Family Vacay 2018 - Gulf Shores

The last two weeks people gave some funny looks when I say we went on vacation with a grand total of 40 people.... all relatives. The ages were 60+ to 4 months old. To be honest we are used to being with these people, maybe not for a full seven days, because they are the same people we camp with. 

Photo Credit: Judith Buescher

We rented a 12 bedroom / 12 bathroom house, Morning Glory, on a private beach in Gulf Shores and it was gorgeous. 

We left Saturday, July 14th about 8am and headed to our first stop, Lamberts Cafe in Sikeston, Missouri. When I was a kid we always stopped at this Lamberts on our way to visit our Aunt and  Uncle in Mississippi. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed. They didn't walk around with the sides that they used to and when it came to throwing the rolls they never made it to our side of the room, they would stand in this one door way and throw. 

Leaving there bummed we prepared for another 5 hours in the car.... hitting just about every gas station and rest stop from Sikeston to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I was proud of Evan telling us he had to pee BUT it was almost every hour. We stopped for the night in Tucsalloosa, grabbed a bite to eat, found a hotel and called it a night. 

The guys chose Waffle House...

this picture represents how that 

made me feel.

We were up and on the road again by 8am on the 15th with only 4.5 hours left to drive. Once we got to Gulf Shores we grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to our meeting spot "The Hangout." 

Where the boys played in their sand area, enjoyed some Dragons Breath and a good foam party. 

We checked out the beach and then headed back to the car to dry off and head to the house. 

Once we were all unpacked some headed to the beach and others headed into the private pool.... and others went and hid from their wives and kids. 

Monday through Sunday was full of many memories. We played at the beach most the time, I participated in sand volleyball and beach yoga. We swan in the pool at the end of each evening. There were many board games, card games, bags tournaments and video game playing going on. 

The littlest littles watched Moana about a million and one times. There were some ladies that took advantage of the outlet malls, however I did not. 

Our little family went out to eat a few times. One place was on my "have to eat" placed and that was Whataburger. I know it is just a simple fast food place but I haven't had it in a good 20 years.... it is basically a Steak and Shake at the speed and prices of  a McD's. It is delicious for fast food. My brothers Bryan and Randy and his family went out to eat on Wednesday to Lulu's, which is Jimmy Buffet's sister's place. 

There are gift shops there, plenty of things to for the kids to do while waiting for a table, a great atmosphere and the food was amazing. We also went out with Randy and his family on our last night in Gulf Shores to The Hangout, again. This time we ate there. The wait for a table was an hour and a half so the kids played in the sand area again. Oliver, Stella and Chloe jumped on the bungee trampolines while Carter enjoyed his second Dragon's Breath of the week. Poor Evan and Tim didn't enjoy themselves as much. Ev's was going to "jump jump" like Stella BUT as he was being called to the trampoline he all of a sudden had to pee. I tossed him to Tim who went running to the bathroom... but they didn't make it and both ended up wet. He rushed back to the house, showered them both, and rushed back just in time to get their food. After dinner we hung around outside a bit longer before calling it a night and heading back to the  house. 

My baby brother even joined us.

Not everyone in my little fam enjoyed the full vacation. Tim got an ear infection that kept him at the house and medicated. Evan had a rash on his legs from the sand and his swim trunks and Carter got some funk under his arm that none of the medical personnel in my family (1 doctor and 2 nurses) could agree on what it could be. Hell, even our family doctor didn't know. These three stayed at the house from Wednesday through Saturday just giving up on beach life. 

Mine and Tims greatest memory is going down with our boys and enjoying the week. Our plan was to enjoy us 5 and the other people there were a bonus. We did exactly what we wanted to do on this vacation and that was absolutely nothing. We spent the days doing exactly what we wanted, when we wanted, eating out as a family and enjoying my families company. 

