Spring Break 2009 IV

Part 4

As we took a walk on the beach we saw some really cool sand sculptures. The octopus was my favorite but the kids really liked the mermaid and the alligator.

From left, the mermaid has seaweed hair, eyes, smile, and a shell bra.

The alligator complete with a "fence" surrounding it and shells for teeth.

Beach Babe Britt posing for me! It's hard to see some of these pictures because she looks so big! Actually Britt looks like a young lady not so kid-like! Can't believe she is 8!

Clay asked me to take this picture of his beard! One of the few pics that he isn't smiling! Clay has a perfect picture smile! Clay LOVED the gulf water-cold or not; waves or not. This was Clay's 1st year not wearing his floaties in the pool. I had ALOT of anxiety about this fact but Clay seriously doesn't need them. Clay just completed 5 days of swimming at school, so he was ready.

Tina feeding the birds. Chad participating in the bird feast!

Mr. Mike Brumley is seriously a funny guy. Mike likes wearing his speedo, smoking cigars, reading his book, and catching some rays during vacations. I have never been on vacation with someone that wears a speedo. The looks people gave Mike were priceless! I really wish I would have gotten a picture of some older ladies checking him out!


Mike mixing up some beverages. Kyle and Mike hanging out in the hot tub.

Half of Chad's vacation attire was Oak Hill!

Britt got a hair wrap

Brooke loving on her Daddy





Britt and Connor made the announcement before we left for Spring Break that they were girlfriend/boyfriend. Not sure what the title means at this age but they are cute. They each wanted to get the other something. The above picture is the "exchange" and the pic below is the smile of a girl that just received some jewelry (a pink necklace with a gem palm tree!).

All in all, we had a great vacation-lots of fun in the sun, lots of laughs, and spending time hanging out together. Let's do it again next year!

Spring Break 2009 III

Part 3

Hole in One Connor

Hole in One Colin

Hole in One Clay






One day the guys went down to visit Shane and the girls took the kids miniature golfing. Our family has went to this particular place before. The main attraction is the ability to feed alligators that are in a cage in the center of the course, the 2nd attraction is the golfing. We purchased the alligator food (which I am sure was a Meaty dog treat! HA!) and placed it on a big bobby pin on the end of a cane fishing pole. The kids loved feeding the alligators. Some of the gators were a little aggressive and we thought the kids would lose their poles! The pic of Colin (mainly the back of his head) is when he was speaking "gator" to the gators. I laughed forever about that! I wish I could have a video of it! He has such a quirky mind and such a funny sense of humor! He is definitely Tom's grandson and Cam's son!

Wow, a pic of me! Just holding the cane pole for the kids but I had to post since I don't have very many of me! HA!

Hole in One Brittany










I can't help it, this pic is SOOO Karate Kid! I know that shows my age, but who cares!?!?!!

As a typical tourist, I took this pic of a dead jelly fish.







Boogie Boarding in the pool

Britt is quite the sporty girl and she would love to start playing volleyball. At our school she isn't quite old enough. We found a little shop that was selling beach volleyballs so we got one for Britt. Here a few pics from our vball session on the beach. No points were tallied but we all got excited when we kept a volley going! I love to watch the kids play something new. I was never that into sports, I was just happy to be asked to play. Chad's family is at the other end of the spectrum-Chad and Alicia were very athletic and Mike and Sandi are very competitive. My kids definitely take after the McCorkle's. They seem to have some natural ability (that does NOT come from their mother!). I enjoyed watching Britt and Clay try volleyball.

Kyle serving it up!

Britt & Tina taking on the boys!

Spring Break 2009 II

Part 2





Colin's swimming lessons paying off!




I was the primary picture taker during our family vacation. I don't want to "miss" a memory! I have inherited this trait from my dear Grandma Christie (who passed away Oct.2008). I am thankful that I did inherit it because I have TONS of good pics from this Spring Break. Bear with me, I just love blogging them because then I can occasionally go back and look at what we were doing and see just how big my kids are getting! Here is the 2ND round of pics! Enjoy!


We went down to John's Pass a couple of times. John's Pass is maybe a 10 minute drive from our condo-a strip of touristy shops and restaurants all set on a pier. We ate at the Friendly Fisherman more than once-Chad and I love seafood and are trying to get the kids to try new things. They tried alligator bites as an appetizer. VERY FUNNY! Britt was dead set that she was allergic to it (which she was not, she just thought too much about what she was eating). Clay liked it enough that he ordered it the next time we ate there. I had some good chilled u-peel shrimp, some really good Parmesan pasta with Maui-Maui and shrimp, coconut shrimp, etc. Chad likes fried anything so any seafood you can think of Chad had it fried.






We also ate at the Salt Rock Grill which is one of our favorites. It is a place that you know will be more expensive than the other places but the food is amazing! I got the Alaskan King Crab legs that are cut in 1/2 with a band saw which makes it so you can scoop out the meat with a fork (no cracking required). Britt got steak, Clay got a typical cheeseburger, and Chad got a 24 oz. Porterhouse steak. OBSURD! He was loving every bite, let me tell you. The 2lbs of red meat was a little too much to handle so we took some of it home. Tina got some lobster, Saundra got some crab cakes, etc. We all had very happy bellies that night. This night was also the night that we dressed cutesy (always fun!). So we took some pics of ourselves dressed in our spiffy attire.



































The guys playing poker on the balcony.



Swimming in the heated pool and chilling out in the hot tub at night.