best.vacation.ever.

hands down, we just took one of the best vacations ever! we went to panama city, florida, for a week. a whole entire week... which is something our little family has never done. and let me tell you, i am spoiled rotten and will always want to go for a full week from now on! :) it was just me, nate, the boys, and his parents. (we tried to find a week when the whole entire family could go, but it just didn't work out. we really did miss everyone else and the boys missed their cousins like crazy. we will def go back again soon and take the whole crew!) we def made the best of it though! and we were so blessed... with a great condo, perfect weather, beautiful OIL FREE beaches, sweet family to enjoy it with, and a whole lotta doing nothing but laying in the pool and eating good! i was worried about the kids and how they would do on the way down, but they were great. as you can see, we kept them occupied with everything from snacks to thundercats to books... and they even made silly faces and sucked on their toes to keep them happy. HA! we stopped twice on the way down there, and only once on the way back. THAT my friend, is a miracle! :)
ohmygoodness. the first morning we went to the beach it was overcast, and i was sure we were gonna get rained on. boy was i wrong. we stepped on the sugar white sands and looked at the ocean and saw the biggest, prettiest, double rainbow i've ever seen. seriously... it covered the whole ocean almost! the pictures absolutely can not do it justice. to me, it was such a sweet gift from god. i couldn't help think about his awesomeness, his love, and his beauty and majesty in all of his creation. what a fantastic way to start off our vacation. i knew it was going to be a great week.

could they be any sweeter? love love love this pic of meme and g-daddy. so glad they got their much needed vacation. it had been years since they had a beach trip. i def think it's gonna be an annual tradition now!

at first, the boys weren't too sure about the beach. the first nite trace told me he wanted to go back to meme's house. uhhhh. nope, sorry buddy. we'll be here A L L week. :) they got used to "beach living" real fast though. we'd wake up way too early, eat some breakfast, then head to the beach. the boys loved to jump the waves, and throw sand everywhere. then it was POOL time! trace was hesitant to swim in the pool, b/c he couldn't touch. but there was a big area around the steps that he liked, and a ledge all the way around the pool. so he had fun shooting us with his water guns and staying safe by the edge! lucas on the other hand is a stinkin' fish! he loved to float in the water with us holding him up, and he loved to put his face in the water. he'd also jump off the side and let his head go under. he'd come up bright eyed smiling and he'd say "iauna (i wanna) jump! iauna jump!" i bet i heard that a hundred times a day! :) i will say that by the end of the week, trace was much braver. the first few days, if someone were to hold him and try and swim, he would yell and carry on like a little girl. by the last nite, he was so big. he would hold onto my hands and float in front of me, kicking his little legs, and blowing bubbles. made this mama proud! hopefully soon he will learn to swim and not be so scared of the water!

after we swam for a while, i'd go up to the room and get juice/snacks for the boys to have at the pool. this kept them happy and we'd swim a while longer til it was time to go in for lunch. man, swimming works up a big apptetite. another thing i heard lucas say a lot was "BITE!" that boy can eat!! he and trace both loved the chocolate chip cookies... see them stuffing them in? i think trace ate 4 of them in less than 5 minutes! :)

both boys were troopers! although there were a few meltdowns over sandburns, tears shed over not wanting to wear their hats, hot and humid temps, and water so warm in the pool that it felt like bathwater... we really did have a blast!

trace and lucas both were so big out on the beach. i had to keep a good eye on them or they'd be in the ocean before i knew it!

ahhhh. good times! i will definitely remember this vacation forever! i have such great memories of growing up with summer vacations at the beach. i hope it's something we can do every year with the kids. and i hope they have good memories as well!

we had so much fun. flying kites, building sandcastles, jumping waves, watching the USA play soccer, eating at captain andersons and seeing the big fish... those were just a few things that we did at the beach! i probably took well over 1000 pictures. i'll give you a minute to pick yourself up off the floor, b/c i know you are all shocked. HAHA! there are several more to show you, and a few more stories to tell... check back b/c they are coming soon in the next post. for now, i will leave you with this beautiful sunset. W-O-W. absolutely a-mazing!

~ yep... life is good today ~