Carter's biggest memory, I think, is that he got to turn 12 in Gulf Shores. Even though he had a f unk going on he got to do whatever he wanted on his day... if that meant playing video games on the beach then so be it. He got tacos for supper and a cookie cake. He though life was good. If turning 12 isn't Carter's favorite memory than his second would be night crab hunting with the big guys. They would be gone for hours. 

Oliver's favorite memory was playing on the beach. He is my beach bum. Every morning he would ask to make sure I was going to the beach so he could go. Oliver didn't miss a day at the beach and when we left he said he had already missed it. His least favorite part would probably be getting stung by a jellyfish. It didn't keep him away from the beach but it did keep him from going further out into the water. 

Evan is not a beach baby... he preferred the pool, which was good with me because that was where Tim was. However, Evan's favorite part of this vacation would probably be his cousins Stella and Jackson. It could be 5:30 am and if he heard one of them awake he would sit straight up in bed and want out of the room asap. These three would run around together until they were forced to go to bed. The morning we left to go home Evan was begging to see them however, Jackson's family had already left and Stella's family was still sleeping. So the whole 12 hours home he begged to go see Stella and Jackson. 

It was a fun week but we were all glad to sleep in our own beds. We don't know if we will go on another vacation where we stay with more than just us 5 but it was all worth it for the memories. 

Another Christmas Gone...

It is hard to believe that 2017 is almost over. It literally seems like just yesterday we were coming home from Colorado and I was fighting the thought that summer was almost over. Now Christmas is over and there is 5 days left in 2017.

Our Christmas started on Friday the 22nd and went until Christmas Day. Granted there was one down day in between our first Christmas gathering and Christmas Eve it didn't seem that way... the 22nd Christmas was celebrated at my mom's with my siblings, their wives and my nieces. This is one of our favorite gatherings because it is the first time we get to hang with our brother Bryan, who always come home from Minnesota. 

We get him all or ourselves before having to share him with like 30 other people. The kids look forward to it because they find out who their Secret Santa is... the cousins exchange names and it is a lot of fun, even for the little ones. This year we got to celebrate in pj's, which I have decided is the only way to celebrate Christmas... no fancy clothes or worrying about eating to much. 

This year's godfather gifts from their godsons

We spent the evening playing games and laughing, a lot. Tim and I planned on spending the night of all our boys crashed but Evan (and his twin cousin, Stella) were still going strong. We know we weren't going to get him to sleep so we loaded up about midnight and headed home. 

Saturday was a rest day but everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was in an extremely foul mood so we talked to no one and hid from everyone... then went to bed at 8p.

The twin cousins. Where one is the other is close

behind... and they could pass off as twins.

We had an early start on Sunday and wouldn't you believe it, that was the day our boys decided to sleep in. Even Oliver was still sleeping at 7a when we had to wake him. We were off to my Dad and Stepmoms house where my boys LOVE hanging out because there are actually boys to play with, my stepbrother has 2 boys. 

My Niece Baleyn and I.

We hung out there watching Christmas movies, playing gift exchange games and laughing it up. Before we knew it we were headed to see my Grandpa Zip for a few minutes before heading to my Grandma Ruth's house for Christmas with the Vasquez Family.

Grandma Ruth opening her gift.

 Here we visited with many relatives, did our sock gift exchange and the kids ran like crazy. 

These are going to be my lucky BINGO socks.

I started not feeling to good so we left there about 10p, the boys passed out about a mile down the road and Tim and I enjoyed the quiet 50 minute ride home. 

Monday Oliver woke us at 6:30. We asked him if Santa came, unsure and scared he ran into Carter's room to wake him and have him go downstairs with him to check. Once they saw all the gifts Oliver ran back upstairs and woke dad (Tim) up... and attempted to wake Evan up, who could have given two craps about Santa and presents. Oliver enjoyed the fact that "Santa" took two bites of two cookies and drank all of his milk. Carter, God love him, doesn't believe but plays along and it is just the cutest thing. We enjoyed the morning with our boys opening gifts and playing with them. I think they were all excited about their beach toys, trunks, chairs and vacation (hell, I am too and I wasn't even surprised with the vacation). 

