a beach weekend

Last year on our great big two month long vacation we stayed in a beach house in Destin, Florida.

Well, not actually Destin proper, but rather closer to Miramar Beach.

We loved it.

And I was looking to do a beach trip before this new baby arrives.

So from the heart walk this past Saturday we headed there again.

This time we stayed in a hotel in Sandestin and then spent our time at Miramar Beach.

It was so great because both of the kids are at ages that they are just thrilled to play and play in the sand and water and in general are not trying to eat it.

{almost 35 weeks, going fast}

 

 {fire hair in the sunlight, streaming behind her as she runs}

 

We attended church at the Sandestin branch. You can tell they're very used to visitors.

September is a great time to visit. It's apparently the off season despite perfect temperatures.

I adore uncrowded beaches.

 Monday morning we packed up and took a nice walk, then drove home Monday afternoon. 

I'm certain we will visit again.

heart walk

Later Saturday morning we participated in the heart walk, a 5k in downtown Atlanta.

The weather cooperated beautifully and it was really neat to see some of the buildings at a walking pace since they had so many of the roads closed for the event.

{showing off his new Delta shirt, he was very excited to receive it}

{a cool construction site we passed on the walk...new arena by the Georgia Dome}

{Evie was less excited about her new shirt}

visitor from Utah

My brother, Lane, came out for a conference in Atlanta for a couple of days last week.

He's kind of one of my favorite people in the world so I was really excited for him to come.

Curt attended the same conference for work so they got to carpool.

We had a great visit, getting up way too early because of kids and work and staying up way too late talking.

{4:30am on Saturday morning before heading to the airport}

{I realized that I hadn't taken any pictures while he was here and that just wouldn't do, so we did the self timer on the camera propped up on the counter before heading out} 
{almost 35 week belly}

visitors from Orlando: Labor Day Weekend

For the Labor Day weekend we got to see Curt's grandparents and uncle as they came up from the Orlando area to visit.

Unfortunately for them their visit was marred by car trouble, starting when they were around 20 miles away from our home.

But hey, we were really glad to be able to see them.

{Evie and her great grandma, looking at one of our family picture books}

{Grandpa creating delight by being a ride}

Friday we all headed to pick up Andrew from the airport and Curt from work to have a quick lunch at the original Chick-fil-a. 

Andrew was kicking off a long weekend of attending sporting events with friends, but we were happy to see him before he was off.

Friday night we did a quick trip to Stone Mountain. Evie and I stayed in the car as she was sleeping (neither child took a nap earlier), but it worked out perfect as I was able to pick everyone up at right as the extended Labor Day fireworks were ending and we skedaddled out of there before exiting traffic got bad.

Saturday Curt took the visitors up for a trip to the Varsity while the kiddos napped.

Curt brought home hats for the kids and flowers for me.

 {the flowers weren't from the Varsity, but from a farmer's market on the way home}

{Evie and the humidity ultra curls}

There was some phase 10 playing and lots of reading of books.