Life's a Beach {Destin Vacation}

We've been home for a week now and oh how we miss the snow white beach and turquoise waters of the florida panhandle. We had the best time!! I know I've basically recapped our trip in a previous post, so this one is mainy to share some of my favorite pictures. Thanks for indulging me!:)

Little miss priss was wayyyy too cool to smile for the camera. I mean she was at the beach and there were far more important matters for this 3 year old. Swim, ride waves, build sand castles. Who has time to smile for mom?

This year was the first that I caved and wore a hat. Getting sun on your face takes on a whole new meaning while pregnant! Ever heard of the "pregnancy mask"? I hadn't until I got it! Hormones plus sun are not a good combo. I look like Michael Jackson circa 1988.

Ava loved the pool a tad more than the ocean we think. She wanted to stay in the pool most of the day. I denied her request for obvious reasons, but mostly because the pool was too small and there were too many people in there. Yep. Not a big fan of peepee water. But we still smiled for a cute picture!

I seriously die over this picture!! It's my favorite. Any professional photogs out there want to edit this for me in exchange for some SheShe credit? Email me! For reals! Haha.  

I'm so excited Ava got to get her Crab Trap bucket of food. I did the same as a little girl and it was a sweet moment to see this come full circle. I am such a mush about things like this. I had the same thing here I ate 20 years ago on my last visit. Fried shrimp!

A playground on the beach? So cool! I told Aaron I wanted to bag up enough sand to take home with us and put on our neighborhood playground behind our house. The soft white sand in Florida is seriously unreal!

One afternoon before dinner Auntie put this little doo-rag on Ava and we thought she looked so cute. And so big too! Where did my little baby girl go? Gah.

We had fun going to various restaurants each night for dinner. This particular night we went to eat in Baytowne Wharf at Sandestin. Aaron and I planned to eat at Bistro Bijoux for our anniversary but we felt bad leaving Ava and Auntie at home to feast on Totino's pizzas. So, we went to eat at Poppy's instead. It was decent. Not bad, but not our favorite for sure.

We match. Haha! I did not plan that.

My sweet beautiful girl. I just love her deep blue eyes and soft curls!

After dinner and a little fun at Baytowne Wharf we went for a walk on the beach. A teeny tiny walk for this pregnant lady couldn't hang. I also wanted to get a few pics of her in this SheShe Made dress. It is so simple, but believe it or not, it is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE thing that we sell right now. I adore it.

Another day at the beach!

We went to dinner at Seaside on our last night. Hands down our favorite evening! We ate at Bud & Alley's and once again, ate there as a kid many times so it was a stroll down memory lane. The place even smelled the exact same as I remembered. Yes, I recall weird things like that!

I was so excited to get beach pictures of us and as soon as dinner was over a massive storm rolled in. We had to snap pictures super quick and the best one was blurry. Sad face. So here is the next best one we got.

And speaking of sad face, you can't tell in this picture, but we were very sad to be leaving the beautiful beaches of Destin. Waiting for dad to drop off the rental car here.

I cannot WAIT for many more family trips to Destin/Seaside. We plan to drive next year and stay for a week. I am all over the place about taking a baby, so we will see about what happens. Either way, we are definitely going back!

Until next year, Destin! We love you!

Where the wind comes sweeping down the...mountains??

This week Ava and I went to visit Sarah and Manny in Oklahoma.
We had been talking about visiting them for a while now, and this was the best week for us to get away for a mini vacation.
Ava and Manny had SUCH a blast playing together. He would grin from ear to ear and giggle so sweet when she would talk to him or laugh with him. Manny is definitely into the older girls already!

Ava made herself at home and LOVED being at Sarah's house. Every morning she woke me up saying "Good Morning mommy! I go play with Sae-wuh now."

 We didn't do too much besides relax and enjoy each other's company. Which is exactly what I needed! I thoroughly enjoyed the girl time and getting away from my work for a few days. And Sarah was such a great hostess. I'm sure she and I saved lots of minutes on our cell phone this week since we talk to each other basically all day, everyday. She seriously has become such a dear friend and we are so much alike it's crazy! I call her my "step sister". Haha!