We were at Tim's parents by noon for the Seboldt Christmas where I kinda laid low because my headache was still giving me lots of pain. 

We left there about 6p, drove around looking at Christmas lights before heading home and heading to bed. 

Tuesday I was lucky enough to be off work and allowed my boys to recover from their Christmas hangover in the comfort of our home. Where they played quietly with their new toys and allowed me to get a few things done. 

Like nap with Evan.

We really just took it easy most the day and about 2p finally changed out of our pj's... so when Tim came home from work he didn't thing we were bums all day. 

The weekend flew by but a lot of memories were made. Look out 2018, we are coming for you.

The WORST Birthday Weekend EVER!

My birthday used to trump Friday the 13th. I don't ever remember an unlucky birthday when it landed on Friday... until this year. I took my always dying iphone 6 into get fixed. I was told it would just be a new batter and/or charger port and about $100. Ok-awesome... wrong. It all started last Friday the 13th, on my 38th birthday. First I stopped at the phone repair place because their "Open" sign was on... but they weren't open. So I stopped at Walmart only to figure out that when I got back to work I forgot the main thing I needed, Evan's birthday present. At lunch I ran to the phone repair place to drop off my phone then to Walmart and back to work. It all seems to be going good.... but then... After work I stop by the ATM to get a few dollars for Carter to attend Uncle E's alum football game then to pick up my phone. When I went to pay for my phone my debit card would NOT work. It kept getting denied. I grabbed the phone I was trying to pay for only to not get through to the bank, my call to be dropped or I sat on hold for 15 minutes while the employees just stared at me. I then decided enough embarrassment I will just run across town to the bank only to get there and be told that SCU cards are being denied at certain places because of a glitch in the credit processing company that facility was/is using. They proceed to list off all the companies in town that are denying them and guess what, all the gas stations and the place I was trying to use it were in the loop. I needed my phone and gas in my car before I left town. I withdrew the money from the bank, grabbed my phone from the repair shop and headed to the clubhouse for the weekend. Once there we unloaded all of Evan's party decor and such, started cleaning the pavilion and made tacos for anyone who wanted to join us. The night was going great until I plugged my phone in at midnight and the screen went to the restart screen to nothing at all... I let it sit on charge overnight and it still wouldn't turn back on. 

Now my Friday spilled over into my Saturday and I was NOT happy about it. I drove back to the repair shop to find on Saturdays they don't open at 9... nope, they open at 10 so I stopped and got gas then drove all the way home to grab a camera (because if I didn't have my phone I needed the camera) and then back to the repair shop. The guys tried to change the battery and that wasn't the problem so he asked if he could keep it and try something else. I left, headed back to the clubhouse and set up for Evan's party. At this point I was nixing decor left and right because I was so aggravated about my phone. I knew I had my mom and Aunt that were going to be trying to get a hold of me and there was no way to do so. About 3 hours later the guy calls on my phone with the worst news in the world... my phone is fried! I drive back to the shop to get my phone and  in further detail. Apparently the updates I have done in the past months were slowly destroying my phone. He stated that the main drive on my phone was just gone. He had put 4 new batteries and charging ports in my phone and it would not hold a charge and every 4 minutes the phone would power off, reset and come back on. There wasn't even enough time between resets to back anything up. Which meant I was losing pictures from June (when I started having issues) until October 12. I was heart broken but the only thing I could do was go to AT&T and see what they could do for me. Long story short... we were one month out of our warranty, I had 11 months until the upgrade, and because this bug was so new Apple wasn't filling insurance claims. I ended up taking my in-laws upgrade and am now walking about with a new iphone... but still have 11 months to pay on the broken one. Guys, this all happened before 2p...

