Gulf Shores Day 3

Today we woke up again at 6:30...awesome!  Once everyone got up we had breakfast and Lance & I decided to go to the outlet mall in Foley.  My mom offered to keep Landon at the room so we took her up on it.  After we got back we got ready and headed down to the beach.  We had bought Landon a boogie board so of course we had to play with that first.  He kept calling it his skateboard and would jump up & down on it.  It definitely was a three man job for this activity.  Lance was holding the rope of the boogie board behind Landon and me & my mom were holding Landon's hands on each side.  We finally convinced him to go out in the waves as we held him.  And of course a big wave got us so he was done with the ocean.  He wanted to go to the pool and this is where we spent a lot of our time this afternoon.  We met a little girl who was doing all kinds of tricks in the pool & Landon definitely had fun watching her.  If the girl went to one end of the pool Landon wanted to go to that end.  He was a wild man.  When we were ready to leave he definitely had a 2 1/2 year old tantrum.  We went to the beach but quickly realized that he needed a nap.  Lance took him up and I decided to stay down.  My mom ran upstairs but came right back.  I made her go out in the waves with me. :)  She is pretty short and the waves are a lot harder on her than they are on me.  I kept telling her to jump but she didn't seem to jump at the right time.  She got drenched a couple times.  It was pretty hilarious...sorry mom!  As soon as Landon woke up he ate lunch and we headed to town.  Lance and Landon went to watch Cars 2 and me & my mom went to Target to shop.  Lance sent me a text asking where we were and when we could be back.  I guess Landon enjoyed the first part of the movie but after a little while he decided he wanted to go home.  Lance said he kept telling him that so we picked them up a bit early.  We came back to the room and had pizza.  We are now resting and gearing up for another beach day tomorrow.

Gulf Shores Day 2

Landon woke up at 6:30 AM again.  I guess he doesn't understand that when we were on vacation we sleep in.  Actually I think because it is so bright in our room it just wakes him up.  We ate breakfast and then headed down to the beach.  We brought a canopy (which is wonderful to have) and bought chairs so we first had to set up our little hut before playing.  We went to the water and played around.  The waves are so much fun and I have surprised myself on how much I want to be in them.  I tend to stay out of the ocean (I think because of jellyfish & I can't see after the salt water gets in my eyes) but I'm being wild this year!  When we were in the water some big waves were attacking us.  Lance was holding Landon and I was beside him when a big wave came and hit us.  My eyes were closed (remember I can't see or open my eyes once water gets in them) and I was trying to compose myself when another big wave hit us.  I couldn't see so I tried to reach for Lance.  Well I didn't grab his arm...I grabbed his shorts.  I'm not sure how much I pulled them down but I think he was a little scared I was going to take them.  Poor guy was just trying to save our child and I was about to drown them both.  I'm sure people were laughing at us...which is fine b/c I laugh when I see others go through what I just did.  I do have some raw knees now from being knocked down. :) 

After we survived the waves we started to build...or tried to build sand castles.  Landon didn't play long because he got hungry so Lance and my mom went back to the room to eat and I decided to stay at the beach.  After they ate Lance and Landon came back to me.  Landon played again but he got a little tired of the beach so Lance and I took him to the pool.  Landon likes the pool but he tends to want to walk around the edge which scares us.  Landon saw a child jump in from the side so of course my little monkey had to try it.  He's having fun with that new trick!  We went to the beach again but Landon was tired so I took him to the room for a nap. 

Lance stayed down at the beach and decided to put his chair at the waters edge...not a good idea for a white boy!  As Landon was napping I would look down to see what was going on.  I kept noticing Lance still sitting by the water and I though "he sure has been out there for a long time".   When Landon woke up we headed back down to the beach.  We were only down there for a little bit before Landon got hungry again so we went back up to the room.  That is when we saw Lance's burn.  The boy is not just red...he is hurting pink.  Poor guy!  We decided to go to a couple of souvenir stores and to get a snow cone.  My mom stayed back at the room so it was just the three of us.  I had to get Landon's picture by the big shark mouth.  He enjoyed that! 

 We went back to the room and took it easy for the rest of the night.

Gulf Shores 2011

So we have been in Gulf Shores since last Wednesday and we had a great time!  We started the trip Tuesday afternoon so we could split the trip up since this was Landon's first long trip.  We started on the road at 3:15 PM, we stopped at Marked Tree for food and gas, and then made it into Ridgeland, MS at 9:45 PM.  Landon did so good on the way down and he never had an accident...such a big boy!  The only time Landon got whiny was about 20 miles from our room.  He was getting tired and wanting me (I was up front) and he said "get me out of this carseat".  It was sad so I crawled to the back with him and tried to cuddle.  When we checked in to the hotel you would have thought Landon would want to go to sleep but no.  He was wide awake and ready to have some fun! 

