Destin Vaca Day 5 and 6!

We decided to check out the local Barnes and Noble. We scored a few good books and then visited Chilli's for lunch. Pops took Katherine and Andie to the beach while babies slept and Ben and I got a cookie cake for Lulu. Lauren turned 11 months, but we decided to celebrate it as if it were her 1st birthday, since we were all together! The beach was very overcast and we needed some family pictures, so we took the cameras to the beach. I was pretty happy with the results! The girls and I NEEDED more crab legs, and we were told to visit Dewy Destins, so we headed out for dinner. Crab legs were great! We sat outside on a deck over the water. It was hot and muggy, as usual, but we had fun. We came home and celebrated Little Lauren Lulu!
Today we spent time on the beach playing in the waves and sitting with Addison and Lauren. We decided on BBQ for dinner and went to Jim & Nicks BBQ. We loved it!
We have had so much fun here in Destin with Ben's parents. It has been great seeing the kids getting to know them better. I have never been on vacation with extra relatives before, but it has been great! It is nice to take the time to enjoy them without having to worry about our daily life getting in the way. So tomorrow we head back to Atlanta... We have had a great time, but are ready to return to our normal Life in the Oliver Lane.

Destin Vaca Day 3 and 4!

Shopping was fun, there is a great outlet mall a few miles down the road. We hit Gap, Bose, Nike and a bunch of shops. We had sandwiches and gelatto at a little sandwich shop. We came home and headed out to the pool for a bit, then came home for hot dogs and baked potatoes for dinner. After getitting the 2 littles to bed Pops and I took Katherine and Andie for a walk on the beach for an hour.
Yesterday I think we crammed just about everything we wanted to do into one day! Andie had been begging to visit IHOP for breakfast, so we started there. After breakfast Katherine, Grandma Oliver, and I headed out shopping and found a swimsuit for Katherine. Ben and Grandpa Oliver (Pops) took Addison and Lauren to the pool while we were out. We enjoyed a quiet lunch at home. Pops and I took K and A to the beach while little girls were napping. After naps we headed out for a quick dinner and then off to our dolphin cruise! We all had a great time, and were totally worn out after, but not to worn out for ice cream! We enjoyed some Brusters ice cream and then headed home to bed.

Destin Vaca Day 2 and 3!

We have been to the beach for the past 2 mornings in a row form about 10-12:00. Katherine and Andie are loving the big waves, Addison not so much. Addison is happy as long as the salty water is nowhere near her face, can't relay blame her there. We had some nice crab legs Sunday night. Katherine shared with me, Addison tasted the crab and was o.k. with it. Andie tasted the crab, had several more bites, and is asking when we can get some more! Ben is not a crab fan, so it is nice that the girls are. Little Lauren Lulu has been bonding with Grandpa Oliver and loving it.
We decided to eat dinner at the house last night, so we did grilled chicken corn on the cob and salad. It was nice to have a quiet night in.
Katherine and Andie were super excited to go on a walk on the beach at night with G & G Oliver lat night. They saw crabs, talked to people that were fishing and found sand fleas. I guess sand fleas make good bait...
We are planning on shopping today! Wish us luck at the outlets!

Destin Vaca Day 1!

We have been so excited to get the heck out of dodge for a vaca. Ben had been planning our getaway since early this year. We did our usual June swim team and then Andie had to get her tonsils out on Addison's 3rd birthday June 29th. So Andie needed recovery time. Somehow with all that plus the extra stresses of life we were able to drive to Destin,FL today.
The car ride went very well, considering the fact that no one felt the need to take a nap and Lauren threw up twice (YUCK). We got checked into our beach house and ventured out to the beach while we had our first load of laundry in the wash including Lauren's car seat! The beach is a short 5 min walk, but oh it is worth it! I watched as Addison dug her toes into the sand and Lauren felt sand on her feet for the first time ever. The sand here is beautiful! No oil bits here, knock on wood. Ben is on his way to pick up his parents from the airport. They are visiting from Nevada, and we are so excited to have them here with us. Here are a few pics and expect more to come over the week.


Addsion rocking out to Justin Beiber, we made her use earphones because we had our fill durring the first hours of the drive.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

We visited Myrtle Beach last week for a little family vacation. We had so much fun! We spent time on the beach and in the pool every day. I got a touch fried trying to get a little color, it doesn't take much with my WHITE skin. We were able to do a bunch of really fun activities while we were there. We played miniature golf, watched a 3d eye max about dolphins and whales, went on a dolphin watching boat ride and even got to touch a shark that the shrimp boat thew over to us. I took Katherine and Andie to La Grand Cirque, like circus ole. It was great, we got to sit in the front row! Katherine and I love eating crab legs when we go to the beach so we had crab legs twice while we were there! Ben and I took turns hanging out with Addison while she napped each day. That was the best job because we could sneak a nap if we wanted! I was also able to take my walk / runs of the beach each morning. I love going to the beach to walk by the sand. The girls did great in the 5 1/2 hour drive each way. We listened to Island of the Blue Dolphins on the way home, which we all enjoyed too. I love my little family. We had so much fun together and that makes me HAPPY.



Katherine and Andie each took a turn driving the dolphin watching boat!




We were surprised at how much Addison enjoyed the boat. She loved having the wind blow in her face. She was trying to hang over the edge for awhile too.




Have you ever touched a shark? The skin is really tough and when you rub it from tail to head it feels like sandpaper. There were also 3 smaller baby sharks that we got to see. Addison even touched the shark.




Andie thought we were playing baseball for the fist few strokes, so Ben had to give her a quick lesson. She was doing pretty good after that, even though she wasn't to accurate on her stroke count.

Biltmore Vaca

Katherine and Andie were out of school for 2 weeks and it was about to drive me nuts! (can you relate?) I had this great idea that we should get out of town for a minute, for a change of scenery. I decided that we should go see the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. I have seen it on HGTV several times, and have always wanted to go. Ben had to work, so I called in some back up (Allyson). Allyson is always up for something fun and since she had some time off she was ready to go. We loaded up the girls and left on Friday morning. It takes about 3.5 hours to drive there. We drove around downtown Ashville that evening and had dinner at a yummy southern restaurant. We spent all day Saturday at Biltmore. We hung out until 6PM ,and then we headed home. We arrived home at about 10PM Saturday night with a car full of very sleepy girl's. Mission accomplished, we got out of town and had a ton of fun too!

Check it out at biltmore.com, or something like that. Here are a few pics from our little getaway.

Us inside Biltmire in front of the indoor winter garden.

Andie Cheeseball Oliver and sweet baby Addison outside in the cold.

Me and my sweetys with the lion on the front steps of the Estate!