I'm at my mom and dad's house listening to the LSU game on the Internet. Actually, I'm not really listening....Mar is listening and I'm killing time on Facebook and now Blogger. :) I figured I would write a little more about our vacation since I have some time but before I do that, I just have to say that I am SO excited because my sister, Marci (who reminds me SO much of Beth Moore...she has a ton of energy and excitement, is super encouraging and fun, and loves the Lord), is in town until Monday!!! :) I had to keep it a secret for a week because she came in for her best friend's surprise party. :) Also, Macy is coming home tonight to spend the night!!! This is the first time she's been home to spend the night since Aug. 21st so I'm really excited!!! She has come home for a few hours here and there but hasn't spent the night at our house. She did spend the night at Nana's last week but we were at the beach. Anyway, I'm so glad she'll be in her own home tonight!!! :) Tomorrow, after church, we're going to eat at the mall and go SHOPPING!!! WOO-HOO!! It's always fun to go shopping with the fam while Marce is in town.
Okay, so back to our beach vacation. We ended up leaving Thursday night after Mar got home from work. We wanted to break up the drive a little so we decided to spend the night in Vicksburg. On the way there, Kathryn called and told us she was thinking about meeting us at the beach for a couple of days. We were so excited! She ended up getting someone to work for her and was able to come Sunday and Monday. What a fun surprise! I called Macy and told her and she wanted to come so bad when I told her Kat was coming. Everyone loves Kathryn and wants to spend time with her, including Macy. It was just too long of a drive for her in too short of time, though. :( In Vicksburg, we stayed at the Hampton Inn in an executive room and it was SO nice! It was a really big room and actually had a computer in there. The next morning, I woke up a little early (which is typical for me) and then fell back asleep. I woke up and immediately knew it was late and frantically asked Lamar what time it was. It was 10:56!!! Check out was at 11:00!! Whoa, we've never gotten ready so fast. :) Our first stop was Shipley's donuts. Lamar LOVES their donuts and so do I! :) After that, we did out quiet time together in the car. We ended up reading the whole book of Ephesians and talking about it. It made the first couple of hours fly by. I really wanted to stop at the Watermelon Patch in Hattiesburg because I had a friend tell me it was a great store. I ended up seeing a little tiny Watermelon Patch store in a shopping center on the side of the road about 30 miles from Hattiesburg. I thought it couldn't hurt to stop in. I ended up getting my cute little towel wrap there (see last post) so I was glad we stopped there. My friend had made such a big deal about the Watermelon Patch and I just figured there must be another one in Hattiesburg so I asked the lady and sure enough, there was one in Hattiesburg. That store was SO cute!! I got me an awesome pair of wedges! I can wear them with my longest jeans and they are the perfect length. I actually tripped and fell last week wearing my jeans with heels because I stepped on my too long jeans. :) Anyway, loved the Watermelon Patch. We also stopped on the way in Spanish Fort at an outside mall that has the cutest shop I have ever seen. It's called Objects and I wanted everything in the store, especially the picture frames!!! So super cute. Before we hit Spanish Fort, we were in horrible Labor Day weekend traffic. It took us 45 minutes to go under 3 miles. BUT, once we got out of all the traffic we saw a rainbow!!! :) I think the traffic just may have been worth it. We finally arrived in Orange Beach (after 9 hours...we stopped a lot!!!) and before we even stopped at our condo, we stopped and ate at Doc's. We were so hungry and couldn't wait to get some onion rings. We also (thanks to all the comments on Kelly's blog) got a cup of gumbo and I ordered the red shrimp. All the food was great, as always. Then, we went to our condo (SeaChase) and unpacked. I then went out on the balcony (Mar has a fear of heights and it always takes him a couple of days to go out very far on the balcony) and took in the beautiful ocean. I cannot even describe to you the feeling I get when I see the ocean for the first time in awhile. I just have this incredible feeling. I can feel God's presence just looking at the amazing ocean. I mean it's just so incredible. The sound of the waves is so wonderful and the ocean breeze....ahhhh....there's just nothing like it. I could stay there all day...actually, I could stay there for the rest of my life. :) I just love the ocean. After I took all that in, we went to the store and got groceries for the week and then went to the hot tub after we got back to our condo. We did this every night and were always the only ones in the hot tub. It was great! I couldn't believe how crowded the beach was for Labor Day. Last year, we went after Labor Day and it was not crowded at all, it was great!!! Anyway, it was very different being there over Labor Day weekend. We won't do that again. The only reason we ended up having to go over the weekend was because we had to be back by Friday for Lamar's dental conference. Next year, we'll go after Labor Day again.
