Our Big Summer Vacation - Gulf Shores, Al - Day 2

This day was a BLAST! We got some body boards and Rob and I had a blast riding them! We would stand side by side, wait for a wave and then "race" to see who could ride it the furthest! I took him down 7-0 in the body board contest! I think he is planning on a re-match tomorrow...so I will ket you know the results! The kids spent a TON of time playing in the sand today!

You can't tell from the picture (below)....but they totally looked "sugar" (white sand) coated from head (yes, that is sand in their hair!) to toe at this point. Earlier this summer when we were talking about our beach trip...Robbie promised the kids that they could bury him in the sand. Well, you know my kids NEVER forget ANYTHING! So, today they wanted to make good on his offer! He is such a good dad! Because, he was hot and he was sweaty and they were putting shovel fulls of sand on him that was sticking to him and getting into his swimsuit! Luckily for him, they have never seen someone REALLY burried in the sand, so after 5 mins they declared him "burried" and he was off the hook!
We brought the kids fishing poles. They just have practice weights (that look like fish) on the end. They cast them out and real them in over and over and we don't have to worry about them getting "hooked". They LOVE doing this and don't seem to mind that they arn't really fishing! So, it is a win-win for everyone! While the kids were "fishing", there was a man on the beach who was fishing. He caught a small fish and brought it over while it was still on the pole. He wanted us to take a photo so it would look like they had actually caught something. The kids thought it was cool and complied...but they acted a bit confused as to why the man had interrupted their casting session to show them a fish. It was like.....can't you see we are busy pretend fishing here, Mister. Funny! This is a moment I wish I could freeze in time....could my family be any more precious?!

Our Big Summer Vacation - Gulf Shores, AL - Day 1

We are SO lucky to able to spend a whole week enjoying the white sand, wonderfully cool ocean water and time with Robbie's family in Gulf Shores, AL this week! We arrived tonight (Monday) about 6pm. We unloaded the cars and got out to the beach as quick as we could!

We didn't have too long before it got dark, but we made the most of about an hour! You can see the kids were thrilled! This is Hudson's first time at the beach and Lawson's second (we spent a day on the beach in Galveston when she was 2....but that isn't much of a beach).
This was when the kids first got out to the beach. They were just grabbing up handfuls of sand!

Here we are just beginning our vacation!

Can you guess where we ate tonight?!

Check out the cool stripe-y seat and nice slate walls..........

(but don't look at the food)

Now, look at this nice seating area............

No, it's not PF Changs?!?

Hint: It's our kids favorite place to eat! It's a new McDonald's that just opened near our home!

How mod is it! Super fun! And, OH, so clean!

Hudson said that he was "this" cold in the restaurant! Check out the cool play area! A piano slide....that makes note sounds as you slide down!
And a xylophone and guitar that make sounds, too! Such a unique play area! Robbie said that from now on anytime I leave him with the kids....this is where he is taking them!

Before and After

Hudson's hair was starting to look like Kramer's (from Seinfeld) again so it was time to head to Sports Clips for a new do!

Here he is BEFORE....

And then AFTER, sporting the Faux-Hawk!
As we were laying in bed reading bedtime stories tonight, he looked at me and said, "Mom, is my hair messed up?" I think he was really proud of his new haircut! So cute!

These kids.....

...are just the best!

They are SO very funny!

They begged me to let them use the face paint crayons by themselves to paint clown faces.

So, I agreed and left them in the bathroom with

free reign over the face paints.

When I came back, this is what I found! I laughed SO hard!

They look like some kind of deranged clowns!

I LOVE this picture!

We have enjoyed some cooler weather this week....

ya know, 90 as opposed to 104!

I had to post these pics so I can remember how sweet they are

when they play together WITHOUT fighting!

They really do play well together a lot of the time....

but when it goes south....it REALLY goes south!

We are now entering the stage of "Word Wars",
and, whew!, those are exhausting to listen to and manage!

They are pretty much inseperable though,

and I love that about them!

A lot of fun was had this weekend...

by some HUGE American Idol fans!

My sister text messaged me on Tues (last week) and told me she had an extra ticket to the American Idol Live concert in Little Rock! I was able to go and join her and her friends and we had a fantastic time!

I have watched the show faithfully since season one. I will never forget watching Kelly Clarkson beat out Justin Guarini. I was new to Reality TV then....and it just seemed like the biggest TV moment ever! Of course, Kelly Clarkson is still my all time favorite idol. I have watched EVERY season since....but some years I remember feeling very underwhelmed with the top 10.

This year however renewed my faith in the show! The top 9 (sorry Michael Sarver...just not feeling ya) all brought such incredible talent and fun personality niches!

And for the first time American Idol became a "family" show at the Buie house. Our kids LOVE music and they couldn't wait for it to be Tuesday so they could watch their favs sing a new song. Lawson really wanted Allison to win this year and Hudson was a Kris and Megan fan.

This top 10 group has SO much talent and put on an fantastic show!
For me, the highlights were....
-Anoop singing My Perogative
-Allison and Adam singing Slow Ride
- Megan singing Put Your Records On
- Matt singing Hard to Handle
- Allison singing Cry Baby
- Danny singing PYT
- Kris singing Ain't No Sunshine

MEANWHILE...
my mom and dad were the best baby sitters ever!
Check out all the fun things they planned for Lawson and Hudson in Texarkana.
Taking a spin in cousin Reese's hot pink mustang!
Enjoying a picnic dinner...."Open up Reese!"
Swing batter batter!
Our own waterpark!

Bananna Split Time!

American Idol Bonus Photos

One of my sister's friends, Andrea, who went to the concert with us had a connection that got her a backstage pass! She got to meet MOST of the idols!
Here are some of her pics!
She said they were all very personable!
And she said that Adam might actually be prettier than her! Ha!