 Get a load of the view from her back yard! Ava was running toward the downhill slope right here and I about had a heart attack. The girl is totally fearless. I gave her a talk about she would fall down and get hurt and mommy would cry. Do you think she cared? Not at all!

One day we headed to Fayettville, Arkansas to do a little shopping and meet up with some blogger friends/twitter buddies/sweet customers. Ha! We decided to make it a kid friendly lunch as I was dying to meet the kids just as much as the mommies, and met at Chic Fil A.

In random order...

Sarah and "Mariel" (Ava called him this all week)

Ava and Brody playing hard!

All the moms and kids. Missing in this picture is Jennifer's sister, Jill. She stopped by to say hi too, and I was so glad as I was wanting to meet her. She always cracks me up as I think we both have a similar sense of humor.

Jillian Francis. Could this baby BE any more precious?!?! I love that she was holding my face. SO smoochy!

Sweet Melissa and baby Grayson. I have been DYING to meet both of them. Melissa is so genuinely sweet and Grayson just makes you melt upon laying eyes on him. ADORABLE BABY!

(I took these pics from Jennifer's blog because I didn't take any of my own this day)

It's such a neat experience to meet people you feel like you have known forever through either reading their blog or chatting with them on twitter. It never gets old and I SO enjoy the visits! These girls were so easy to talk to and we would have talked all day had the kids not been in need of naps:)

We did some light shopping since the kids were ready to get home. By the end of the car ride both Ava and Manny were crying in the back and I was trying to destress by taking silly pics of myself in Sarah's huge glasses...

It didn't help in case you were wondering!

The day before we headed back to Texas we met up with one last twitter buddy, Whitney, at Target/Starbucks. I am such a goof and didn't get a picture of her. The best I got was of these two cuties riding in the shopping cart. Whitney was so sweet and we wanted to take her home to nanny our kids. She was so good with them! haha!

On our way back home after a great little getaway!



I took this picture on my way out this morning. Another beautiful view from the front of Sarah's house. I had NO IDEA Oklahoma had such big hills. I kept referring to them as mountains but Sarah says they aren't so. What do you think?!

Sarah, thanks for being such a great friend, for putting up with us for four days, and for all of the laughs! Can't wait to do it again in a few months!! Hope we are still invited...

Bloggy Buddies

When I started blogging, I had no real expectations other than advertising about my product and getting the word out there about SheShe Made. Eventually I started blogging here and there about our personal lives because I thought it would be more fun for my customers to get to know me more than just a lady who designs and makes their child's clothing.
Along the way, in just one year, I have made many friends, through my customers and through the blog and twitter world. It has been such a cool experience and I especially love meeting my customers or blog buds, especially since I don't have a "brick and mortar" type of shop.
sidenote: To those few customers that have come to my home to pick up items...I apologize for the sometimes scary sight you've seen in all my non-makeup glory!
This weekend, while visiting my family in Houston, I had the privilege of meeting another blog bud, Heather. Heather was the third person I've had a sit-down meet up with and every time it is hairy with MY CHILD! Ava was in a really crabby mood and I was just really nervous it was going to get ugly.
But she was so-so acting. And we actually did get to chat for a while. I tuned Ava's 4,953 demands out and enjoyed getting to know Heather better. And did I mention she brought along the ever adorable miss Mollie Kate?!?! Oh my! She was so sweet. Just like her momma!
The girls hugging while eating lunch.

These two older ladies came up to our table and just flipped over the girls. They asked a thousand questions about them. If they were sisters, best friends, if they were having a special celebration, etc. because they looked like little dolls out to eat. Haha!
Houston humidity did a number on my hair. Sort of looks like a drowned rat! UGH!! Or maybe I look so yuck standing next to these beautiful ladies...all 3 of them!

We tried to take a pic of the girls after lunch, and they were both so tired and beyond ready for nap time. What can we say? Heather and I both like to talk!
Check out the series of events...





and finally...


