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Destin Family Vacay 2011

Once again, we headed down South to Destin for our weekly family vacation. This was the first year in many years, that my mom had all three of her children able to make the trip for atleast part of the week. David and Michelle had to leave early, neither one had much time off of work since they used a lot of time off for the honeymoon back in the spring. This was also the first time ever that we lost 2 days to rain (boo!). We just kept reminding ourselves, that although we were stuck inside watching TV and relaxing, atleast we are NOT at work! However, the week ended with lots of sun, I even got sunburned. All in all, it was a fun trip. The kids had fun swimming in the pool, the beach is not as popular to the young ones. We ate at some of our favorite restaurants, played a little putt-putt, and even got to ride some go-carts. A lot of fun was had and plenty of relaxing occured as well.

This picture doesn't do justice. We constantly joked that Alex almost looked like a different nationality. The kid is BROWN!!! I kept reapplying sunscreen and got him to wear a t-shirt one day. The kid LOVES the water, and it can be the ocean or the pool. I had to keep my eye on him, the second we would sit our towels and bags down on the sand, Alex grabbed his noodle and was heading toward the waves. I love that he was so into the beach this year. The kid is not afraid of much.
I worked hard to get this half-smile from Marisa. She only wanted to spend ~30 mins. at the beach and then she was ready for the pool. As annoying as this is for a parent, because we didn't drive 6 hours from home to play in a pool, I can relate to her. I believe I was exactly the same as a child. Atleast I know that now I love the beach and the ocean, so hopefully she will too one day.

Last year, Wes was only 2 months old and the beach was stinky and nasty (thanks BP), so this was really his first experience at the beach. The picture says it all. He was really not sure about the sand, although he wasn't upset by it, he just had no clue what he was dealing with. As expected, he ate the sand and had it all over his face. He loved walking up and down the coast and getting his feet wet. The first few days, the waves were minimal and calm. Carlos was holding him while we were all floating in the water, and Wes actually fell asleep. I would say that he had a postive experience at the beach.

I was able to get Wes to nap a few days at the beach, so we could stay longer and not have to make the trek back to the house. He actually went to sleep fairly easily. I think the sun and heat wore him out. Part 1 - get the baby to fall asleep with me and then...Part 2 - very carefully move him to the shade in our vented tent on the beach. DONE! Atleast, 2 days I was able to make this happen, which was nice because as long as someone was nearby sitting by the tent, I was able to go "play" too! One afternoon, Carlos and I got to walk down to the Crab Trap Restaurant to get a "refreshment." Another time, I was able to go play in the waves!!

Family vacay, always seems to take forever to get here and then it is gone like that. I look forward to getting together with my whole family in Destin each year. We always seem to have such a good time together!!

Adidas, family pics, & pool time

I wanted to start this entry of in dedication to our family dog, Adidas. Adidas was actually my brother's dog that he received for his 10th birthday(David is now 26). For the last couple of years, "Di" as we called him many times, had become blind, deaf, arthritic, and perhaps was suffering from some doggy dementia. At times, we would find him just standing and staring at walls. We would kindof laugh when we would catch him just staring, but really it was quite sad. So with heavy heavy hearts, we (or rather Di's own personal vet, my sister) decided that his quality of life was just pretty terrible and we put him down. It really hit me a lot harder than I would have thought. I mean I love that dog and from freshmen year of high school grew up with him. Many of my friends knew him well (some that were even bitten by Di). But for the last 6 years or so Di has lived with Beth in Atlanta. The day that my sister and mom took him, I was at work. I was bit of a mess, trying to hide my red welpy eyes while trying to work at the nurses station. It was a rough few days, but we all know he is much better now. Adidas was a great dog and family member, and will be greatly missed!!

A family pic of the men in the family: my dad, David, Papa, Alex, Carlos, and Wesley.
As well, a family pic of the women (+Papa): Michelle, mom, me, Papa, Annie, Aunt Melodie, and Marisa.

Wesley at the pool this summer. He really didn't care for his floating car all that much. And I didn't either. It felt like he was about to tip over at any moment. But we gave it a shot. He would just as well prefer to stand on the steps and splash. I am preparing him for our trip to Destin (only 15 more days!!!!). Yes, I am extremely excited just like I am every year!

Marisa and Alex aka My brown biscuits during the summer with their suntans!

