Back to Great Exuma!

We were SO excited to be heading back to Great Exuma.  This was our 3rd trip and it seems we discover something new every time.  Nene and Uncle Jay and Gram and Papa Howie joined us this time so it was great spending time with family.  I think we laughed the entire time...mostly at each other! 

We needed a little more space so we stayed at Belle Mer Cottage which couldn't have been more perfect.  Here's the house and our heavenly view...

The first morning it rained which was fine with all of us as we were exhausted! We slept in, watched a movie and were ready to hit the beach when the sun came back out.  The next day was Sunday and Uncle Jay and Gram and Papa Howie were arriving.  We headed to Chat 'N' Chill for the big pig roast.  Marlie fell in love with the stingrays!  She was in the water with them and feeding them for probably and hour.  She said she couldn't believe how much the stingrays loved her.  Who doesn't? They fed the stingrays pieces of conch and neither of the kids were concerned that it looked gross and felt slimy.

 We had a great meal, relaxed in hammocks...or as Matt called them...nets. 

The next day we were up early ready to go fishing.  But when we got to the dock our guide said it was too windy.  Because we were all dressed and up early I asked if we could rent a boat and do some sight seeing of our own...so off we went!  It actually ended up being a fabulous day and probably better than fishing! Our first stop was starfish beach and it didn't disappoint.  We saw tons of starfish and the beach couldn't have been more beautiful.

We could have strolled along this beach and stayed here all day and I would have been happy.  Just gorgeous!

Then it was off to sand dollar beach.  I found one big one and Matt and Papa Howie found a few smaller ones. 

 After all our exploring we were hungry so we went back to Chat 'N' Chill for a great lunch and few "island" drinks which had us tipsy after about 5 sips.  Needless to say there was a lot of laughing!

So we decided we were all in the mood for a hike to the ocean.  Doug and I have wanted to do this the past 2 trips but never have.  So off we went.  We had to climb some hills and go through chest- high water to get there but then there it was...the beautiful and powerful Atlantic Ocean.  We could have stayed here all day too! I got some great pics.  My favorite from the whole trip might be the one of Marlie dancing on the beach. 

What a day! We headed home because the next day we did our day trip tour of the Exumas.  It just kept getting better.  Our first stop was snorkeling at Thunderball Grotto.  I was SO proud of the kids.  They were the first off the boat and the first to swim to the grotto.  They LOVED it! It's like swimming in a fish bowl...there are so many fish.  Marlie was going crazy trying to catch the fish.  Grandparents finally made it in and loved it too.  We had lunch at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club which was great and we enjoyed our new friends from San Diego that were on the excursion with us.

Then it was off to the sandbar.  The one I love was under water but this one was fabulous too.  Much bigger, but the sand was so soft and thick, it was like walking on foam.  The kids had fun with their water guns.  We had fun watching our guide Bob make fresh conch salad, which was not too bad. 

Then finally, what Matt had been waiting for...swimming with the SHARKS! Marlie didn't hesitate getting in either.  We laughed that they were braver than Uncle Jay. 

Our last stop was to feed the iguanas.  I could skip this part of the trip but the kids thought it was great.

It was a great day and we were completely exhausted!  The next day we rested a bit.  In the morning we went into town to shop and visit the crap...I mean craft market.  This was followed by a great lunch at Santana's which quickly has become our favorite place on the island to eat. The lobster was amazing!

 We stopped at a few spots on the way home and snapped these great pics.

We were sad that Gram and Papa Howie had to leave the next day.  We spent the last 2 days at the house being lazy and playing on the beach.  A few houses down was a family with 2 boys that guess what...also love baseball.  They had their gloves too so the boys played catch and we even had a beach baseball game. 

We had a kickball game too.  Matt didn't let us rest too much!  And then we had water balloon fights! Matt and Marlie won the first game and were pumped.

We did some "kayaking" too if that's what you call it.  The kids fell twice, once really hard and it was kinda funny!

We had fun making sand castles.  Marlie insisted on digging this big hole and the kids kept trying to fill it up with water. 

I had to take a few more pictures of course and we got some cute ones.  I like the first one the best...

What an amazing trip.  You can see more pictures in the slide show.  Thank you to all our family for making this trip so special.  It will be a wonderful memory for all of us.  I can't wait to do this again! 

