Destin Part III

One day of our vacation was spent exploring other areas in and around Destin and visiting family friends at their beach home in Rosemary Beach. 

We stopped in Seaside for some shopping and a snow-cone. It was picturesque with adorable shops, turquoise bicycles, and a line of airstream food trucks. 

We made it to Rosemary beach in time to enjoy the sunset on the beach and a wonderful meal with some old friends from days in Paris. The community they live in has beautiful surroundings...not only the beach but a couple different pools and parks. Davis loved playing at the park and we even met a couple Aggies!

Happy Engagement!

A high school friend of mine got engaged recently and we got to celebrate this past weekend at her engagement party! 

Katelyn and Pat are currently in Boston (remember my fabulous girls weekend a year ago last May - Part 1 and Part 2). 

Friends and family gathered for a fun fiesta party on the lake:

Happy engaged couple!

Forrest was there, we just didn't seem to get any pictures together :( And yes, that is a maternity dress. I can officially say I cannot fit in my clothes anymore.

Destin Part II

Ahoy matey! A major highlight of our Destin trip was aboard the Buccaneer Pirate Ship! Davis loved every minute of it!!

As we stepped foot aboard the pirate ship, I was looking for the life jackets as we smiled for a picture with the Captain. Was I the only parent wondering how we could actually take a boat ride with all these kids and not one wear a lifejacket?

If you have young kids and are heading to Destin, I highly recommend a night on the Buccaneer. The kids are entertained the entire time you enjoy the bar and a sunset cruise! They shoot cannons, have water gun fights, swab the deck, paint faces, look for treasure, sword fight, and do all those other piratey things one does aboard a pirate ship.

Davis is so independent when it comes to these kind of situations. He's not shy at all and loves to meet new people. I have to learn to let go...as Forrest and I stood on the deck above him watching and taking pictures...I had to remind myself he can handle it. He can refill his water gun on his own and he can go into the other room to get his face painted without me. Such a grown up 3 year old!

Finding treasure was Davis' favorite activity of the night. The kids all went below deck to hear the story about another pirate, Captain Blackbeard, who was after their treasure. The kids needed to find the treasure first, of course. Davis came back terrified! Telling me that the "black man" was trying to get their treasure. I immediately realized we needed to make sure we corrected his story, I kept telling him, the man's name is "Blackbeard!!!!"

My favorite part was at the end when the kids danced to the Cupid Shuffle and Wobble. Davis was following along with all the right moves...down down do your dance! Reminded me of dancing on a cruise ship my senior year at A&M...kind of :)

Davis went home with treasure, a painted face, a pirate hat, an eye patch....all while shouting, "we are the crew of the Buccaneer, yo ho ho and a bottle of root beer!" Brainwashing at it's best!

Waiting for the cannons to go off!

Water gun fight!

Papa Tom was in the hula-hoop contest!

Listening to the story about Blackbeard! Terrified? Yes

Destin Part I

Vacation: no schedules, no baths, no shirts, junk food, no naps, no bedtimes, no routines, fun in the sun, swimsuits, books, beach toys, sand castles, bike rides, putt putt, and bloody mary's!

With no plans, we hit the Destin beach everyday. For Davis, it was back and forth between the pool and the beach everyday. He loved playing frisbee and football on the beach and building sand castles, then immediately destroying them. Davis jumped waves then rode the waves. He caught fish in his net and kept them as pets for the day. We even buried Daddy. 

At night we enjoyed meals on our balcony or going into town to find the freshest seafood. It was always followed by delicious ice-cream in a waffle cone of course. When we weren't eating, we took Davis to play putt putt and also ride go-carts, huge hit!!! 

Sunscreen mustaches!

Poor Forrest

Putt Putt

Go-carts

On our way to Destin...

A couple months ago we booked a family vacation to Destin and it couldn't get here fast enough! This if Forrest's first time taking off an entire week since our honeymoon. And it was a true vacation, I left my computer at home, which I rarely do. It felt so good! 

The night before, we had a lot of packing to do. Davis wanted to make sure we brought enough toys so he literally took his toy bucket and dumped it on top of his clothes. I had to wait till he was in bed to unpack all those toys! 

