Beach Vacation....Alligator Fun!!!

Tuesday we had lunch at Lulu's and then headed to the Alligator Farm! Lulu is Jimmy Buffet's sister and has a restaurant on the marina. It's a fun place with a really neat atmosphere...and great food! Gracyn feel asleep on the way there and slept the 15 minutes while we waited for our table. The little girl was tired!!!

After lunch we headed to the Alligator Alley! Clint and Eric were really looking forward to this! We started off by looking in the separate boxes that housed the baby alligators. They were separated by ages 1, 2, and 3.

Alligator bait?! Not this sweet girl!!!

The neatest thing about this farm is that you were able to walk thru the swamp and see the alligators more in their natural habitat. Of course, we were walking up on a bridge! However, we weren't that high above the gators. We had bought a thing of food and was able to feed them. It was like dog food, only bigger. If you have ever seen an alligator in a zoo you will know they just lie there. Not these gators! Once you threw the food in they would go after it!

Do you see the gator?!

Feeding the gators!

Off to do some gator hunting!

Once we walked thru the swamp we headed over to the bleachers for feeding time. Along the way, we saw a worker with a small gator. The girls were able to sit at the picnic table with him and pet the little guy.  Then it was feeding time! It was really amazing. It's like the gators know what time feeding time is. They all swam up and were just waiting for the guy to feed them. He had a mic on and gave us a lot of info about the gators. After the show, we stuck around and talked to him and asked him some questions. The gators that are there were captured because they were nuisance gators, meaning they were bothering people at their homes and sometimes getting after their pets! I have to say....this was one of my favorite things we did on this trip!

Petting the gator!

Gracyn's first encounter with a gator is when she was just 9 months old!

Brave man!

After the show, we headed to the gift shop so the girls could pick out a stuffed alligator. Then we headed to Wal-Mart to get dinner. Bill and Sarah just happened to be in Gulf Shores the same week we were so we had them over for dinner! We grilled steaks, had salad, twice baked potatoes, bread, and banana pudding! It was great just hanging out at the house with great friends!

Beach Vacation...Waterpark, Pirates, and a Dead Battery!

Sunday we headed to the Waterpark in Gulf Shores! I was super excited about this, especially after just going to the one in Dallas and seeing how much Gracyn loved it! We arrived just in time for Spongebob Squarepants to make his appearance! Gracyn walked right up to him and gave him a big hug! Of course, I was snapping pictures. Little did I know, there was a line to see Spongebob and for pictures. OOPS!

Ready to play!

We started off in the kiddie pool. I figured Gracyn would have attacked the slides like she did a couple of weeks ago. WRONG! She wanted nothing to do with them. She acted like she had never been in a pool before! After awhile, I figured out what the problem was. All of the slides had little water spouts at the top of the slide. She did not like these. I was finally able to convince her that the water wouldn't get in her face. She went down it a couple of times, then was done with them. She was like a different kid out there. I was a little disappointed, but all that matters is that she had fun.

We pretty much spend the whole day at the waterpark. Eric and Clint went off to ride a slide then we headed over to the lazy river then had lunch. After that, we left the girls' with the guys and Katie and I went to ride the slides. We ended up riding 3 and had a blast!!! We got back to the house about 5 and got ready to go to dinner. Of course, this took awhile. We decided to head to Calypso Joe's since we heard rave reviews. We get there and they were minutes from closing! Mind you, it was 8pm on a Sunday night. So we set in search for another place to eat. We ended up going to Reds and Ribs. They had the most amazing ribs, but that was about it! To top the evening off, Gracyn peed on Clint...in the restaurant! Poor Clint! The rest of us got a kick out of it though! Oh the wonders of potty training!

The next day we had a Pirate Ship excursion planned. This was the only thing we had an actual appointment time set for. We arrived just in time to pay and load the ship! This was the one event I was looking forward to the most on this trip; however, it didn't quiet turn out the way I was hoping.  It was so hot! The poor girls had to wear life jackets so we're even hotter. Gracyn was not a fan of the life jacket and kept trying to pull it off.

The captain of the ship really only had one leg! So that was neat! However, we learned at the waterpark that Caroline is not a fan of people with loss limbs. We won't get into that : )
They had two teenage girls that actually put on the show while the captain drove the ship. They gave the kids tattoos, pirate hats, and pirate guns. The girls just weren't really into it till they brought out the water guns. They enjoyed that. Then towards the end they found out that Eric had stolen gold and they through him in the bottom of the ship! The girls were all about saving him! It was seriously the cutest thing ever...they were so worried about him!

Getting her pirate hat!

One of the only pictures I have with her! See her Hello Kitty tattoo?!

Checking out Eric in the bottom of the ship...they were trying to save him!

