Gulf Shores, AL: Part I

We're enjoying a week of sun and sand for the second year in a row with our good friends the Clawsons.  We wanted to share a few pictures so far.

We've spent most of our time in the pool so far.  The beach, in some regards, is a bit too scary for the kiddos.  We did, though, spend this morning at the beach burying Kari in the sand.

Last night we headed to one of our favorite places and a Gulf Shores staple, The Hangout.  On the premises is a kids area and a huge sand hill with a 3ft water drainage pipe for the kids to play.  Kari took it to a new level last night and got everyone body surfing down the sand hill.  As you might imagine, baths are not really much of a priority on a beach vacation.

 

On top of the kids' sand hill.

Body surfing 

We'll be posting more soon!

Teacher Appreciation

We love all the staff at Kari and Bryce's school.  And when we say all, we mean it.  One of Bryce's favorite people at school is Laura, the custodian.  She is always so warm and friendly and loves that Bryce is always asking her questions about what she's doing.  Kari loves her too, but I think it's mainly because she always has a little container of something sweet for them to pick out on their way home each day.  She's such a good woman!  And that's just one of many examples of why we feel so lucky to have both Kari and Bryce there.

And so with Teacher Appreciation Week last week, I couldn't help myself but to make something for the staff and teachers.  For the staff, including Laura, we picked out double-walled tumblers and filled them with candy and a note saying, "Thanks for being so sweet!"

For their teachers, I did a little more.  I actually did this last year for each of their teachers and it was a super easy project and one that could be used daily at work: aprons.  Thanks, once again to Prophetstown where Natalie and I attended an apron making class a few years back and part of the class was getting to keep the pattern.  I've gotten a lot of mileage out of that pattern!

Piano Recital

Kari's first piano recital was Friday.  Gran and Beep Beep joined us to see the event.  Kari played Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Kari has really enjoyed lessons and sincerely likes her teacher, Ms. Mandy.  We continue to look forward to more songs and hopefully more recitals.

Saturday, I took the kids to the Lafayette Farmers Market and then on to one of our favorite hangouts- Prophetstown Farm and State Park.  It was so good to be back there again, like a long lost friend, and then in some ways it felt like we were going there for the first time.  We got to take part in a butter-making demonstration!  Bryce, in all of his two year old gloriousness, could not stay out of the poor woman's personal space.

 New animals graced the property-ducks and more surprisingly, two peacocks!  Fascinating.

We rounded out our visit by having a picnic lunch at the playground at the campsite portion of the park.  Even though our friend Megan doesn't work there anymore, we still had a great time.  Can't wait to go back again!