Alys Beach

We spent a week at Alys Beach this summer, and it was unbelievable.  The house, the pool, the restaurants, and the service were just amazing. We took my Mom along to help out with the girls, and that was definitely a smart move! I can say we really did relax and eat for a whole week.

We would spend our early mornings on the beach. Carter-girl regressed a little bit this trip, and did not like the sand that much. She spent most of her time snacking under the umbrella. Blair was really into sandcastles this trip and kept herself busy with that.

Some days we would head over the splash pad before making our way to the pool. The girls loved that, and Carter would imitate every move her sister would make ;)

We even spent a few mornings at the doggy park after making our donut run.

I have to say we spent the majority of our time at the Caliza Pool. It just never disappoints. Blair is a fish and could swim for hours. Carter-girl even worked on her swimming and did a great job swimming under water.

And most evenings we would end our day by getting dressed up, going out to eat, and bribing the girls with ice cream so I could take their picture ;)

So, add in a date night or two, a few afternoon cocktails, and some cat-naps, and this is pretty much how we spent our week. We are so sad that we are now in prison (I mean kindergarten) and can't go back to the beach for a while!  But, we are thankful for a great trip and look forward to next summer!

Swim Team

We had our very first experience with swim team this year. This was one of those activities that we were so excited to see come, but we were also so excited to see end ;) It is a HUGE commitment. Blair had practice every single day either in the morning or at night, and then we would have clinics on Saturday mornings. Every Tuesday night for the month of June we would have a swim meet. I normally had to volunteer at the meets, so we would be there for hours. It was definitely exhausting, but it was so worth it in the end. Blair's confidence in the water was so great by the end of the season, AND she met tons of kids that she is now in school with. We also buddied up with a few coaches who make great babysitters ;).  Blair was in the 6 and Under group so she only swam freestyle this year. She would do one relay race and one freestyle race. She got several ribbons and we were so proud of her. Her motivation was definitely influenced by the concession stand ;) She even got the "tough cookie" award for the 6 and Unders for being such a big girl.

I had my hands tied most of the meets, so I can't take any credit for these pictures. Thank goodness for our RaRa who always saves us!