The next day, we got up and went out on the beach. We stayed there most of the day. We wanted to go somewhat early because we had to be back to watch the LSU game for Mar. The game didn't start until 9:30, though, so we had more time than we initially thought. Anyway, we went to the Original Oyster House around 5:30 and saw Kelly (from Kelly's Korner) there! That was such a fun surprise! She was adorable and of course, Harper was, too. Mar and I shopped at the stores by the Oyster House while we were waiting. I saw these adorable coffee mugs and wanted to get one but they didn't have my initial. They told us it would be an hour wait but it was only about 40 minutes. After we ate, we went to Scoops for ice cream. I'm not much of an ice cream fan (unless it's Maggie Moo's) so I didn't really eat much there but Mar liked his ice cream. I ended up talking to May May on the phone for awhile at Scoops. She told me all about her twirp dates at Ouachita. When we got back, we went to the hot tub again and then came in and watched the LSU game. I fell asleep. :)
The next day, it was pouring rain so I talked Lamar into going to Tacky Jack's for breakfast (he had just had a bowl of oatmeal). I had been to Tacky Jacks a few times but never for breakfast. A lot of other people had the same idea because it was pretty crowded. We didn't have to wait too long, though...maybe 20 minutes. I got an omelet and waffle and Mar got a pancake...it was HUGE!!! :) After we finished, I looked over and saw some friends I knew from RAYVILLE!!! That was so much fun!!! They were laughing because I said, "We have to get a picture!!!".
Here we are....Cheryl, Mar, me, Sarah, and Brittany. Cheryl actually graduated from high school with Lamar. She is the sweetest person!! I just love her! Brittany is her daughter and Sarah is Brittany's best friend. I just loved running into people I knew from Rayville.
After Tacky Jack's we went back to the condo and met Kathryn!!! :) Although it had quit raining, it was still cloudy, but that didn't stop us from going out to the beach anyway. We only stayed about an hour and then we decided to drive to Pensacola to go to the Melting Pot. I have always wanted to go there and Kathryn has, too, so we got ready and headed that way!! When we got around 5:30 the guy told us we'd have to come back at 7:45. :s So, we drove around for awhile and then came back. Let me tell ya, the wait was well worth it!!! The Melting Pot was delicious!! I think it's probably my favorite restaurant of all time. It was just so much fun!!! We got to pick all our fondues and make our own food. It was SO yummy!!! I loved the brownies and cheesecake dipped in chocolate.
The next day, we went out on the beach and stayed there until Kathryn had to leave. It was great spending time with her. She has the kindest heart and let me tell you, she loves her Daddy. He feels so special when he's with her. She's a great daughter and always makes him feel so loved. When Mar and I were in the hot tub last night, he was talking about her being a little girl and got tears in his eyes. :) I wish she could have stayed with us the whole time. After Kat left, we got ready and went to Lulu's to eat. I loved the onion rings there, too!!! They were as good as Doc's. We saw a rainbow while we were eating there, too....2 rainbows in one vacation...I love it! :) I loved the atmosphere at Lulu's. It was such a cute place. I took a million pictures because everything was so cute. After Lulu's, we headed to the Wharf to do a little shopping...some of the shops were closed but a lot of the cute ones were opened. My favorite store there was Ooh La La's. I got me some rainboots that look like cowboy boots!! FUN! :) I started to notice in the store that they had a lot of Christian stuff, which I thought was really neat. I found a tee shirt that reminded me of my sister, Hannah, the second I saw it. Once I started to read what it said, I knew I had to get it for her. My Dad has always called Hannah, "Heart" and the shirt said "heart" on it among a lot of other uplifting words. Oh, how I wanted that shirt for myself but the only other size they had was an XL so I didn't get one. They also had the cutest weekend bag in there. Why didn't I take pictures of it?! Oh well. I always get a little nervous taking pictures in stores because I've gotten in trouble for it before (in Restoration Hardware). :) After that, we came home and watched Joel Osteen on TV. We don't have cable at our house (or even rabbit ears for that matter) so this was a real treat for us. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Joel Osteen. He just makes me smile. He told the best story of a child who kept asking her mom for a cat. The mom told her that she'd have to pray for a cat, and God was going to have to drop that cat from the sky for her to be able to get a cat. The girl went outside with her mom watching and prayed for a cat and right then, a cat literally came flying down from the sky! :) Turns out, a cat close by was stuck in a tree and the man trying to get him out of a tree tied the branch to his truck and drove. Well, his idea backfired and the branch acted like a catapult and the cat went flying from the tree at the same time this little girl was praying!!! I love how God works and I love how He loves His children. I love the faith of kids. After watching Joel Osteen, we went to sleep.