I wish the girls would have had more time to "play" together. They seemed so much alike! Ava has been asking about "Mah-wee" the past few days and she even says "Bwess Mah-wee" in her prayer lineup. It is the cutest thing! If only Heather lived closer.
Thanks for meeting us, Heather. You are such a doll and EXACTLY as I pictured you would be in person. You light up the room with your smile and bubbly personality. If you guys make it to Dallas later this month I hope we can meet up again!

Maine

I am going to try and recap 6 days worth in one post. Otherwise, I know me. I will never get the other posts up here. So bare with me and all of the pictures.
I already filled you in on day one, so here are pictures that tell the story of the rest of our trip to Old Orchard Beach, Maine. And in no particular order or sequence!
Ava and Mommy trying out the ocean. She was so excited about going to the ocean.

It was a little chilly for my likings, but we still got in and had fun jumping the waves!


And Ava loved playing in the sand!


Here's Ava with her buddy, Kiley, who lives in Maine.

Kiley and her momma, Faye, came to visit us in Texas back in April.
BACKING UP TO WHY WE EVEN WENT TO MAINE...........
Not sure if I ever shared, but Faye and I met on babycenter.com back when we were pregnant with Ava and Kiley. We were due within a few days of eachother, and we spent lots of time chatting online at babycenter message boards about the joys (and the fears/embarrassments/yuckiness) of pregnancy. Faye and I, along with 11 other gals due within a week of eachother, got super close and left the public forum of babycenter and ventured to a private forum on yahoo. We all still chat daily on yahoo, and I have met all but 1 of the ladies in real life. We live all over the United States, call eachother besties, and these ladies (and their children)mean the WORLD to me! So far, we have reunited in San Diego, Vegas, Minnesota, Texas, and Maine.
Here we are with Kiley and Faye (on the end), along with some of our other gals and babes, the first time we met when they were 14 months.

Ava and Kiley talk about eachother CONSTANTLY! It is so cute to have little bff's all over the country! :)
We took this picture, dedicating it to our other yahoo groupies who were unable to meet up this go-round!

So, back to Maine!
They had this boardwalk on the beach and one area was for adults and bigger kids, while another was for little kids, under 46 inches. It was little peoples convention to the extreme! Ava and Kiley were in heaven!!!
Monkey see, Monkey Do!

Teacups!

Waiting in line with her "auntay".

And her favorite..."hose-ees" (horseys...aka Carousel).

Portland Maine has the most amazing Children's museum I've ever seen!
There were play rooms of a farm,

a vet office,

a large fishing boat,

and treehouses everywhere!

Later that night we went out to eat and met up with another momma from our Yahoo group (who happens to also live in Maine) Emily, and her family!
Here is all three of us and our littles who are about 2 weeks apart!
Emily and Jude, Me and Ava, Faye and Kiley.

Stealing Ava sugars on the Pier.

And you can't go to Maine without eating a lobster. But holy cow! I wasn't expecting the whole derned thing to come on my plate, shell and all!!

They don't mess around! I'm so glad those pinchers were banded. You never know, people. You never know!
Ava and Jude hugging. My girl's got good taste!
Just look at her eyeing him!!!

And moove over lobsters, because did you know that Maine also should be known for it's icecream?!?!?!
If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen my tweets about this place. It was called "Big Licks" and they served homemade icecream from Heaven people!! It was incredible.

We're talking blueberry cobbler, banana cream pie, almond joy, key lime pie, coffee oreo, reeses peanut butter cup in chocolate... It was the BEST!

The smallest size they offered was a double scoop. Unless you were a tot like Ava. Then you got that little baby cone. Isn't it too cute?
We did some sightseeing one day and drove up the coast of Maine just a little ways to see the lighthouses and take in the fresh, cool air. Although, Maine was having a very warm summer. Like in the 80's. HA! HA! HA!





Ava and I (more like I) decided to dress "Nautie" on the last day.

We hit up a local park just to take in the view one last time.

Oh! And let Ava and her elephant swing. Of course!


Maine really is a gorgeous state and I highly recommend it this time of year if you want to get away from the blazing heat!
I mean, you really can't beat mild temps, the ocean, breathtaking scenery, lobsters & ice cream, and carnie rides.
It just doesn't get much better!