WW: Annual Vacation Shirts!

Every year, I design t-shirts for our annual family vacation and we all wear them as we drive down to the Outer Banks.  It's an obnoxious tradition that we adore.

This year, however?  Things are... different.

Well, for one, we're not going to OBX.  We've decided to stay local and head to Ocean City, NJ.  We used to vacation in OCNJ all the time, but for the past 9 or so years, we have enjoyed heading down to the fabulous beaches of Corolla, NC.  And honestly?  You can't beat the gorgeous houses. But this year, however, there aren't as many family/friends going for various reasons, so we decided to stay local.  And, while I'll miss OBX tremendously, I have to admit that I'm really looking forward to the one hour drive to OC with 3 kids as opposed to 7-9 hours {depending on traffic & bathroom/food stops} to get to OBX. {Mamas, are you with me on that?? I thought so.}

So, yeah.  We have a change of scenery this year, less people going {17 as opposed to 28, give or take a kid} but, obviously, the biggest and most heart-breaking change of all is...

My dad won't be there.

This is our very first family vacation without him.  It hurts my heart to think about him not being there to collect shells with the kids, cook pancakes in the morning, jump waves with Carter, eat Pringles on the beach... hurts. my. heart.

So, yeah. We thought a change of vacation-scenery might do us some good this year.  We'll see.

With all that change, I questioned whether or not we should even do our family t-shirts this vacation.  When I brought it up to my family, they thought about it too and together we came to the conclusion that... yes, of course we should keep up this tradition. Not only for us, but for the kids.  They love having matching t-shirts and they wear them proudly. And so do we.  Why not continue something that makes us happy?

So, with that, here are the shirts...

Did you notice the wave? =)  My sisters and I just didn't feel right leaving my dad off the shirt this year, so we wanted him to know that he's still with us... always.  The quote, obviously from Finding Nemo, has been somewhat of our motto this year.  Just keep swimming.  It also works well for the beach though too, right? The hashtag is just a little stupid inside joke.  We think we're funny. ;)

So there you have it... our annual family t-shirt. We leave this Saturday and we can't wait! Vacation can't come soon enough for this family. We need it.

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Off to Hawaii!

Our kids are dropped off. Our bags are packed.  Our house is clean. Our chargables are charged. Our boarding passes are printed.

I think this is really happening now.

We're going to Hawaii!!!

I'll be posting a ton of pictures throughout our trip, so be sure to follow along on Instagram!

Also, if you missed our big HUGE news from the other day, check it out here.  It's kind of a big deal.  Like, life changing.

I promise a post is in the works with all the details and I'll get that up as soon as I can.  But in the meantime, I plan to lay on the beach with a good book {thanks for the recs!} as much as I possibly can!

Catch ya on the flip side.


Don't forget to follow along!

Happenings Lately...

Okay, so there is a lot going on and this is the easiest way to talk about it =)

***

The house is officially on the market!  It's been up for a little over a week now and we're still waiting for our first call for a showing {not that I expected them to come right away, everyone seems to be crazy busy through Memorial Day!}  But let me just tell you?  Keeping the house "show ready" with 3 kids?  Exhausting.  Especially when they like to dump all their toys out again 3 minutes after you clean them up and are half out the door on the way to work. 

It's awesome.

But it's fine.  Bob and I have a pretty good system going.  Clean up after the kids go to bed and then just straighten up and make the beds before we leave the house every morning.  Although I'm so tired of it {already, sheesh!} I do really like that our house is always clean.  It makes me feel so much better and more organized!  I feel like my pre-kid self again ;)

So yeah, I'll keep you posted on that and I really AM going to blog about the before and after pictures of our house.  Really.

***

So tomorrow is Brynn's birthday.  I mentioned that before and we are really excited about celebrating with her.  She is the sweetest ever and I love her so damn much.  I can't wait to spend the day with her tomorrow! Also... everyone in our family gets to pick their birthday dinner {my mom will make anything they want!} and Brynnie picked pancakes.  So, pancakes it is tomorrow night. =)

But what I haven't mentioned yet?  Saturday is my dad's birthday.

Yeah.  That's going to be tough. 

I cry just thinking about it.

We do have some special things planned to honor his birthday {I don't really want to use the word "celebrate"}.  Everyone will head over to my mom's house in the morning to get the day started.  As I mentioned before, we planted a tree in honor of my dad. Well we bought this gorgeous plaque to place beside it and we plan to put that in the ground around noon.  I'll be sure to post a picture of it on IG {and likely here next week} so stay tuned for that.  We didn't want anything sad... we wanted it to just be a sweet reminder of him and the lives that he's touched along the way. We searched high and low for the perfect plaque and the moment we saw it, we just knew.  I really can not wait to put that out next to his tree in my mom's backyard.  It will be very special.

After the plaque, we plan to have a little lunch BBQ.  My dad LOVED BBQ's and since his birthday always fell on/around Memorial Day, we had one for him every year. 

