Spring Break Reunited

I've always been a big fan of Spring Break {most especially since we started big kid school}.  It's seems to arrive right when I'm in the need for a little R & R with the kiddos.

We spent Spring Break twenty-sixteen reuniting with family and friends that we just don't see nearly enough.  Too many things keep us apart from all these special folks...distance, school schedules, and life in general.  It was so lovely to slow down and enjoy a few of our fave peeps for a week.

We started our break with a few "stay"-cation stops.  The first being the zoo with the Miccas.  Oh, how I adore this sweet family. Cristina and I met when our first borns were only a wee 4 months old.  Since then we went from seeing each other daily to weekly and now sadly only every once in a great school break.

Our oldest are major Zoo fans and the littles enjoy it just as much.  What better place to reunite?  Not too mention Maggie was chosen to bring Little Hootie home from school for Spring Break and she just HAD to take him to the zoo.  I mean where else would you take an owl?

Clay and I followed the trend of reuniting, only adult style.  We took a day trip to the Masters with some dear friends.  Again, another girlfriend that I used to see at least weekly until  Elementary School got a hold of our kids.

It was an absolutely beautiful day and a great way to celebrate my hubby's birthday.  Definitely an experience to remember...golf fan or not.

From there, we hit the road for the remainder of our Spring Break.  We had a lot more reuniting to do.  We basically got two for the price of one considering our family and friends live on the beach.  Can't beat that.  I have to admit, it wasn't such a bad place to grow up.

My lovely Grandma afforded her beach condo to our family for our stay.  It was super convenient and such a treat.  Makes me wonder why we don't take advantage of it more often.

The little beach directly behind the condo is perfectly quaint and quiet.  We even had Cosby out there with us with the entire place to ourselves.

We could hardly believe the plethora of marine life.  We saw everything from blue crabs to hermit crabs to herons to turtles and ducks.  It was an endless adventure.

I personally thought the kids were nuts for even stepping a toe into the water...it was freezing!  They didn't seem to mind a bit and just kept plunging right in.

There is no place like the beach {or like home} especially when you've got family there too!  Grammy, who is just coming off of foot surgery, graciously wheeled down and enjoyed some sun and sand with us.  I'm pretty sure she should have been resting so we were overjoyed with her sacrifice.

She even made the visit with us to one of our favorite beach dives for lunch.  What a trooper.

Uncle Matt and cousins Whit and Larkin popped in to see us too.  {And their sweet pooch, Maisy.}  Before I could even get my hands on my camera my kids had dragged their big cousins to the pool.  Another ice bath, but sounds like they had a good time.

Now get ready for some serious reuniting...the kids and I met my BFF from high school for a beach dinner.  Sadly, we had not seen one another in 2 years!  How does that happen?  I've missed her dearly as we have been friends for over 20 years.  Yikes...we are getting old.

The kids had a great time on the play set in the sand while "Al" and I did some serious catching up.

There was no way to pack two years into one dinner {and constant kiddo interrruptions} so we will definitely have to plan on reuniting again.  love you dear friend...

Quite possibly my FAVE part of Spring Break was when this little jitter bug joined the band.  Seriously this girl could not get enough of the instruments, the singer with the "beautiful boice (voice)" {I kid you not, she really said that}, and the booming speaker.  She may truly be deaf after her performance.

Lu was in complete awe and over the moon when the band invited her to join them with a tambourine.  She was pulling out moves I have never seen before.  Oh my, I love this spicy girl of mine.  Life is always an adventure full of smiles with her.

The sugary sis was more into trying out new beach hair dos than performing.  This is her new go to.  I thought maybe post beach she would be over it, hardly not.  I've had to get up an extra 5 minutes early this week to double braid her hair before school.  I talked her into letting me put a bow in the back which was a huge score for me.

We are at a bit of a crossroads with wanting to be a stylish big girl and me still wanting her to be a SIX year old.  So we are both learning to compromise.

Before heading back home I, of course, braided maggie's hair for the umpteenth time and then we tidied up GG's condo.  Each kiddo got a chore and they were like little work horses before we were back on the road for the long trip ahead of us.

We are back home again safe and sound and smiling about the special reuniting we got to do.

Now the countdown is on for a birthday celebration for a little guy very near and dear to my heart!