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. :)

Summer

We had a lot of fun this summer and I'm really sad that summer is coming to an end. We've enjoyed late bedtimes, late wake-up calls and days at the pool. 

Elle and Ollie were at my mom's one day and Paige and Paddy stopped by.

And Ollie and Patrick by chance were matching!

Sweet summertime!

I blowdryed and straightened Elle's hair one night, she loved it!

Elle and Patrick, this girl loves him SO MUCH!

We went to Sullivan for Eric's Grandma's 90th birthday. Elle and Ollie always love to see the horses. 

Ollie took over the aisles of Schnucks and grabbed that giant bag of Doritos in the process. :)

We said goodbye to our Mermann which was impossibly hard.

We really really miss him.

We spent lots of time at the park...

and splash pad.

Had early bedtimes after spending alllll day at the pool. 

Registered this sweet little thing for Kindergarten. 

Ollie's cheeks were constantly red from the heat.

Sissy and I learned how to make cinnamon rolls.

The flamingo from vacation was brought out for some comfy movie time.

We played games.

And the guitar. Ollie still loves playing the guitar and singing along to songs. His favorites right now are Help! by The Beatles and Barbara Ann by The Beach Boys.

Elle begged to be upgraded to a booster seat and after the ok from her doctor at her Kindergarten checkup we pulled the trigger.

Which means Ollie was upgraded to her big kid carseat.

We saw Incredibles 2 and Ollie now loves Jack Jack.

She so rarely naps period and even more rare when she naps on me. But she passed out laying on me during a rainy afternoon. 

Ollie and his 2 favorite guys.

We've logged a lot of hours at the pool this year.

Elle had a fun day with my dad at the Bird Sanctuary. 

We had amazing weather one Saturday so we took advantage by heading to the park that morning, having Eric bring us lunch and staying to play through the afternoon.

On her fun day with PawPaw he bought her a bird feeder and it is Elle's mission to keep it full of food for all the birds.

Sidenote, Elle got a fish this summer named Sprinkles who unfortunately died 2 days later. She says Sprinkles and Hot Freak (Charlie's hermit crab he got in Gulf Shores) are living in heaven together now.

More pool time.

The Dude loves Toy Story, Superheros, Rock Dog, Jack Jack and any small figurine.

Breaking for lunch on a pool day with the Voss family.

Henry kept me laughing all. day. long!

He's Buzz Lightyear, always.

Good grief I love this little boy something fierce!

We had a fun day at Myseum with the Voss crew.

We were in the vet clinic room for what seemed like forever. The kids all loved it.

And then they all got in their own separate cage. :)

We all hit up Cracker Barrel for dinner together, it was a pretty perfect day!

Missy wanted to make cupcakes one night so we got to baking.

My view every.single.time I vacuum. He thinks he is hilarious.

We filled their table with water beads and it was great entertainment for them for a few days.

I ran errands and had lunch with my favorite girl one Saturday.

She is just the best! I LOVE one on one time with her!!

She went to Target with Eric one night and picked out a new face mask for me. She is the sweetest!

I let her put a face mask on with me (hers was just moisturizer) and she loved it!

While Mom and Dad were in Alaska Mary and I took turns watching the 4 kiddos. 

They spent a lot of time together over the 2 weeks mom and dad were gone.

Helping Eric with flooring projects around the house. Ollie thinks it's a big puzzle.

We headed to the zoo one Friday. We saw the animals, rode the train, rode the carousel, saw the 4D Lego movie (which Ollie was scared of.) :)

By 5pm I had a horrible headache so Ollie and I hit the road. Elle wanted to stay with Mary and they shut down the zoo! Then Mary took the 3 kids out to Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Best Mimi ever!!

Ollie was THRILLED to find a set of Toy Story "guys" in the store one day.

Of course we ended up buying them. :)

We headed to Mary and Nick's house one Saturday for dinner and smores. The kids ran around playing outside with flashlights and had the best time.

We had Paige, Will and Patrick over for dinner one Sunday. Elle loved having Paddy over to our house for the first time.

We had a really fun summer. This weekend we are in full Back to School mode and her first day is next Thursday. Ready or not (she's ready, I'm not), Elle Belle is headed to Kindergarten.