Now for the exciting part of the day! So, you know the battery died at the house before we left Van Buren, right? Well, we stopped to get gas on the way back from the Pirate Ship Cruise. What happened when we tried to start the car back up after filling up? NOTHING! Battery was dead! The guys tried to jump it but nothing happened. So Katie and I got the girls out and headed into the gas station. We bought some drinks and snacks and we just sat in the floor and chilled for a goof half hour. They finally got the car jumped. The guys dropped us off while they headed to Wal-Mart to get a new battery. Once they got back we headed to the beach!!!

Having the waves crash on them was their most favorite thing!

Little stinkers!!!

Beach Vacation....Beach Party and Toes in the Water!

Friday evening we headed down to Van Buren. Our initial plan was to eat dinner, load up the car, get a couple hours of sleep, then head out in the middle of the night. Katie and I had purchased some little beach gifts for the girls and wanted them to open them. Katie had gotten them the cutest cookie cake!

Ready for the Beach!

Mermaid Dolls!

Whale charms for their charm bracelet!

Yummy Cookie Cake!

After dinner, we started loading up the car while the girls played. We moved at a pretty slow pace. I'm sure that Clint and Eric will say this was mine and Katie's fault. It took about an hour and a half for us to load the car. The van doors were open during this time. So by the time we finally got everything in the car, the battery was dead! I had just put Gracyn to bed when Clint came in and said, "Let's Go!" So I had to get Gracyn up again. Silly little girls were so excited! They were jumping up and down saying, "We're going to the beach!" Little did they know we had more than a 12 hour drive ahead of us! We got everyone into the car and headed out! We stopped that morning for coffee, breakfast, and a bathroom break. After that, we were all too excited to sleep so we watched Dora's Mermaid Adventures and the Lorax.

Sleeping Gracyn with Cat Cat.

We got to Gulf Shores about 12:00.  Check in at the duplex was at 4:00, but we were hoping we would be able to check in early. The owner said we could try back about 2:00 and recommended we go to Bahama Bob's for lunch. It was amazing!!! It was a little cafe on the beach. We had some fried alligator, fried crawfish, burgers, and shrimp. After lunch, we headed down to check out the beach.

Putting her feet in the water!

Adding some finishing touches to someone else's sandcastle. These people ended up being from Arkansas and we had a nice conversation with them.

We got to the duplex around 2:00 and got moved in. It was a really nice place! Katie and I went to the grocery store to get some things for breakfast and snacks. When we got back we took the girls to the pool. This was pretty much a relaxing night.

Pool babes!

Dancing with Dora and Family Time!

So Clint keeps Gracyn on Thursdays and Fridays since he doesn't have to work. Thursday morning I was doing my early morning facebook check before work and saw where Dora the Explorer was coming to the Bentonville library! So what did any good mama do? I woke up Clint and told him he needed to take Gracyn to see Dora! Luckily, I was able to go on my lunch break and meet them. Gracyn was awestruck when she saw Dora! Since it was a dance party, there were reps from several dance companies there. Gracyn loved stretching with the ballerinas! She tried a little break dancing with the Elite Dance Company but couldn't really figure that one out! Of course, her favorite thing was dancing with Dora! Dora kinda creeped me out!

Doing some stretches!

Dance Party!!!



Friday I worked a half day since we were leaving for Salem, AR for Clint's family reunion. We met Clint's mom and Jeffie out for lunch then had to do a little shopping. We were hoping to keep Gracyn awake so she would nap on the way over. It was a success! Poor kid was passed out before we even got out of Fayetteville! Once we got to Salem we just hung out a couple of hours then went to the hotel for some sleep. We got up the next morning and headed over to the reunion. Clint's cousin, Tommy, is an EMT and he let all the kids tour the ambulance. That was fun. Gracyn and I were driving home the other day and she saw an ambulance and freaked out! She was so excited!

Gracyn got to make her very own quilt block for the family quilt!

Clint and I put forth a joint effort on our Vegas quilt block!

Driving the ambulance!

Gracyn and Lala!

Being silly at breakfast!

Family Visit in Dallas

This past weekend we went to Dallas to visit my Aunt Karen and Uncle Dan. We had the best time ever, even if it was a very short trip!

I was hoping to take a half day on Friday but we had several other managers out on vacation so didn't feel right leaving early. Of course, I ended up stuck in the office till 5:30! I got home and hurriedly packed my stuff. Luckily, I had packed Gracyn up the night before. Janaca met us, then we headed to Van Buren to pick up Kaeleigh. We got to Sallisaw and decided it was time to eat. We finally made it into Dallas about 1:00am. I'm actually glad we got there when we did. There was a lot of construction going on and no one on the road at that time. Perfect!