Once I got back to the clubhouse I finished setting up for the party, got myself and the family ready before guests started showing up and enjoyed the rest of the evening celebrating my little guy turning 2... Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin style. The last of the guests helped clean everything up and then sat around the fire before heading home and us back to the camper. 

Sunday we were all up and out of the camper headed to church my 8:15, not without one kid falling in a mud puddle, the other two fighting because the oldest is in the car but won't help the 4 year old in first, and me screaming because everyone was already getting on my nerves. My niece, Harlow, was being baptized and I was the godmother so we had to be there... church was pure chaos with 8 cousins sitting in front and behind us, my boys would not sit still or stop being turds. The baptism was after church and then we headed to my SIL's photography studio for the party. My boys were just not stopping and we had a lot to get done at the clubhouse before we could even head home so we left before presents. Once back at the clubhouse Tim loaded my car with clubhouse stuff, I cleaned and got the camper ready for travel and once I was done with that the boys and I loaded up and headed home while Tim hooked the truck up. We got home about 3, got everything unloaded and put away about 4p. I made the leftover tacos for supper, we played with the kittens and went for a drive to the bottoms to look at the progress of Tim's family party barn. 

My luck started turning around about mid-Sunday afternoon. How was your weekend?

Weekend Wrap Up

What a great weekend had with family and friends... mainly family. Since it was Memorial weekend we stayed with tradition and went camping at the clubhouse with the Vasquez family. Friday night my Aunt had her son's college graduation at the clubhouse. Where we visited and sat around the campfire until the early hours. 

Saturday Oliver was up when Tim left for work, 5:30a. Tim got him set up with a drink and a movie and was quiet until about 7a, about the same time grandma text to let me know she was up. Oh, ya, Tim's parents were camping with us. Anyway, Evan was upset with Oliver for waking him so I put him in bed with me, changed his butt and gave him a cup of milk and he was back to sleep in no time.. we got to sleep until about 9:30a.

My 1st cousins boy Jackson. She is just the snugglest thing.

Once we woke we headed to the clubhouse for breakfast, which was baggie omelets (I will share this tomorrow). Some had left after breakfast for other graduation parties and such while the small group left at the clubhouse was relaxing before we had to get ready for a family wedding. This small group, which consisted of my in-laws, Uncle Mark, Aunt Lynn, Cousin Sam and Cousin Kelli, Brother Eric and my boys and nieces, was surprised when my brother Randy's Tahoe pulled up. He was at the party the night before and told us that he wouldn't be there the remainder of the weekend because he had to work. Only then we realized it was my baby brother Bryan, the one I visited the weekend before in Minnesota. 

He even knew he was showing up to the clubhouse the weekend I went to visit. It was the best surprise. We talked him into going to the wedding as well, he actually took my +1 because Tim was working. Before we knew it we had to get ready for the wedding. My boys stayed back with my in-laws while I went to church with my family and then to the reception where our favorite Fish Eye guy was there working the photo booth. They had some of the best wedding cake every... so many choices, from red velvet to peanut butter to german chocolate and coconut. 

My Uncle Jay and I (we are only 6 years apart)

Randy was at work but he made it for a bit...lol

I was ready to leave about 10p so I hitched a ride back to the clubhouse with my brothers where I stayed up a bit longer before calling it a night. 

When your baby brother doesn't show up to camp but once in a 

blue moon you photo overload him. This is Bryan and Evan, his godson.

Sunday Tim didn't have to work so he, Oliver and Evan (poor kid was woke by Oliver again) were up and out of the camper early. I slept until about 9a and joined everyone for breakfast. Once everything was cleaned up we played a very competitive game of kickball before needing a permanent break.

Carter and Uncle Eric practicing pitching... Eric even has Carter throwing better.

The remainder of the day we played other games, rode bikes, rode 4-wheelers and just enjoyed not being rushed. It is amazing how fast time goes when you are having fun. I called it a night about 1am and I am glad I did because when I got to the camper, where Tim and the boys were already sleeping, Evan was crying. I showered and then put him in bed with me, since Tim was sleeping with O. 