I cannot believe how long this has gotten!!! I was planning on writing one post for each day but the LSU game is still on and I'm still writing. It's going to take me forever to upload all the pictures, though, as it is so I better stop here. I know this is wordy but I blog to have a journal of our family. I started blogging in 2005 and have noticed when I don't blog, I don't remember things like I do when I write them down. I don't want to forget any of our beach trip, so I'm writing details.
I am hoping that Marci gets home soon. I can't wait to hear about Marley's surprise party!!! I know she's having so much fun!!!
Better Boogie! :)
Okay, so back to our beach vacation. We ended up leaving Thursday night after Mar got home from work. We wanted to break up the drive a little so we decided to spend the night in Vicksburg. On the way there, Kathryn called and told us she was thinking about meeting us at the beach for a couple of days. We were so excited! She ended up getting someone to work for her and was able to come Sunday and Monday. What a fun surprise! I called Macy and told her and she wanted to come so bad when I told her Kat was coming. Everyone loves Kathryn and wants to spend time with her, including Macy. It was just too long of a drive for her in too short of time, though. :( In Vicksburg, we stayed at the Hampton Inn in an executive room and it was SO nice! It was a really big room and actually had a computer in there. The next morning, I woke up a little early (which is typical for me) and then fell back asleep. I woke up and immediately knew it was late and frantically asked Lamar what time it was. It was 10:56!!! Check out was at 11:00!! Whoa, we've never gotten ready so fast. :) Our first stop was Shipley's donuts. Lamar LOVES their donuts and so do I! :) After that, we did out quiet time together in the car. We ended up reading the whole book of Ephesians and talking about it. It made the first couple of hours fly by. I really wanted to stop at the Watermelon Patch in Hattiesburg because I had a friend tell me it was a great store. I ended up seeing a little tiny Watermelon Patch store in a shopping center on the side of the road about 30 miles from Hattiesburg. I thought it couldn't hurt to stop in. I ended up getting my cute little towel wrap there (see last post) so I was glad we stopped there. My friend had made such a big deal about the Watermelon Patch and I just figured there must be another one in Hattiesburg so I asked the lady and sure enough, there was one in Hattiesburg. That store was SO cute!! I got me an awesome pair of wedges! I can wear them with my longest jeans and they are the perfect length. I actually tripped and fell last week wearing my jeans with heels because I stepped on my too long jeans. :) Anyway, loved the Watermelon Patch. We also stopped on the way in Spanish Fort at an outside mall that has the cutest shop I have ever seen. It's called Objects and I wanted everything in the store, especially the picture frames!!! So super cute. Before we hit Spanish Fort, we were in horrible Labor Day weekend traffic. It took us 45 minutes to go under 3 miles. BUT, once we got out of all the traffic we saw a rainbow!!! :) I think the traffic just may have been worth it. We finally arrived in Orange Beach (after 9 hours...we stopped a lot!!!) and before we even stopped at our condo, we stopped and ate at Doc's. We were so hungry and couldn't wait to get some onion rings. We also (thanks to all the comments on Kelly's blog) got a cup of gumbo and I ordered the red shrimp. All the food was great, as always. Then, we went to our condo (SeaChase) and unpacked. I then went out on the balcony (Mar has a fear of heights and it always takes him a couple of days to go out very far on the balcony) and took in the beautiful ocean. I cannot even describe to you the feeling I get when I see the ocean for the first time in awhile. I just have this incredible feeling. I can feel God's presence just looking at the amazing ocean. I mean it's just so incredible. The sound of the waves is so wonderful and the ocean breeze....ahhhh....there's just nothing like it. I could stay there all day...actually, I could stay there for the rest of my life. :) I just love the ocean. After I took all that in, we went to the store and got groceries for the week and then went to the hot tub after we got back to our condo. We did this every night and were always the only ones in the hot tub. It was great! I couldn't believe how crowded the beach was for Labor Day. Last year, we went after Labor Day and it was not crowded at all, it was great!!! Anyway, it was very different being there over Labor Day weekend. We won't do that again. The only reason we ended up having to go over the weekend was because we had to be back by Friday for Lamar's dental conference. Next year, we'll go after Labor Day again.