Happy 1st Birthday Wesley!

Wesley is such a good baby still. He sleeps 10-11 hours at night, he very rarely cries, and he is just so happy!! His smile is so sweet and he has such a mellow laid back personality. He has transitioned to whole milk without even blinking and he has not had a bottle in a few days now. He still get a little frustrated with the sippy cup but he manages just fine. He loves fruit, cheese, turkey, mashed potato, and waffles. We went to the Dr this morning and he weighs 23# 14 oz (70th perctile) and is 31.5 inches long (92th percentile)!! I always compare with Alex's measurements, while they both weighed close to 24 pounds at a year, Wes is 3 whole inches longer!!! He got a clean bill of health once again. I just had to ask the Dr on what the current recommendations are for peanut butter, he says within even the last year the recs have changed. Use to be you should wait 2-3 years even if there was a family history of peanut allergies. However, research showed that waiting this long did NOT decrease the severity or frequency of peanut allergies, so that now at 12 months it is ok to introduce to their diet. This made me smile- I LOVE peanut butter and so does everyone in our house. I hope Wes will like it just as well (of course hope he doesn't have an allergic reaction). So PB&J here we come!!! Wes asleep in his crib with Scout. I love sleeping babies!

This is where I found him one afternoon, in the dog cage and naked. No, we typically do NOT run around without our clothes on.

Monday (Memorial Day) was Wesley's birthday. Since most everyone was off of work, we decided to celebrate on his actual birthday. I had burgers and hot dogs to grill and we went to the park. I had a pavillion reserved where we ate and opened presents. Turned out to be a little hot (only 92 degrees) but with the shade noone seemed to mind too much. Wes was more interested in the wrapping paper than his actual presents.

Publix cake again-love their cakes and they always do such a great job with the decorations. I wish I had put a napkin by the cake so you could actually see how they matched it. The theme was baby Mickey Mouse.

The picture everyone wants to see - Wesley with his smash cake!! He wasn't sure what to do at first but once he got his hands into the cake he went to town!!

Happy Birthday Wesley and many more to come!!!!

All About Alex

Alex continues to keep us on our toes. The kid is a mess. He is very charming, sweet, inquisitive, stubborn at times, and darn cute. He is definetly my "wild child." Alex really goes by his own rules. He thinks that everyone he meets, if even for only 5 minutes at the ball park, is his new best friend. This fall, when he starts Kindergarten, I am going to be sitting on the edge of my seat. I am already preparing myself for a phone call from the principal. Then again maybe he will continue to surprise me and calm down and Kindergarten will be a great place where he will learn that the rules actually do apply to everyone, including himself.

This spring was our first season of baseball. Again, not the most exciting game to watch, except for the minute that your kid is up to bat. Alex did great! He actually fielded some balls well and got some outs at third base and the kid can hit! He asked us after one of his hits if we saw him "smoke the ball!" Always a laugh with Alex.

Currently we are still trying to master riding a bike. I think he could do it if he really tried. This spring, he had a bike day at school.

I just realized that he has the same outfit on in this picture. I am not sure, but it might be that this was actually the same day OR not. He LOVES this shirt as well as several other Disney shirts. I couldn't get him to wear anything other than blue jeans and Disney shirts this spring it seemed like. So here he is trying to skate at skate night for Marisa's school. He kindof wasn't sure what to think of this. Finally, I got him to make a lap with me. He plans on giving it another try at Marisa's party in a few weeks.

As I mentioned, Alex will be starting Kindergarten in the fall. A week ago, he had Pre-K graduation,. He led in the singing of "God Bless America" and did a great job. In fact he did so well he likes to sing this song ALL the time. Carlos and I are getting a little tired of hearing it now.

This summer will hopefully be a time where we will be able to get outside and let Alex exert energy and be a little boy! Since we are still in the condo, it is hard to get out as much as I would like or as much as I know they need to be outside being kids. We go over to mom's some and throw and hit baseballs and ride bikes. Like Marisa and myself, he can not wait to go to Destin. He asks all the time if it is time to go. I told him the other day that we had less than 2 months, and he said "Oh that's not long at all!" I won't be suprised when he asks me tomorrow if today is the day to go to Florida. As i said, very inquisitive and always asking questions, that's my Alex!