Two of my favs.

Monday mornings of 3 day weekends are my least favorite. I hate seeing fun weekends come to an end. I was up at 8 and started packing the camper and then joined everyone else for breakfast. We visited a bit, cleaned the clubhouse and gradually everyone was packed up and leaving the clubhouse by noon. We have unpacking down to a science so it took about 10 minutes and the laundry was done in only three loads. We relaxed napped the remainder of the day and watched Moana and Trolls. 

Evan and O attempting to share a bed.

I had to move them because they had switched spots

and Evan was about to fall off at one point. 

I can honestly say I did not want to wake up this morning nor did I want to come to work... but here I am. How was your Memorial Weekend?

Weekend Wrap Up

Whoa, was it a busy weekend. Friday as soon as I got off work I flew to Red Bud Winery to join the rest of my family for my father-in-law's retirement party that was put on by his work.

I was about 2 hours late but I didn't miss the speeches, thank goodness. We all stayed there until about 10p and then headed home to get things ready for a crazy Saturday. 

Saturday morning came way to fast. Oliver woke Tim at 5:30a because he was hungry... Evan woke me about 7a just because and Carter woke about 8a. Once we were all up we started getting ready for the day. Tim took the two little ones to his parents so we could get everything else ready for the Surprise Retirement party that afternoon. They were using our boys and Tad's (my nephew) birthday party to get him to the park. Tim came back, picked Carter up and took him to his first baseball practice of the year. I started getting ready for the day, gathering the things I needed to take to the park and taking extra clothes for the boys because it had rained the night before. Once everything was packed I ran to get Carter from practice and took him straight to a friends house for a Nerf Birthday Party, then stopped at my SIL's house to pick up some of her stuff for the park, stopped at WalMart for a few things then headed to the park. I arrived about 1:30p and met Tim, Matt and Lacey and started setting up.

People started showing up about 2p and Bob arrived at 3p. He thought he was going to his grandson's birthday party and was surprised when he got there and it was all his friends. The party lasted until about 8:30p. Once we had everything torn down, kids loaded up and said our good-byes, we headed to Tim's parents house to help them unload things and drop a few things off.

Evan was making his own fun

since we wouldn't let him on the 

play ground with the big kids. 

Bob though the boys needed a bath so we stayed and visited until about 10:30p. Once we got home we put the boys to bed, unloaded the car, put things away and headed straight to bed. 

Sunday morning came faster then Saturday's. Both the littles woke and I couldn't move. Tim got up with them and they headed downstairs for some tv time. I wasn't up to much later than them and I headed down and parked my butt on the sofa to join in the Fireman Sam marathon. Before we knew it we had to start getting ready for Easter with my mom and brothers.

Niece Stella, she is a riot. 

The Ev's.. Evan and Everly. They are exactly 9 months apart. 

We spent the afternoon on her huge patio sipping strawberry sangria and visiting while the kids played and the guys wished they brought their fishing poles.We did some Easter egg hunting and ate way to much.

Evan's first time actually hunting egg.. he kinda gets the concept.

We all left there about 4:30p and 2 of 3 boys were passed out before we got out of her subdivision. 

My boys and nieces... #boymom #girlaunt

Once we got home we all vegged on the couch for a few hours before deciding that 7p was late enough for the littles to be sleeping or they wouldn't sleep at night.

This kid and his hair... it needs cut. I just can't bring myself to do it.

We packed up and headed to Tim's parents for a few hours to visit and get the boys out... because they were refusing to wake otherwise. Once we got home everyone was off to bed, except Tim and I.... we wanted to enjoy some peace and quiet and watch a few shows before heading off to bed. 

It was a long weekend, I am exhausted and baseball has begun... things are starting to get busy and I have a feeling these next couple months are going to fly by.