Last Day in Paradise

Although it was our longest vacation to date, it was still hard to believe it was actually coming to an end.  The beach is just our happy place!

"Did I hear you say we have to leave here tomorrow?  Say it ain't so!"

It was another pretty day and spending it with this little goofball was just right.

Our view!

Can't forget this guy, either!  

The girls jumped the waves all day until it was time to go get cleaned up for family pictures.

We had waited until all our friends were gone, so we relied on the kindness of a stranger to take a photo with all of us.  When we were walking out to the beach, a lady offered to be our photographer--so nice!  Then we found out she was a hometown girl--G-town, to be exact. 
It was fate!

These four a pros at this and were actually happy to be doing a little photoshoot!

11 1/2 and 5'3"-- no wonder he looks so grown up to me these days!

Our sweet and sassy brown-eyed girl...

our gorgeous blue-eyed girl...

and our spunky hazel-eyed girl!

They all loved our week together.

I couldn't have asked for a better time with my fam...

and main-most man!

Three cheers for a fantabulous beach vacation!

 Stay cool, Gulf Shores.

Jellyfish are her Jam

Jellyfish were abundant in Gulf Shores this year!  Eek! All of the kids got stung, multiple times.  

I preferred to stay out of the ocean if at all possible!

Towards the end of the week, Madison changed from the crab hunter to the jellyfish catcher. 
The girl started catching them left and right with her net!

A few days post July 4th and the beach was so calm and beautiful.

That morning, we pretty much had it all to ourselves.  Perfection.

The Maddux family was still at the beach with us, though, and the kids loved getting to hang out with them one last time.

Beau and Madison are quite the pair.  She catches the jellyfish and he bravely touches them!

After Madison saw that, she had to up the ante.  She heard that jellyfish can't sting you without their tentacles, so she decided to test out that theory.  Guess it's true!

The boys played baseball while the girls played in the sand...

but when they got tired, the girls buried Jackson up to his neck.

For a few minutes, Jackson played ball with Cami. 
She's got pretty impressive hand/eye coordination!

The kids braved the ocean a few more times...

And we all enjoyed a full day at the beach immensely.

Baseball at the Beach

 We began July 6th with a beach walk before Jackson's baseball games.

Such a fun way to start the day!

These girls really do love each other.

And could they get any cuter?!

The only thing they fought over that day was who got to wear the "Boss" hat.

I feel like this little girl is most deserving of the title, though.  She rules the roost most days.

After our walk, we went back to our chairs and umbrellas, and sat in awe of how empty the beach was compared to a few days before.

Next up, baseball! Jackson was lights out at 3rd base.

Nothing got by him that day and they won the first game.

The next game was so intense!  They were down by one run, but Jackson was on 3rd base, waiting to score.   It just wasn't to be that time, and the batter struck out.

A few innings later, the Eagles had held them and once again, Jackson was on 3rd.  This time Matthew got a double and J scored!  It was heart-pounding excitement!

The Eagles won that game and were headed to the semifinals!

 It was another great game, but this time we came up a little short.

These boys finished 3rd out of 37 teams, including the #1 majors team in Arkansas and Oklahoma.  They really were this close to playing for the championship.

As much as the parents and siblings wanted to keep cheering them on...

it wasn't all bad being able to spend one of our last evenings at a fun restaurant instead of eating hot dogs at the ballpark!

Lulu's for dinner is where it's at!

All the kids got to play volleyball while we waited for our table.

Such a great way to end the day!

Best Friends

We awoke to a beautiful day at the beach, complete with a rainbow over the ocean!

I drank my coffee on the balcony every morning--perfection.

We watched the Eagles play some good baseball...

Love these boys.

In between games, I took Madison down the beach to find her friend Jazlynn.  They were both jumping with joy!  Jazlynn was in Gulf Shores for a dance competition, but had a free day.  A win for all!

Madison stayed with Jazlynn for the afternoon and went on a dolphin cruise that evening.

We met them at the Marina at sunset.

Even though they only saw two dolphins, these girls still loved getting to hang out together!