All About Marisa

This post is all about Marisa. Marisa is an amazing kid. She is so creative, smart, athletic, well-behaved, loving and a beautiful little girl. It is hard for me to believe that in just days she will be turning 10! yes, double digits. I can totally remember turning 10 myself. This fall, she will be entering the 4th grade. We plan on playing travel soccer again (tryouts are tonight and Sat. actually). She plans on doing Girl Scouts again next school year as well. This summer, she has decided that she is going to start reading the Harry Potter books. We have plans to go to the pool on my days off and looking forward to our family trip to Destin the end of July. Honestly, I think we are all looking forward to some "down time" the next few months. It seems that the last 4 months or so have just been so busy. Going from one practice to another and the weekends jammed pack with games, birthday parties, practices, etc.

Marisa and Carlos had a "date" this spring to her Girl Scouts Father/Daughter dance. They had professional pictures taken at the dance and had dinner afterwards at Mellow Mushroom. I think they had a good time. Carlos said it was very much like middle school dances that we attended. The girls talked on one side of the room while the dads talked college sports and shared fraternity stories on the other side. Carlos did manage to get in one dance with her though!

Another activity Marisa is taking to is roller skating. Her school had a skate night which we attended. I got to do a few laps as well. I forgot how much fun it is. I swear they play the same music I remember them playing from when I was a kid with one exception, I kept waiting for "Ice Ice Baby" without luck =) Marisa plans on having her birthday party this year at the skate center.

Marisa is a GREAT big sister!! She is always so helpful to me and while they may not realize it, she takes very good care of her little brothers.

Marisa's softball team this spring. It's funny that just a few years ago, the girls would have loved to have pink as their color. This year as a bunch of 9 and 10 year olds, they HATED being pink. Kindof funny. This year was her first year of fast pitch and with the girls (not the coaches) pitching. It has been a painful year. Not a lot of hitting and some very very slow games. Marisa claims she does not want to play next year, but we'll see.


Marisa is such a good kid and I can't believe she has been around almost a decade. I feel like I remember her first birthday and carrying her around on my hip. As we all have heard, they grow up so fast!! They really do!

David and Michelle's Wedding

Last weekend, my brother got married. The weather was beautiful and the day went very smoothly. No major problems prior, during, or after the ceremony. Our family friend, Vicki, took some great photos for us and gave us copies of her pics. There were so many to choose from, but I think I chose some of the best. We were able to get Alex to stand still for a pic prior to the ceremony. He did a great job! He walked down with the other ring bearer and stood up front with Carlos, who was a groomsmen, during the entire ceremony. If anyone knows Alex well, then you know this is pretty remarkable for the little guy. I even had a seat for him in the front row with me if he needed to sit or was too wiggly, but he did great.

Marisa and Wesly had their roles as well. Wes was also a ring bearer and Marisa was one of four flower girls. All of the neices and nephews were in the wedding. We kept holding out to see if Wes would walk down the aisle, but since he is not an official walker just yet, he got to ride down with Marisa pulling him. He did amazing also. Was so good during the ceremony. Without having to say anything, Marisa did great as expected =) The happy couple - Mr. and Mrs. Chapman!

Recessing after the ceremony and Alex was to escort 2 of the flower girls out.

Carlos and my mom leaving the ceremony.

Cheesy Wesley!!
Mom and Wesley at the reception. I forgot to mention that the ceremony and reception took place at the Brentwood Country Club.

The Chapman Kids, all grown up!!

Alex, as expected, was a dancing machine at the reception. Notice he had to lose his tie and jacket because "he was burning up!" Along with dancing, he and the other ring bearer realized how much fun it is to run and slide across the dance floor.

My mom is ALWAYS wanting a picture of all of her kids and grandkids with her. Every year we go to Destin for vacation in the summer and we do the expected khaki pant and white shirt photos on the beach with the sunset in the background. Only problem, every year it seems one of us is not present for this annual event. So we tried our best to get a photo at the reception. Of course we added our newest member, Michelle. This was towards the end of the evening and Wes had been a trooper all day, but really wasn't having it for pictures anymore. Out of about 5 pics this was the winner. I hope mom likes it, becuase I am getting her this picture framed for Mother's Day. (I also hope she does not read this before I see her in a few hours =))

The wedding was a success. Gorgeous weather and people. Good food and dancing. And at the end of the day, David and Michelle were married. I am so happy for them both.