We woke up the next morning to Aunt Karen making us breakfast burritos! Clint decided he wanted to go look for a Texas Rangers shirt so Janaca, Clint, and I headed to do a little shopping. We found them both a Rangers shirt and Gracyn a cute Rangers dress! I had packed a navy and white dress for her to wear to the game, but Clint just couldn't pass up the Rangers dress. Of course, I wasn't going to say no! We got back to the house and everyone was waiting on us to change into our bathing suits. We then headed to NRH2O Water Park. Aunt Karen kept telling us it wasn't "that big of a deal kinda park." Um....yeah right! This place was amazing! Take a look at the aerial view!

This place had several huge slides, a tadpole pool for tots, a bigger kid area, a wave pool, and a lazy river. I would totally drive 6 hours again just to spend a day at this water park.

Piper, Avery, Gracyn, Kaeleigh, and Zoe ready to go swimming!



Once we got into the park, we set up our little sitting area. We all headed to the wave pool. Once the waves started, we were all slinging back and forth and screaming and laughing. Gracyn was not a fan of this. So, her and I headed up to the tadpole pool. There were three little slides that Gracyn loved to go down. She went down it several times then we decided to go find Clint to show him what she could do. We ended up exploring other parts of the tadpole pool, including the lily pads. She loved jumping from one to the other. I wish I had pictures of this, but obviously not taking my Iphone in the pool.

It wasn't too much later that we headed over to the science center. It has an actual name, but I can't remember it. I assumed Gracyn was leading Clint up to ride the little yellow slides in the front. Wrong! She wanted to ride a big slide! Clint let her take him wherever she wanted to go and she walked up the stairs and right up to the big pink slide! We were both very apprehensive on letting her go down it, but she was not taking no for an answer. So I went to the bottom to meet her. It was HILARIOUS watching her come down the slide. She was half sitting half laying down with her arms and legs flailing about!This area of the park has constant water falling from it so as she came down the slide water was just pouring on her face. Poor kid....I don't think she knew what she was getting herself into!

How fun is this kid area?!!!!

The pink slide Gracyn insisted on going down!

Taking a little break at the wave pool.

After a couple of hours of fun in the sun, we headed back to the house. Uncle Dan was grilling out burgers while the rest of us got ready for the game. While I was packing Friday, I had Janaca steam my shirt I was going to wear to the game. Clint told me to just pack the steamer and steam the shirt before the game. So what did I do? I packed the steamer, but not my shirt! So after we ate, Clint and I headed to Academy to find me a shirt to wear to the game!

So about the game....the Rangers played the White Sox. It was hot. That's about it. No really, we had a lot of fun. When we were walking in Gracyn said she wanted to see the Pig Soiee's play. Then when we were in the stadium she started calling the Hogs. I guess she is ready for some football!

Aunt Janaca and Gracyn headed into the stadium!

Cheese!

Little snow cone eaters!

Silly cousins!

The photographer finally gets her picture made!

What a long day!

We had a great time and hope to go back next year! We got to see family that we don't get to see very often. Aunt Karen and Uncle Dan definately treated us all to a fabulous weekend and we thank them very much!

Ok I found this hilarious. We stopped at a QT (my favorite!) on the way out of Dallas to get donuts and coffee. We pulled right in front of a SafePlace sign! I thought only hospitals and firehouses were SafePlaces! I told Gracyn I was going to leave her there. She looks so sad! Haha!!!!

Funny Girl

Gracyn said the funniest thing today on the way to school. I always think, "Oh I will remember that!" then it takes all I can to remember to tell Clint what she said just a couple hours later! So I decided to put them on the blog. So beware, every once in awhile there might be a blog post with just one or two things Gracyn said. Doesn't matter though...it's a way for me to remember!

When Gracyn wakes up in the morning she is always freezing. She wants her blanket. I can usually get her out of the house without one. Today she did her typical, "I'm cold" fit. When we got to the car I put the heater on in the back so it would warm her up. She said, " I just want to be comfy!" This just cracked me up!

Then she started singing, "Tonight.....we are young. nah na na nah...spaghetti." "Momma...I want chicken spaghetti!" Yes that is right....she made up her own words to Fun's song, "We are Young," added spaghetti to the lyrics, then decided she wanted chicken spaghetti. That girl is a mess!

Too Hot to do Anything!

It has been so hot lately! Poor kids at daycare haven't even been able to play outside because it has been so hot! We pretty much haven't done anything this month, however that is all about to change. The past few weekends have been weekends spent at home in the nice AC and just resting for what's to come. Next weekend we are going to Dallas to visit my aunt, then the weekend after will be Clint's side of the family's reunion, then the weekend after we are headed to the BEACH!!! Gracyn has been talking about going to the beach for at least the last 3 months. Not a day goes by that there isn't some reference to the beach. I can't wait for her to experience it! Til then...here are a couple of pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Fireworks!!!

Practicing a little gymnastics!

Yummy Ice Cream!!!

Modeling her alligator top after waking up. Not happy!

Better back away from my taco!

And practicing a little more gymnastics. This is a nightly event.