This was his first time to stay in a hotel so I wasn't sure how he'd do.  I tried to get him to sleep in the bed with Lance but after I snuck out he quickly realized his mommy was gone.  He ended up sleeping between me and my mom...awesome!

We woke up to Landon at 6:30 (not sure where my good sleeper was) and got around.  We had breakfast at the hotel and left there around 8:15 AM.  We had about 4 1/2 hours left in the trip so we knew Landon could handle that.  I really like how we split it up and I think we'll continue that for our future trips.  We made 2 stops and Landon did great again!  He only slept 1 hour 30 minutes the entire trip. 

 Here we are going through the tunnel in Mobile and I wasn't sure how Landon would like it.  But this picture tells us he loved it!

 See the ship???

When we got into Gulf Shores we stopped to check-in hoping we could get in early.  Check-in is at 3:00 PM and we were 2 hours early.  The room was ready but she couldn't get us an early code for the room b/c the computer system was shut down for a bit.  She told me to call back in an hour to see if it was ready.  So we went to a souvenir store to pick up some beach stuff.

Then went to my favorite place...Sea-N-Suds for a late lunch.   

 His first look at the beach as we were walking up to the restaurant which is out on the pier.

I love eating there and it is starting to become a little joke since all I eat is a cheeseburger and fries!  But let me tell you...it is the best cheeseburger and fries you'll ever have!  Landon could barely sit still during lunch.  He kept saying he wanted to go to the beach.  Now this was a good thing and a bad thing.  The bad part was we could barely eat our lunch but the good thing about it was during the drive down to Gulf Shores he kept saying he wanted to go home.  I think he just wanted out of the car.  We then headed to the room.  This year we tried a different condo called Island Royale.  I really like the condo but the pool could be better.  I definitely like trying new places each year.  As soon as we got our stuff in the room we all got ready to hit the beach. 

We were kind of nervous about how Landon would do with the beach b/c he can't stand to get his hair washed.  Well he surprised us...he loved it!  He was getting tickled when the water would get him.  We played for a little bit and checked out the pool.  Then we headed back up to the room to get ready to do our Wal-Mart trip.  We were all kind of tired so after Wal-Mart we stayed in the room for the night.

Commenting Challenge

I am participating in the 2nd annual commenting challenge put on at http://jennasjourneyblog.blogspot.com/.  You should link up and do it with us.  I'm excited to meet new people and see fun blogs!

Memories

On Monday Judy was watching Landon while I ran to MH to do a few things-also day 5 of potty training.  As soon as I got home Judy told me to come to the bathroom.  She directed me to the toilet and in there was a little ball of poo (sorry for the gross subject).  She then said she saved it for me so I could see it since Landon brought it to her and said here is a meatball.  She said she took it-not knowing what it was exactly-but quickly realized what it was.  She told Landon it was not a meatball but a terd and how he needed to go on the potty.  Later that day I asked Landon if he had meatballs and he looked at me with a grin and said "No mommy it was a terd."  I wonder if we'll ever eat meatballs again? 

Ok another cute Landon story-the other night we had spaghetti and salad.  Landon will not eat the salad-only the croutons.  He was messing with my plate and I think I asked him if he was done with his food.  He told me "No I have to eat my coupons".  Now if that isn't an extreme couponers kid.  :) 

I love my little Landon!!!

We Are Doing Good

Landon is doing a really good job with potty training.  He went to daycare yesterday and had 0 accidents.  I was super proud of my big boy!  The tinkle accidents actually stopped after day 2 but the problem we are having is with the poo.  The kid will not sit on the toilet to go.  I tried catching him when he'd start and I'd run him to the bathroom but that wasn't helping either of us.  He would just stop going and dirty a whole bunch of underwear.  So I finally just gave in and let him go in them.  I hate it but I don't want to hurt his belly and I don't like cleaning dirty underwear every 3 minutes!  I think it will just take time and he'll get it soon.  Oh and we are doing pull-ups at night.  He wakes up dry every morning which is great but I'm still going to let the pull-ups stay on just to be safe.  So weird to see my baby in underwear and him going tinkle on the potty.  It kind of makes me miss all those diaper changes. 

