures that nobody ever sees.  Truly, this is out-of-control and it is time!  Time to get this under control and have proof that my kids did live with us and that we did actually have fun.  BUT...I am a realist.  I know that I probably won't finish filling out their baby books (when did they roll over again??) I most likely won't ever put together an elaborate photo album for them (heck, I can't even get pictures printed off to put in frames) and I will definitely not scrapbook these non-printed pictures.  So, what's a busy, working mom to do?  Start a blog!  So, in my quest to get this under control and to document the lives of my boys, family, and life in general, "The Days of My Life" is born (cue hallelujah and angelic music).  If I'm feeling wild and crazy, maybe I'll even blog recipes, fashion, organizing my home, or whatever strikes my fancy.  Guess I'll just wait and see.

Here are my sweet boys:

And my hubby and me on a tour in San Francisco back in April (don't worry, I've taken care of that crazy hair color):

And one of my favorite photos of my hubs and my youngest son (seriously, the sweetest picture eva):

Well, that's all for now.  We'll see how this goes.  

To be continued...

Catherine