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

I know this blog is about my babies but I had to share my amazing weekend with you all.  My sweet friend Heather asked me to do the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  This Sunday at 12:30pm we finished our 39.3 mile walk!

We walked a marathon on Saturday and a half marathon Sunday.  I was so honored to walk with my 2 friends Stephanie and Melissa that are breast cancer survivors.  I was proud to also walk in honor of my Mom and for my friend Janelle who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and is going through chemo. 

The walk was amazing.  Tons of people, young and old, big and little, tall and short, men and women...all walking for a purpose.  We heard so many stories along the way and were overwhelmed with all the people out cheering for us and thanking us for walking.  Stephanie was a little ray of sunshine the entire weekend, meeting new people and making us laugh.  At 6:00am first thing Saturday morning she introduced us to our new friend Marnie who walked the entire 39.3 miles with us!

I hit a wall at about the 23 mile mark on Saturday.  Luckily we were all together and there were a group of people behind us who were also delirious and made us laugh like crazy.  I was so excited to see my Mom and Marlie at about mile 26. And we walked to the finish line together with our new friends!

After a nice dinner I realized that I couldn't even get up from my chair! It was hilarious!  Back to shower and head straight to bed.  We were back up at 5:30am for part 2!

We could hardly get out of bed, let alone walk!  We bandaged up our blisters and headed to the race.  I think our bodies were just so numb and sore that the 13.1 miles actually wasn't horrible. 

We saw Heather's family at about mile 10 and that's when I started getting emotional.  Then Doug and Marlie met us at mile 11 and walked with us the rest of the way.  Marlie was so excited to be there!

Here were are at the 13 mile marker on Sunday - total of 39 miles...

Then we came to my Mom and Matt and I got the best hug from my little man with the stomach bug.  He was wearing pink gloves so he could give everyone along the way high 5's without infecting them!

 Then we crossed the finish line with our children and my Mom, hand-in-hand.  It was a great feeling!

Thank you for everyone who donated to this walk.  Thank you to my friend Melissa who had done this walk and gave me all the advice I needed to make it! Thank you to my sweet husband Doug who managed 2 softball games, baseball practice, dance pictures and a father-son school event just on Saturday.  And then got woken up in the middle of the night with my Matt and his stomach bug, got everyone to church early Sunday morning and then came to finish the walk with me...and then took complete care of me Sunday (because I could barely move).  But mostly for being so proud of me and supportive.  You would have thought that I made it to the top of Everest! Check out more pictures in the slideshow.

Keep fighting girls!

Hooks Win!

Matt is playing select baseball this year.  We have started playing again this spring and guess what...we won our first tournament!  The boys were more than excited and played great.  Matt usually plays first base but got to play some at third too.  Matt as always, we are so proud of you, especially your sister!

Hoppy Easter!

We headed down to SA to spend Easter with our friends & family and had such a great time! We stayed with the Hatters and the kids and adults had a blast!  M&M just walked into the Hatter house and they were off.  We got to see the Zunkers too and the boys played baseball together.  How I loved watching them all!  I could have sat out there for hours but the little girls got a little cranky after the first hour so we went to eat!

Easter Sunday was so much fun too!  Everyone was at Gram's and we had a great time. The kids LOVE the annual Easter Egg Hunt!  Funny my little ones were both very quick this year!

 And they love to count their money!! It's like winning the lottery!

We had such a great time this year with our cousins, Doug with his sisters and our friends.  Can't wait to do it again next year!

The Color Run

We decided to do The Color Run with the Wellmann's and had a blast!! It's a 5K and every mile or so you get hit with a certain color.  The kids thought it was the greatest and the adults definitely enjoyed it too.  People go all out!  We decided on crazy socks which were pretty cool.

Here are the before pictures...

  Our first color was blue...Doug took Marlie right into the heart of the color mess so they started off good!

Next color was pink and some of us found the guy with the purple spray!

We hit yellow, then the boys rolled around in the orange...and got a spray of green too!  Here are the after pics...

Oh we had so much fun.  We mostly walked but ran for a bit as the boys high-fived others along the run.  Matt & Caden played football on the walk too (a walk-run with colors thrown at them along the way isn't enough to keep them busy).  The money raised goes to soldiers with PTSD so what a great cause!  We hope to do it again next year!