Invading Alabama

The 2nd week in July, my side of the family took a beach vacation in Gulf Shores, Alabama. We rented a large beach house there and all stayed together. It was such a wonderful time to be together, catch up, reconnect, relax, and enjoy each other's company. My brother, Mark, Charlotte, and I all rode together in my brother's car. The trip there was 13 hours and the trip back was 12 1/2. Charlotte was very well-behaved on the way down, not as well on the way back. However, I think she did amazing considering I was asking a 15-month-old to be content sitting in a car seat with little to do for such an extended period of time. My brother, as always, was so wonderful about switching seats with me and taking his turn in "occupying" Charlotte. My parents and my sister's family all came together from Austin. We were able to be there from Saturday to Saturday and count ourselves so blessed to have had the opportunity to take that kind of vacation. This post is filled to the brim with pictures. And believe it or not, this is very narrowed down! I have to give 99% of the picture taking credit to my sister. I think I only pulled out my camera twice the whole trip. Thanks for the great pictures, Jessica! Thank you to my whole family for the great memories!

There was lots of fun to be had in the sand and on the beach!

This is how I like to spend my beach vacation . . .

My mother made several amazing sand sculptures, including this dolphin.

I made a not-as-impressive sand castle.

There was also a plethora of fun to be had in the water!

Charlotte had a blast playing with her cousins. Her and Skylyn are not far apart in age and I know these two girls are going to have so much fun in years to come.

Aaris reading the the kids.

On one day, Mark and I took the two younger girls to the little zoo in town.

At the end of each long, but very fun day, it was nice to relax at the house and enjoy some great home-cooking, courtesy of Mimi.

This is definitely one vacation that we will never forget!

Beautiful on the Beach

Is it me, or does everything always seems so much more beautiful on the beach? I guess, perhaps, it's that the ocean and sand is so far from my "normal" that I am drawn to it. I was so excited to be able to take some pictures while we were on our family vacation. My sister was the official photographer and the pictures turned out fabulous! We definitely got some "framers"! Thanks, Jessica! What a special way to remember a wonderful vacation.

Papaw and Mimi with the grandkids

The whole fam

Going solo . . .

One to share

Just found this picture from when my parents came in May to celebrate my 30th birthday. It's a good one!

Too much fun

We are having too much fun to stop and blog! I will post when we get home. This is the life!

Riding the Reading Wave

We went to the library to check out books, but Charlotte found the tunnel shaped like a wave to be much more entertaining!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July from the Fowlers! We had a low-key holiday this year. July 4th is one of my favorite holidays. I am a sucker for patriotic music with fireworks. But, Charlotte's early bedtime, the fact that she startles easily, all coupled with her having a summer cold and teething made us decide to skip going to a fireworks show this year. After Charlotte's nap, we headed over to Grammy and Poppy's house for some family fun time. Mark's brother and family aren't in town for the 4th this year, so it was definitely different. We really missed seeing them. However, they will be in town in 2 weeks and we are looking forward to some time together then. Charlotte got to spend time playing in a little pool in the backyard. Our girl definitely loves the water, which makes her mama very happy for the hope of many future summers spent poolside. We enjoyed some wonderful grilled hamburgers and playtime afterwards. After Charlotte was in bed, I watched the New York City fireworks show on T.V. then Mark and I sat on top of the ladder and fence in our backyard/driveway and watched the Plano fireworks show over the treetops. Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!

I simply could not pass up these matching shirts!

Charlotte playing the piano with Grammy.

Playing the water is so much fun!

Getting sprayed by the mist from the hose . . .

I think we have a child prodigy on our hands . . .