Vacation Recap And LOTS Of Pictures

We've been back for a week now, and I am finally getting a chance to post some pictures of our fun vacation! My mom, the kids and I went up to visit my aunt and her family over Memorial Day weekend. We had such a great time! You asked for pictures, so here they are, and there are a TON! You know I'm not good at selecting just a few.

We got up to Alabama Friday afternoon, and then spent Saturday morning getting ready for my cousin Alaina's 11th birthday party. Her big surprise at the party was a HUGE water slide!

The kids had already been outside swimming for most of the day, so once the party got started, all of the kids flocked to the slide, and my mom and my aunt went for the shade.

Once the older kids got bored with the slide (I don't know how they did, it was so fun!), Rylie and Abigail had fun playing at the bottom of it and in the little pool at the end.

As soon as I was done with my job of decorating with the helium balloons (courtesy of Balloon Time), I got my bathing suit on and headed for the slide!

As fun as that slide was, it was rough on me. I kept flying up the side of it, and ended up tearing up my elbow. Now I know why the water parks have you cross your arms in front of you! After I tried it out, Rylie was ready to go and climbed right up the ladder. She loved every second of it!

After going down the slide several times, we goofed off in the pool. Here we are with my cousin Ashley and her daughter, Abigail.

Ashley and I saw the kids doing crazy stunts on the slide, so we pretended to be teenagers for a little bit and goofed off. We came down together several times, and in several different configurations. No matter how we started out, we seemed to end up on top of each other by the end. That slide was crazy fast, and there was just no control once you got going.

Ashley then had this bright idea to go down on the rafts. You see how well that worked out...

OK, so I did it too. But trust me, no one wants to see the pictures of my back side!

We took a break from our silly stunts to eat some yummy food that my uncle and his friend grilled, and of course, have some cupcakes.

Rylie and Abigail waited patiently for their cupcakes, but they couldn't wait to dig in! Bryce went down for a nap and pretty much slept through the entire party, but he woke up just in time for his favorite part! He sat with my cousin Alyssa and chowed down.

After our bellies were full and all the kids were on a sugar high, Alaina opened her presents. She especially liked the cute flip flops I got her.

Then it was time for Bryce's turn on the slide. Let me tell you, climbing up those tiny rungs on the side of that slide was not easy with a frightened toddler hanging on to me. I think I am still sore from that! He was scared when we got to the top because of the freezing cold water shooting out, but once we got going, he loved it! We could only go a few times, because my body just couldn't handle that climb more than that.

Then we goofed off in the pool some more.

Let me tell you, Bryce is a little fish! He loves the water! He thinks he can swim and will just walk right off of the step. He is actually teaching himself how to swim, I think. We let him go near the steps and he made it to the steps and got himself above water. He likes to jump off the side too.

Abigail and Rylie were in that pool pretty much all day! They had such a great time together! Even as the sun was going down, we couldn't drag them out of the pool.

Saturday didn't end with the party, though. My uncle and his friend Craig wanted to take Rylie on her first fishing trip, so off we went to the pond. My uncle ended up catching a fish, and Rylie ran over to touch it as soon as he reeled it in. Unlike her mom, my little princess will touch slimy fish. Blech.

Fishing in a skirt...that's my Rylie! Half diva, half tomboy.

We finished off the day with just one more cupcake. Sugar before bed time, that is what you're supposed to do on vacation, right?

I spent Sunday shopping with my aunt, while my mom took Rylie and Abigail to the movies and Bryce stayed home with Ashley. I got to buy all kinds of little clothes (thanks to my weight loss with Nutrisystem!) and we had a great day. We saw this little zebra striped skirt when browsing through the little girl's clothes, and my aunt thought Rylie needed it because Alaina and her American Girl doll both had zebra outfits. Of course we had to get Abigail something that matched too!

Once we finally got all the kids to bed, my aunt and I concluded our vacation with some wine (courtesy of flipflop wines) and great conversation.

I am so blessed to have such a great family! I just wish they weren't so far away. Luckily they are close enough that we can drive to see them, so we get up there at least twice a year, and they come here a couple times a year. I can't wait until our Christmas trip!

Did you see my mention of a couple of great companies in this post? Stay tuned for my reviews!