Last weekend we put up Landon's new pool.  My mom bought Landon's 1st pool so I could get him a fun one!

He seems to like this pool a lot but it's harder for me to sit in there with him b/c of the boat and the slide.  Guess it isn't about me!  He's sleeping right now otherwise we'd be out there.  

Last Saturday I called my sister to ask her if the waterpark was open. :)  She has a bigger pool and a bouncy waterslide in her backyard!  The 3 of us wanted to get out of the house and plus Landon loves playing with his cousins so we went over to their house for the afternoon/evening. 

Here is Landon going up the slide all by himself!

 Starting to go down.

 So sweet :)

 He had a blast doing the slide and it's crazy how last summer he couldn't do it without us and now he's the big boy who wants to do it all by himself.

 Little Mitchum was at the bottom of the slide and kept getting splashed by his big brother and sister.  Poor baby!

 Audrey in the pool.  Her and Christian wrestle in the pool like 2 sharks.  It was pretty funny watching.

 They played in the sandbox/swing set area.

 Look at that face on Mitchum. 

We took the kids inside so we could eat and they seemed tired.  Look how still they are...

But that didn't last long.  Within about 15 minutes of this picture the kids wanted to go back out.  This time they got in the sandbox.

 My sister likes to draw. :)  The kids have sidewalk chalk outside and instead of them using it...she was!  She wrote Landon's name for him.

So this week Landon and I have had a pretty busy week.  Judy was over on Monday so while she was here I ran a few errands in MH, Tuesday I had my hair appointment so my mom came over to watch Landon, and Wednesday I had to go to Fayetteville for my skin check so Landon went to school.  My mom went with me so I wouldn't have to travel alone.  Not sure I'm going to let her go with me again.  She kept giving me a hard time about my speeding.  I honestly can't help it and truthfully I don't notice when I am.  I've never had a speeding ticket and I better slow down so I don't ever get one.  Today Landon and I had nothing planned so we've been pretty lazy.  We did go to Wal-Mart this morning and I brought my bill down $58...Cha-Ching!  Tomorrow Landon goes to school and I plan on gathering stuff for our vacation.  We leave in 5 days and I can't wait.  Oh speaking of our beach vacation and skin check...my doctor told me that I should be going through 2-3 bottles of sunscreen during the week.  Oh my golly!  I probably never used sunscreen before I had my cancer spot but even after I was told I had cancer I probably didn't even finish 1 bottle of sunscreen.  I did purchase 3 bottles today so I am set!

So here are some random pictures I've taken this week.  Landon and I needed our picture taken together (excuse the no make-up and nappy hair but it is summer).

 I made brownies and he loves to help me mix them.  He also likes to lick the mixers...and I can't blame him b/c I wanted the bowl!

 When we were in Landon's room the other day he asked me to take his picture with Mickey.  So funny!

Potty Training Day 2

Landon woke up dry this morning and that means he kept his unders dry all night. :) 

Oh how nice it is to be finishing day 2.  I think I've been looking at the clock all day just hoping the day would go fast.  I hate saying that but this whole running back and forth to the bathroom & telling Landon every other sentence to tell me when he has to go potty is getting to me.  He has had a very good day and I see it clicking for him.  He will be doing something and then all of a sudden he stops and says "hurry, hurry" and we rush to the bathroom.  He did have an accident as he was standing at the refrigerator.  He was supposedly getting a drink and when I turned around he was going tinkle.  AWESOME!!!  And the only other accident he had was with the #2 business.  We figure he'll have issues with that since he's never gone on the toilet.  But he did surprise me by going a tiny bit on the toilet later in the afternoon. 

We did leave the house just to run to McDonald's to pick up lunch.  Landon and I needed to get out for just a little bit.  I waited till he went potty and then we left.  I'm nervous to leave the house but I'm sure once I feel confident and once he is going good we'll be ready to go.  We do leave for our vacation in 11 days which is a 12 hour drive (we'll break it up) so we better get this potty thing down fast!  I told Lance this mommy needed to get out of the house tomorrow so I might run and get some things for our vacation. 

Here are some pictures from today...

 Relaxing in his chair watching TV

 Big boy filled up his first potty chart so we got a prize and then I made him stand by it for a picture!

 The cutest thing I have every seen!  I told him to show me his muscles. :)

I am ready for bed and I hope we have another dry night.  Yah for Day 3!!!

We also will be saying a prayer for baby Evan.  He is sick and they admitted him to the hospital today.  Poor baby boy!  It breaks my heart to see sick babies.