I remember last year, we had a BBQ for him and Brynn on the same day and it was so fun just celebrating the two of them, BBQing it up, sitting around the fire pit, as the kids rode their scooters and played on the new waterslide. My dad and I drove around from store to store on his actual birthday last year, just trying to get this waterslide for the kids.  We must have gone to 10 different stores for this thing because it was sold out everywhere.  And I remember thanking him for going with me and spending his birthday looking for something that would make the kids so happy.  He was the best! 

 

Sigh.  Yeah.  Saturday is going to be hard.

After our BBQ, we plan to visit the cemetery and then, later in the evening, head out to dinner at one of his favorite restaurants.  Although we know how difficult of a day it will be, we have some special things planned and we will be spending the day together.  There may be a lot of tears, but there will also be just as much laughter. My dad's girls are strong... we'll get through it.

***

Sunday is Aubrey's Baptsim!  {We just go right from one thing to the next, don't we?}  My sister has been working so hard on getting everything ready for Auggleberry's special day and I just know that it's going to be lovely.  I'm excited and can't wait to spend the day celebrating such a special baby girl {and Reid's BFF, cousin, and birthday twin!}

It's okay, you can say it... she's the sweetest, right?

***

Okay, so I kinda have some news. I kinda submitted a proposal for this big international conference for work.  And it kinda got accepted.  So I'm kinda going to the conference next month.  In... {wait for it}...

Hawaii.

Yep, I AM serious.

I am so excited that I can barely contain myself.  We leave just 3 weeks from Sunday!  There are a few of my coworkers going as well, but guess who else is coming along?  

Bob. =)

We've never been to Hawaii, so this is a dream for us. We're staying in Waikoloa, on the big island.  For those that have been there before, do you have any tips and/or must see things that we should look into?  I do actually have to attend/present at the conference {obviously;} but we do have a few days to ourselves and want to make the most of it!  So far, we plan to visit the volcanoes and go to a luau {my idea, but come on!  It's Hawaii!}  Anything else you can think of?  Any wonderful restaurants we should try?  Let me know!

And I must must MUST thank my wonderful mom and mother-in-law.  As soon as we mentioned the word Hawaii, they automatically told us not to worry about the kids.  We realize exactly how lucky we are to have not one, but TWO, wonderful mothers who are there for us always and who are willing to take our 3 crazy kids for a week.  You both are the best ever and we love you so very much.  MUAH!

And I must do it.  I must.  

Oh, ya know... just a shot of our hotel pool.  NBD.

***

Yeah, so there's not much happening lately at all, huh? ;)

Google Reader is going away on July 1st, and I don't want to lose you in the shuffle!

WW: Vacation's all I ever wanted.

{Yeah, now try not to get THAT song stuck in your head. Good luck.}

So, we booked our house for this summers annual family vacation...

...and while I'm super excited about relaxing on that porch, enjoying the view and reading a book chasing my kids around, I'm also a little sad about it at the same time. 

Not that our entire family doesn't need a vacation.  Oh, we so do.  We've been through a lot.

But as I searched for vacation rentals in OBX for this summer, I cried. Because the last 7 years that we've gone down to the Outer Banks, my dad was with us.  And it hurts my heart to think of making that drive without him this year. He just loved it so much.  And I know he would have wanted us to go back, but I think it's just too soon.  We're not ready to be there without him.

Not yet.

So this year? We're staying local.  {Yay for a 1 hour drive instead of a 7 hour drive!} We're headed to OCNJ, which we LOVE.  We've been going there since I was younger and it just feels right to head back there for our summer vacation. Not only that, but it's nice to support our local beaches this year in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

So yeah.  Vacation. I wish we could leave tomorrow.

Have you booked your summer vacation yet? If so, where are you going?

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WW: Fun in the Sun

As you know, last week we were down in the Outer Banks for our annual family vacation.  It was so wonderful and we had gorgeous weather all week!  I took about a million pictures, but I narrowed it down to just a few {okay, so more than a few} of my favorites for this Wordless Wednesday post.

Enjoy!

And then I died of the cute... {my sweet little niece, Reese at 10 months old!}

We headed to the beach one night to fly kites and we forgot Brynn's sand shoes...

 ...she was obviously devastated.  But then we stuck her in the water and she was fine... because hey! No more sand!

My boy can jump.

Bob took this one.  I kind of love it.

Hopscotch, beach style.

Me and my girl.

Sigh.  I just adore the kids faces in this pic.  They clearly loved the idea of a family photo...

I kind of love this pic too.  The water was so calm! {I guess this is what it looks like when you're not down in OBX during a hurricane, huh?}

A fun shot of the belleh. {35w6d}

Ladder ball, on the beach.

Off to find more seashells!

And probably my favorite picture of the week? This one. 

My little sister, Kacy, and I at 36 weeks pregnant.  I love everything about it. Can't wait to squeeze these squishy little babies soon. :)

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