Davis was just as excited about flying as he was about the beach. Everyone he saw, he would tell them, "Hi, I'm Davis. I'm going to the beach. I live in San Antonio, but we are going to Florida. Are you going to the beach too?"

He especially loved the "train" aka Skylink at DFW. We rode that a couple times. If you're wondering, a full loop takes 20 minutes. Forrest and I got a little motion sickness, so we had to drag Davis off the train. 

Last Day of PreK3

Our sweet boy had his last day of PreK3 two weeks ago. He absolutely loves school and I know he will miss it this summer. His teachers are wonderful and he's made some really good friends this year. 

I remember the first day of school...we were living with my in-laws while remodeling our new home. He was completely anti-photos that morning. 

1st day of PreK3

On his last day, he was super goofy, telling us jokes and running up and down the front porch. I could barley get a picture, but not because he was refusing, more like he had enough energy in him to run a marathon!

What does Davis think about the new baby?

Having a baby is an interesting concept for a toddler to grasp. Davis has asked a lot of questions and started telling us what life is going to be like as a big brother!

We were looking at a family photo...everyone was in it except Davis. He noticed too, he saw all his cousins and myself and Forrest, but no Davis. "Where am I mom?" At the time of the photo I was pregnant with him, so I told him, "in this picture, you are in my tummy." The poor kid looked at me with the saddest face and was completely serious when he asked, "mom, did you eat me?" No no no! "Then how did I get in your tummy?"

When we first announced the baby, Davis was oblivious to the celebrating and conversations. Forrest and I decided we didn't really need to bring it up till I was further along. We figured once I was showing it would make more sense to Davis. Also, if you tell Davis something is going to happen, he immediately says "tomorrow?" Imagine telling him, no, not till December!

We didn't have to wait long. I think he heard the baby talk enough and started to catch on. He's been telling people I have 2 boys and 1 girl in my tummy. Triplets! All three are named Duke. One night, reading books, Davis randomly asked me if the baby can hear us. I told him yes, so Davis leaned towards my belly and said "hey baby!" Then he asked me why we can't hear the baby. So many good questions, he's really keeping me on my toes!

Baby T2's First Photo

Get ready kid, we take a lot of photos in this family. Your big brother had a couple months where he liked to refuse photos, but we quickly got over that bad habit. Here's your official first photo at 7 weeks!

Workin' 9-5

When was the work day ever 9-5? I'd like to go back to that day in time. Working from home makes me feel like there is a potential for a 24 hour work day. My computer is literally on all day, all night and speaks to me....come check your email...come edit that paper...come send one last idea for the day.

I rarely blog about work, but thought, just maybe some of you might be curious what in the world do I do??? I work for IBM and this summer I will be celebrating 9 years with this company. Yikes! I've been here since I graduated, so it's a great (depressing) way to keep track of how many years have gone by since college. I've been doing marketing ever since, but each year is something new and different. In the beginning it was more about creating marketing papers, planning events, and focusing on our products. As times have changed, it's more about the solutions we can offer as a bigger story and a lot more focus on social media. 

Here's a little glimpse into IBM marketing:

Do I like working from home? It's a question I get asked a lot and let me tell you, it's not for everyone. For my lifestyle, it works really well and I love it. My mornings are spent with Davis instead of getting showered and dressed for work. I can easily hop on over to his school to be at the holiday parties. So as a mom, I think working from home is great. There are the negatives too, but every job has it's pros and cons. 

Each year, IBM throws a big event called Pulse. It's always in fabulous Las Vegas. It's a crazy week where I literally don't step outside the MGM Grand. But of course, thanks to the casinos that are always lit up, I feel like the sun is up 24/7. It's an incomprehensible amount of walking, talking, working, and of course fun mixed with very little sleep and no time to eat. 

Did I mention a good percentage of my family works at IBM too? To be exact, my sister, two cousins and my uncle. It's a family business. Three of us were at Pulse this year plus my dad (he was speaking at the event), my mom and my aunt. 

The Expo

The fam enjoying the concert

Carrie Underwood

Sisters

Last night family dinner

Walked so much my high heel broke