A Little Vacation Time

Vacation Time! Like two of my favorite bloggers (YHL & Bower), my family was able to get away and go have a little down time in the Destin, Florida area.  But now that I think about it, down time is maybe not the word I should have used.  Going on a vacation, 7 hour car ride (you sure it wasn't 17 hour car ride??), staying at an unfamiliar place with a 4 year old and a 7 month old…..yeeeaaahhh, not exactly relaxing.  Don’t get me wrong, JD and I did get to relax some….just not as much as we would have hoped for.  And we did have a great time with the girls but not without a few bumps and bruises along the way. 

The first night we arrived, CJ decided that she wanted to jump off of the bed in the middle of the night during a diaper change...and land on her head....that resulted in an extra hour of staying awake. Then not 5 minutes after CJ fell, Sofie did exactly the same thing.  Oh and did I mention the condo had hardwood floors??  I have to admit I was freaking out just a bit.  Thankfully, that was the first and last disaster for the trip.    

such a peaceful vacation.....maybe not

Other than CJ doing a little bed diving, we (had, maybe?) an  otherwise safe time.  This was an exciting beach trip for Sofie, in the past she has had to wear ear plugs due to her having tubes in her ears.  Well, not any more.!!!!!  No more pictures of her with bright pink/orange goo in her ears (pic).  Of course, now she can’t use that as an excuse of not being able to hear us when we are talking to her.

sporting the dayglo ear candy

No Plugs! Beach 2013

Since CJ is of the fair skinned kind (she gets that from her mommy), we limited her sun time and slathered her up with sunscreen.  She spent the majority of her beach time under the umbrella, in the shade, chillin’ in her own little ducky pool.  She does love the water (her ducky water but she wasn’t too keen on the big ocean water with big ocean waves.  Every time we took her into the water she would try to climb us like a cat climbing a tree!  She enjoyed playing in the sand and never once tried to eat it.  We had great weather while we were down south, it only rained one morning.

CJ's little slice of paradise

I want to hold Cora.  Can I hold her by myself??  PLEASE, PLEASE!

toes in the sand!

The condo we stayed at had its own little pool.  Lucky for JD and I this is how we got our relaxing time in.  The condo was ground floor and the patio faced the pool, less than 15 yards away…and CJ’s baby  monitor, well it reaches much further than that.  Call us bad parents if you want, but when the girls were napping, we would relax poolside which was made possible by our favorite little video monitor. 

Besides the beach, there is one other MAIN reason JD will tolerate the 8 hour drive is for the donuts (mmmm, donuts).  For the past 3 years in a row, we make it a point to go to The Donut Hole.  I think this is JD’s version of Heaven.  I have to admit, I’m not a donut person, but the Angel Crème donuts are worth the drive. 

Sofie approves!

And as always, being on the coast means some fantastic seafood.  A few other few places worth mentioning (for the ‘real’ food) are the Local Catch Bar & Grill (a 30A favorite) and the Great Southern Cafe (the cheese grits are amazing & CJ loved the green beans). 

like father, like daughter!

eating oreos on the beach, doesn't get much better for Sofie

 Along with going on vacation this past month, JD and I also celebrated our 2^nd wedding anniversary.  And now time to get sappy.   There are many reasons why he makes me smile.  Here’s just a few reasons why he is so amazing:  he will look for ‘treasures’ with me on trash day, he is a Dave Ramsey fan, he loves old things, and here’s a big one, he prays with the girls every night….my heart melts…

July 29, 2011 (um, the birds were kinda freaking us out...)

Mr. & Mrs.

Ok, I’m done being sappy. 

I’ve got a few projects going and I’ve yet to finish a few of my other projects. I did however finish one project!!!! Woo-hoo! It feels so good to finally finish something!  It was my Pinterest Project of the Week….er….month…..Anyways, I saw this idea (Revamped Frame) and decided I wanted to make a gallery type wall of the girls artwork.  Yes, I know, a 7 month old doesn't really DO art, but I do have a few things that daycare sent home.

I gathered some random picture frames (and my mom even contributed one) and took the glass and original art out so that all I was left with was the frame itself.  I used 120 grit sandpaper and gave all the frames a light sanded(-er, +ing)so the spray paint would stick.  I chose a bright yellow to paint the frames (interestingly enough, it matches the ceiling in our hallway J ).  And started spray painting the frames….that was (how many months ago)!! Well, this past month I was able to touch up the paint and finish the project.  Once painted, I bought some lightweight, thin sheet board stuff (I forget what it was called) and used my table saw to cut the pieces to size to match the frames.  Ah, my table saw.

mmm, so happy!

I got this as a gift from my in-laws at Christmas,  I desperately wanted to use it much sooner, but being the mother of a newborn, I just couldn’t find the time.  Until now.  Ah, my table saw, how I love you.  Ok, enough about the table saw, I don’t want to write more about it than my hubby, love you more babe!    After I cut the backing for the frames, I laid them out on a piece of burlap that I had purchased a few weeks ago and cut out around the frames so that I left about 1-2 inches overlapping the edges.  As I was working on the project, I called my mother to chat.  During our conversation, I mentioned what I was working on.  She gave me a great piece of advice about the burlap.  She said to use some spray adhesive to secure the burlap to the backing, otherwise the burlap would get a weird stretched out look….THANK YOU MOTHER!!  

a lifesaver

And thankfully, I just happened to have some spray adhesive on hand.  I lightly sprayed the wood and then laid it on the burlap, easy peasy.   Once the spray adhesive was dry I put the frames back together with the backing and the newly added burlap.   And then it happened, I knew I should have made sure the backing fit before gluing on the burlap, but I didn’t.  One frame backing was a bit too snug, ok, it wasn’t even snug, because it obviously was too big.  So I pulled off the burlap, thankfully it wasn’t too dry yet and back to the table saw it was.  I shaved the edges just a smidge, and then I made sure it fit before re-gluing the burlap.  Perfect fit.

 After all of the frames were put back together, I hot glued on a few clipboard clips I had picked up from Hobby Lobby.  When I had purchased them they were a bright shiny silver, so I took more spray paint (love spray paint too) and coated them with a bronze hammered metal finish.    I still have a few more frames I would like to add to the wall, but for now, it’s just 4….well sort of, I have an empty frame that needs  more backing…..and burlap…..and a clip…..so maybe I’m not as finished as I said I was.  Oh well.

Getting started

Sofie helping daddy

Just one more to do

and it works!

Oh, and I almost forgot, but CJ is now 8 months old!  Only 4 more months until her first birthday.  She is still moving right along with her army crawl, but now she has a new found ability, pulling herself up….onto just about anything that she can hold on to.  She also has her first tooth coming in.  Thankfully I experienced the tooth by seeing it and not by feeling.  Waiting to get her 8 month old pics is one of the reasons this post is a bit late....

remember the Bobble??

Monkey shot!

a little nervous about the wobbly poof

into everything!