The next day, we got up and went out on the beach. We stayed there most of the day. We wanted to go somewhat early because we had to be back to watch the LSU game for Mar. The game didn't start until 9:30, though, so we had more time than we initially thought. Anyway, we went to the Original Oyster House around 5:30 and saw Kelly (from Kelly's Korner) there! That was such a fun surprise! She was adorable and of course, Harper was, too. Mar and I shopped at the stores by the Oyster House while we were waiting. I saw these adorable coffee mugs and wanted to get one but they didn't have my initial. They told us it would be an hour wait but it was only about 40 minutes. After we ate, we went to Scoops for ice cream. I'm not much of an ice cream fan (unless it's Maggie Moo's) so I didn't really eat much there but Mar liked his ice cream. I ended up talking to May May on the phone for awhile at Scoops. She told me all about her twirp dates at Ouachita. When we got back, we went to the hot tub again and then came in and watched the LSU game. I fell asleep. :)
The next day, it was pouring rain so I talked Lamar into going to Tacky Jack's for breakfast (he had just had a bowl of oatmeal). I had been to Tacky Jacks a few times but never for breakfast. A lot of other people had the same idea because it was pretty crowded. We didn't have to wait too long, though...maybe 20 minutes. I got an omelet and waffle and Mar got a pancake...it was HUGE!!! :) After we finished, I looked over and saw some friends I knew from RAYVILLE!!! That was so much fun!!! They were laughing because I said, "We have to get a picture!!!".
Here we are....Cheryl, Mar, me, Sarah, and Brittany. Cheryl actually graduated from high school with Lamar. She is the sweetest person!! I just love her! Brittany is her daughter and Sarah is Brittany's best friend. I just loved running into people I knew from Rayville.
After Tacky Jack's we went back to the condo and met Kathryn!!! :) Although it had quit raining, it was still cloudy, but that didn't stop us from going out to the beach anyway. We only stayed about an hour and then we decided to drive to Pensacola to go to the Melting Pot. I have always wanted to go there and Kathryn has, too, so we got ready and headed that way!! When we got around 5:30 the guy told us we'd have to come back at 7:45. :s So, we drove around for awhile and then came back. Let me tell ya, the wait was well worth it!!! The Melting Pot was delicious!! I think it's probably my favorite restaurant of all time. It was just so much fun!!! We got to pick all our fondues and make our own food. It was SO yummy!!! I loved the brownies and cheesecake dipped in chocolate.
The next day, we went out on the beach and stayed there until Kathryn had to leave. It was great spending time with her. She has the kindest heart and let me tell you, she loves her Daddy. He feels so special when he's with her. She's a great daughter and always makes him feel so loved. When Mar and I were in the hot tub last night, he was talking about her being a little girl and got tears in his eyes. :) I wish she could have stayed with us the whole time. After Kat left, we got ready and went to Lulu's to eat. I loved the onion rings there, too!!! They were as good as Doc's. We saw a rainbow while we were eating there, too....2 rainbows in one vacation...I love it! :) I loved the atmosphere at Lulu's. It was such a cute place. I took a million pictures because everything was so cute. After Lulu's, we headed to the Wharf to do a little shopping...some of the shops were closed but a lot of the cute ones were opened. My favorite store there was Ooh La La's. I got me some rainboots that look like cowboy boots!! FUN! :) I started to notice in the store that they had a lot of Christian stuff, which I thought was really neat. I found a tee shirt that reminded me of my sister, Hannah, the second I saw it. Once I started to read what it said, I knew I had to get it for her. My Dad has always called Hannah, "Heart" and the shirt said "heart" on it among a lot of other uplifting words. Oh, how I wanted that shirt for myself but the only other size they had was an XL so I didn't get one. They also had the cutest weekend bag in there. Why didn't I take pictures of it?! Oh well. I always get a little nervous taking pictures in stores because I've gotten in trouble for it before (in Restoration Hardware). :) After that, we came home and watched Joel Osteen on TV. We don't have cable at our house (or even rabbit ears for that matter) so this was a real treat for us. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Joel Osteen. He just makes me smile. He told the best story of a child who kept asking her mom for a cat. The mom told her that she'd have to pray for a cat, and God was going to have to drop that cat from the sky for her to be able to get a cat. The girl went outside with her mom watching and prayed for a cat and right then, a cat literally came flying down from the sky! :) Turns out, a cat close by was stuck in a tree and the man trying to get him out of a tree tied the branch to his truck and drove. Well, his idea backfired and the branch acted like a catapult and the cat went flying from the tree at the same time this little girl was praying!!! I love how God works and I love how He loves His children. I love the faith of kids. After watching Joel Osteen, we went to sleep.
I cannot believe how long this has gotten!!! I was planning on writing one post for each day but the LSU game is still on and I'm still writing. It's going to take me forever to upload all the pictures, though, as it is so I better stop here. I know this is wordy but I blog to have a journal of our family. I started blogging in 2005 and have noticed when I don't blog, I don't remember things like I do when I write them down. I don't want to forget any of our beach trip, so I'm writing details.
I am hoping that Marci gets home soon. I can't wait to hear about Marley's surprise party!!! I know she's having so much fun!!!
Better Boogie! :)
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