Sweet Home Alabama~Gulf Shores

Welcome to another installment of Kelly's Korner~Show Us Your Life. This week Kelly is featuring favorite vacation spots. Welcome to our Sweet Home Alabama. The Hargrove Clan has made Gulf Shores, Alabama our summer beach tradition.

We fell in love with beach vacations 10 years ago when we first went to Destin Florida with my sister's family. We can hardly wait to sink our feet to the white sugary sandy beaches each summer.

We pretty much just hang out at the beach most of the days, then head to the pool , then back to the beach, etc... This year we invited our friends The Arrington's to come along and we had a total blast. It was so fun for our boys to have friends to play with 24/7.

We have always stayed at The Beach Club at Fort Morgan and love it!!! It is out from Gulf Shores, but well worth the few extra milesbecause it has a real resort feel to it. This is what I love to do the most at the beach, sit under the umbrellas and read. Check out the boy's trench in front of our chairs.

A little "Hot Box" on the lawn. Why is it baseball is never too far out of our minds??

Of course, our other main activity is EATING!!!! This is our clan eating at Lulu's. LuLu's has gotten so big a popular now. When we first starting going to Gulf Shores, it was a little bitty place and now it has tuned into a money making empire!!!


Of course, what would be a trip to Gulf Shores without eating at Lambert's? Home of the "throwed" roll! If you have never been there, it is a Gulf Shores MUST!!! They actually throw their delicious yeast rolls to you. The kids love this place and the food is so good and cheap!!!


We also went to a new place called The Hangout. Very Fun!! I would say it is like Lulu's meets Joe's Crab Shack.

If you have ever been to Gulf Shores, you know where this is...Souvenir City. The best place to buy those souvenirs.


We also spent one day at Waterville, the local waterpark. We usually do this mid-week to break up the beach for the boys. This was particularly fun because our boys experienced a roller coaster for the first time. Look at Little Man's face in the last seat...it says it all.

Pure Delight!

A visit to The Track to ride go-carts


One of the things that I love most about this trip is that is full of family time without all the distractions of work, home, school, sports, etc... We just get to enjoy being together. We ( Me) wanted to take some pictures on the beach. The last two times we had a photographer come out and take our pictures and I am so glad we didn't this time because it was so windy. I can't believe I wasted one minute fixing my hair....that was 30 minutes of my life that was totally wasted that I will never get back. It looked a total mess!



However, I did get a good one of my boys.

While we were on vacation, Big Daddy and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary.



pause...sigh..., ok back to reality...

We had a wonderful time making memories with our friends.

Bye, Gulf Shores...we will see you next year...

Be Still...And Glue A Few Cracks

You know that it has been a long summer and time to start thinking about getting back into the routine of school when you have this.....

plus this....

equals this...

Uh Oh, not a good thing.

Let me start by saying, I was not having my finest parenting moment(s). My big boy and I had already been at sorts with each other earlier in the day when I felt he was being ungrateful for something I had done for him. He is too much like me and has a big problem with pride; and he had done a little self imposed time out in his room. Big Daddy kept telling me that I needed to talk to him and tell him he could come out of his room...well, I never sent him to his room in the first place, he left and went up there on his own devices. Why should I tell him to come out? Quite frankly I was enjoying that the family room TV was off for what seemed like the first time all summer and I could not hear iCarly or Wizards of Whatever.

He later came down as they were all going to our elementary school to work on baseball (little man has a try-out for a select team tomorrow). Some how big boy had a brain lapse and thought nothing of playing with a beach ball that was in the house. That is when I heard the crashing and tumbling of things...I have never quite seen that shade of green on my big boy...especially when he had to bring me the broken "momma bird". I was fuming and grateful that they were leaving for a while. I was in dire need of a self imposed time out.

I sat down after they were gone and went to work on momma bird, both of us "momma birds". I kept telling myself that this was a 3.99 trinket from Garden Ridge, why was I so mad? Good golly!! Do I want my babies to think of me later as a mom that always loses her cool?? Do I have to much pride to be the first one to speak and make up? Sister you are the adult here!!!

As I glued and put her back together, I thought we are all alot like this broken momma bird. We all have moments that we snap, someone throws a ball at us and knocks us off our rockers, or we're just not equipped, but we most of the time can easily be fixed with little or no damage done. I would rather bear the cracks, than my precious babies bear the cracks any day. Food for thought. Thank you Jesus for this learning moment! I am listening!

Momma bird is mended has returned to watching over her nest... Thank goodness there is a Big Daddy bird tending the nest with her.