Sawyer's Birthday Beach Weekend!

This past weekend we spent the weekend at the beach! We were able to stay in the hubby's Aunt and Uncle's condo! And Andy's parents stayed with us! We had an absolute blast! You may remember we stayed at the beach a few weeks ago for Hayden's birthday? Well Sawyer so wanted to do the same thing for his birthday but we didn't think we would be able to. Well thanks to Grandma she got it all worked out so we could! I had a very excited birthday boy!!! :-) Enjoy our weekend in pictures! :-)

It was an absolutely amazing weekend! The summer crowd was gone so we almost had the beach to ourselves! The water was calm (just like I like it) and crystal clear! We saw tons of fish, crabs, dolphins, and stingrays! It was so relaxing and just what we needed after the hectic first week of school!

QOTD: What is your favorite way to relax?

Gone Fishing!

Last week me and my boys met one of my sweet students from last year to go fishing! My boys have never been fishing! Yes I know...we live on the Gulf Coast and have never taken our boys fishing? What's wrong with us? Well...when your hubby doesn't fish it isn't a big priority. So I was so excited to give them this experience!

One of my sweet students from last year's Mom and grandparents invited us before the school year ended. This summer has flown by so we finally got around to doing it. We met them at a popular restaurant down at the beach called Lulu's (Jimmy Buffet's sister Lucy's restaurant). We got on the boat there and headed down the Intracoastal Waterway to fish.

My boys loved the boat ride just as much as fishing! They've never been on a boat either! They kept telling me they had been on a boat...the ferry boat that takes you to the Magic Kingdom! I had to explain this was a lot different lol!

We got their fishing poles baited with some shrimp, casted it in the water for them, and there they were! Fishing for the very first time!

Before we knew it Hayden had a bite! He reeled in his very first fish ever!!!

I love Hayden's face in the picture above lol! He wasn't so sure of that fish lol! And then....not long after he caught ANOTHER fish! A pin fish this time!

Sawyer was getting a little antsy at this time because Hayden had already caught two fish and he hadn't caught any! But before long he caught his first fish!!!

Hayden looks like a true fisherman in this picture! :-)

Then Aiden (my friend's son) caught a HUGE red fish!!! All the boys were in awe!!!

They all wanted a picture with the fish!

Then Hayden caught a smaller red fish of his own!

And Aiden caught another big one!!!

Then Sawyer got a big bite! We could tell it was a big one from the way the pole was bending. We had to hold part of the pole while he reeled it in because it was so heavy! But Sawyer reeled that huge red fish in all by himself and was sooo proud!

We even talked him into holding his fish (even though he kept saying the fish were creepy and were freaking him out lol)!

We caught a few more and then we took another boat ride!

Sawyer even got to drive the boat! He was super proud of himself for this! Hayden (my cautious one) didn't want to drive. ;-)

After the boat ride we docked back at Lulu's and had some yummy lunch! I chose wisely...blackened fish with veggies! ;-)

We had such a fun day! My boys LOVED fishing and want to do it again! Thanks so much for inviting us Melissa, Bryce, Aiden, and Mr. Kearley!!!

QOTD: Do you like to fish?

Family Fun at Fort Gaines!

My boys are fascinated by old forts! We've been to several of the forts here on the Gulf Coast. Fort Gaines was still on our list to visit! Saturday was a gorgeous day here on the Gulf Coast so we got in the truck and traveled about an hour to Dauphin Island to see Fort Gaines. What better way to spend the day then to be outside AND learn about some of our area's history?

The entrance to the fort! The boys love all the canons!

We entered the fort and then into the gift shop. It cost us (family of 4) $20 to enter the fort. Then we entered the courtyard. The boys oohed and aahed when we first saw the fort!

We immediately looked at our map and started following the self-guided tour. We went up tons of stairs and down tons of stairs. There were a ton of "secret spots" that were a little scary to enter. They were stairs that you would go down and they would lead you to a room or to the courtyard. The stairs were steep and small. But we conquered them all despite our my fears!

My boys going down the stairs!

Some of the stairs leaded to rooms like these. And Sawyer wanted pictures in almost all the windows lol!

Like most of the forts here on the Gulf Coast this one was built close to the Gulf of Mexico. The views of the canons, the fort, and the Gulf are amazing!

We even got to see several dolphins playing in the water!

We explored tons of rooms like this one.

We got to see the bakery, the blacksmith shop, the quartermasters offices, and the kitchen. We even saw the 10 seat latrine. It was fun explaining that to the boys! And they got a kick out of hearing how when it was high tide the water would come in and flush out the "potties!"

A really cool part of this fort were the volunteers they had! They had people dressed up in the clothes from the Civil War area. This lady told us all about the medicines they had and the herbs they used as medicine. She was super nice!

We also got to visit the kitchen area and taste bread and cookies that were made with the ingredients they used back then. This one lady told us all about washing the laundry. And she even let Hayden wash some!

This sweet little girl told the boys all about the games the children played back then...after all their chores were done of course. Sawyer had fun talking to her!

We had a great time visiting Fort Gaines! I think this one was one of my favorites!

QOTD: Do you ever visit Forts? Which ones are your favorite?