Gulf Shores Alabama Trip - Part 1

 Darryl and I had the opportunity at the end of September to take a trip for our 20th Anniversary.  It's been in the works for awhile (like years actually) so the fact that we could actually leave for a week on a real vacation was a big deal . .. without the kids!  We talked about alot of the places from Maine to Colorado but ultimately our hearts are with the beach so we headed South to the Gulf! 

Day 1 - Our trip really started on Friday evening when we picked up our rental car, came home, and loaded up!  On Saturday morning we got up, got ready and hit the road.  Our plan was to stop a few hours down the road for coffee.  That was not as easy as it sounds!  We got off at an exit that had a Starbucks.  We noticed a local coffee shop so decided to try that . .. but the line was around the building!  We drove to the Starbucks and figured out why the other coffee shop was so busy . . .because it was closed HA!  So we ended up just driving across the street to Speedway and getting coffee.  It was good and that's all that matters. 

My GPS was set to "no Toll Roads" which sent us across this amazing bridge in Kentucky.  

We stopped for lunch at Skyline Chili - one of those rare treats since they aren't in the North really.  We also picked up Donuts from a shop next door but . . .they ended up not being very good.  

The rest of our trip was uneventful.  We stopped outside of Nashville at the same hotel we stayed at previously.  We had picked out a Mexican restaurant to eat at just down the road from the hotel but quickly discovered that we weren't in the best area (When we stayed there before we arrived at about 11:00 at night and left first thing the next morning and never noticed the area - just the hotel was band new and nice!).  So, we did not eat at the Mexican place and instead drove to a little nicer area and got dinner at Panda Express.  Once back at the hotel we kinda crashed - it had been a long day! 

Day 2 (Sunday) - We slept in a little before hitting in the road.  Breakfast at the hotel was awful. Once again we aimed for Starbucks.  This time we were successful and got some wonderful coffees before hitting the road. 

Finally getting into Alabama!  I don't remember where we ate lunch but I promise you it wasn't McDonald's !!  I told Darryl that I didn't want to eat at McDonald's the whole 10 days and he stuck to that the whole time!  

We stopped at this great rest area with a space ship and history markers.  We passed it last time we were driving down but actually stopped this time!  

And . .. the beach!  This is the view out our window of the condo.  It was just beautiful.  The weather was perfect. We unloaded and headed to dinner.  We knew we wanted Seafood so we stopped at a place just down the road for where we were staying.  It wasn't too busy and the food was pretty good.  In the end, it ended up being our least favorite but that doesn't mean it wasn't tasty!  Fresh fish and shrimp is always good!!  

Finally - we settled into our condo for the night looking forward to a very restful and relaxing vacation!  

Halloween 2021

 One of my favorite posts every year is this one - a look back at all of the Halloween costumes.  I have a sneaking suspicion that this might by the last year for this post as my kids are aging out of Halloween.  Actually, as you will notice when we get to this years photo . .. only one kid dressed up this year as the older one deemed himself "too old".  Actually, he deemed himself too old last year but I told him "too bad, you have to do it one more year for me because I am not ready for you to be done" HA!  He appeased me and still had fun but said never again!!! 

Josh 2009

Josh 2010

Nate 2010

Josh 2011

Nate 2011

Josh 2012

Nate 2012

Josh 2013

Nate 2013

Nate and Josh 2014

Josh 2015

Nate 2015

Josh 2016

Nate 2016

Nate and Josh 2017

Nate and Josh 2018

Josh and Nate 2019

Nate (costume #1) 2020

Nate (costume #2) 2020

Josh 2020

Nate 2021

Weekly Song - Weary Traveler (Lyric Video) - Jordan St. Cyr

This song spoke to me this past week.  We all have weary times - sometimes its an hour after a busy day or a week . .. or  a month . . or a season.  Even in the weary days, we have a hope in heaven and home that is waiting for us when we love and trust Jesus.  

2021 Weekly Photos #33

 I finally had a chance to upload photos from my phone and camera to not only do my weekly post but also to share photos from the trip Darry and I took a month ago!  But first . . .here's a quick look back at our week 

Saturday - We celebrated Josh's birthday, which was on Friday,  He had a friend stay the night on Friday - they had pizza and stayed up all night!).  Josh wanted the family celebration separate so we did!! 

Josh wanted Darryl's grilled hamburgers and fruit salad so that is what we got ! (and the burgers were amazing!!) 

Then it was time for the traditional balloon popping!  They get their age in money but they have to work for it by popping balloons.  It is always fun to see what creative ways they come up with to pop them all! 

And then time for gifts!! 

"If I fits, I sits" 

My mom made Josh a new quilt to use on his bed.  It is all cats :-) 

His gift from Darryl's Mom and Step-Dad (money!)

He cake of choice was carrot cake.  I usually make one but I saw this one at Meijer and it looked too good to pass up.  (It was very tasty!)  And that's  A LOT of candles HA! 

Sunday was our normal day - church, football, and then youthgroup. 

Monday and Tuesday were normal school days - school, music lessons and the such.  

Wednesday - Darryl was home from work unexpectedly so after a morning of school we carved pumpkins!  This is the first time in years we haven't done it the day before Halloween and when we were really tired after a long day HA!  It was actually fun to carve them in the afternoon :-)  

Thursday - Another "normal" school day but I did get a photo of our pumpkins all lit up! 

(Notice Dash in the background? HA!) 

Friday - We attended our Homeschool Co-op and Nate had Tak Kwon Do.  Then we enjoyed a quiet evening at home.  

One of Nate's classes (his favorite) is Grateful Hearts.  They learn about a lot of community service and community servants.  Today the local police spoke to the class and then showed them their vehicle. 

Nate also has gym class - another favorite. 

Josh and Nate both take an outer space class.  They do a lot of different projects in this class making it a lot of fun. 

So, that was our week!