Gulf Shores

After leaving Mississippi and getting caught in allllll the traffic headed to the beach we arrived in Gulf Shores! We were the last ones to arrive so everyone else was already in the water so we made a beeline to our room, changed into our swimsuits and officially started our vacation. 

After driving for 2 days straight Eric was ready for a drink. 

Elle, Henry and Charlie were in the little lagoon with PawPaw searching for hermit crabs. 

Ready for a whole week at the beach!

This girl was loving the hermit crabs!

Elle slept in this loft area every night of vacation, she loved it! Some nights Henry would be in the other twin beds, other times Eric or Nick depending on how sprawled out kids were in bed in each of our rooms. 

So the guys tried to grocery shop Friday night apparently with the entire population of Gulf Shores. 

So Saturday morning the girls headed out to shop when the store wasn't so crowded. Ollie was the only kid who came with us and he immediately fell in love with this hat. He kept saying he was Woody. :)

I was eventually able to convince him to buy this hat instead which he called his Buzz Lightyear hat the whole time we were on vacation. 

While at the pool we heard the ice cream man so PawPaw bought popcicles for all the kids. 

That little belly!

The boys found a crab outside and chaos ensued. 

Ready for her first time at the beach!

They LOVED it!

Elle and Charlie headed to the dock to fish.

We celebrated Father's Day while we were there!

The kids picked this shirt out for Eric. 

The sweetest little Dude.

Ollie caught his first fish this night!

All being in one house together means books with MawMaw before bed. 

Would have appreciated a heads up from my Seester that my sunscreen wasn't all the way rubbed in. I'm sure she got a good laugh out of this. :)

Beach bums. 

We headed to dinner one night at The Hangout were the kids participated in a foam party while we waited for our food.

After dinner Sissy did some jumping. I thought Ollie would love flying high like Buzz but he changed his mind last minute so Elle went twice. 

One day we headed to The Yard for some crazy big milkshakes.

We spent A LOT of time in the pool which was a favorite for everyone. 

We went to Orange Beach one night for their Family Fun night. 

PawPaw rode the ferris wheel with Elle, Henry and Charlie.

And Eric and I rode with Ollie. He was pretty nervous for the first half of the ride.

PawPaw's basket was rocking, they were crazy. 

Another day at the beach, this time with boogie boards!

Dinner at the Original Oyster House, the kids tried alligator and loved it!

Back to Orange Beach for dinner another night. 

After dinner we headed to ice cream, I had a big fear of alligators going into this vacation so this sign warranted a picture. 

We went back to The Hangout one morning for the pirate/princess breakfast while the guys and Henry did some deep sea fishing. 

Rounding out the week with our last beach day. :(

Headed home after an AMAZING vacation!

Can't thank my mom and dad enough for this trip. We had so much fun, had so many laughs, I almost let a raccoon into the house, the Voss boys bought Hermit crabs, my kids became so comfortable swimming in the pool and going underwater. We just had so much fun!

Laurel, MS

Way back in June we had our family vacation. The 4 Hylton's left Friday morning with a planned stop in Laurel. This was by far the longest road trip the kids had ever been on so we spent an insane amount of time in Target on Thursday buying road trip snacks, activities and last minute things for the beach. But first we stopped to enroll little missy in KINDERGARTEN!

She wanted to wear her Easter dress for the occasion. :)

While in Target Ollie fell HARD for these shoes but it was a no-go for me.

All packed up Friday morning and ready for vacation!

Overall the kids did amazing in the car. They had lots of iPad time, lots of snacks, colored and Ollie covered his car seat in stickers....but I was totally ok with anything that kept them occupied.

We arrived in Laurel to the cutest little cottage we were renting for the night. It was a featured makeover on the HGTV show Hometown. The attention to detail was insane...board games, Legos for the kids to play with, beer, juice boxes, ice cream, bowls of snacks.

We relaxed for bit then got changed and headed to the main street area for dinner. We ended up at Mimmo's, an Italian restaurant, and loved it.

After dinner we headed to Shug's Cookie Dough & Candy Bar for dessert.

Can I just say that I LOVED Laurel, MS. I'm already trying to talk Eric into going back on our way to the beach next year.

Friday morning we had breakfast and then headed to Laurel Mercantile which is owned by the hosts of Hometown on HGTV and the owners of the cottage we stayed in. I asked Elle to hop in this pic but she saw a bee and that pretty much ruined her mood. :)

I showed serious restraint when shopping and left with a tea towel and Christmas ornament.

We went to a park to let the kids burn some energy before driving the rest of the way to the beach.

Gulf Shores, here we come!

4th of July

We started the morning of July 3rd with some festive painting.

The kids both loved doing their hand-prints.

That afternoon we headed to mom and dad's house for a BBQ.

Patrick was obviously the most popular person at the party. :)

After we ate the kids swam on the deck...

and all took turns blowing out the sparkler candles on the cake Mary brought.

Everyone left before the fireworks started that night so Eric and Ollie headed home and Elle and I stayed out late watching them from the City Hall parking lot.

The next morning we were up bright and early for the parade.

We were smart this year and ate breakfast in Mary's car and let the kids watch a movie. We didn't go to our seats until about 15 minutes before the parade came by.  But those 15 minutes of waiting were long and HOT.

Elle just about threw in the towel and wanted to leave.

But then the parade started and candy was being thrown so everyone was happy again. :)

This little girl is exactly like me when it comes to the heat.

We can't hang.

Ollie was super excited when someone walking the parade handed him this $5 bill. 

When we got home from the parade we were hot, sweaty and hungry. We headed home for lunch, showers and naps then headed back over to mom and dad's.

We ate, the kids played, we shot off some fireworks outside then watched the big fireworks before calling it a night. 

Bear made himself comfy. :)