Beach Part 3

So, let me being with saying that first night at the condo seemed quiet enough. We were all tired from the trip and worn out from swimming. We all settled into our respective bedrooms and around 11pm my Clara Paige wanders into my bedroom and announces so pitifully that she has thrown up. Now I will spare you the gory details but it was ROUGH!!! She had gotten sick in the bunk bed in the glorious bunk room that the girls had so excitedly claimed. One small miracle was that she was the one sleeping on the bottom bunk that night. It was just awful. I have images seared in my brain of me cleaning up, pushing CP into the shower, flying by waking Alex up and putting him on CP duty, throwing the covers in the tiny top/bottom washer/dryer, re-washing the covers, sliding into the bathroom myself b/c it was just too much to bear.....anyway you get the picture. My poor baby girl had gotten a stomach virus the 1st night of our vacation. She finally settled in and slept most of the night. I, of coarse, slept with that one eye open hoping all went well until morning. She woke up feeling better so we headed for the beach. She did just fine till on the way back up to the room she had one more abrupt mishap on the board walk. Yeah, that was fun! Anyway, for the next few days everything was all good. Meme & PawPaw arrived and the trip was in full swing.

I love this picture of my most favorite people on earth! Climbing on daddy in the pool was a favorite pass time.
And since we're all involved in this cheer leading thing now, we just had to perform some stunts in the pool. This is the "Daddy Pyramid."

And here's Clara Paige strutting her stuff.

The water was just so clear and pretty the whole week. We had lots of fun jumping the waves. And it's always more fun with a little help from dear ole dad.

Just one more jumpin' the waves shot. There were more adventures ahead in our week so hang tight....

Beach Part2

So still on that first day of coarse my babies had to go to the beach and swim in the pool. No waiting till the next day for them. Me and Maggie stayed in while the others took to the beach and while we were sitting on the balcony there was a beautiful rainbow over the ocean from the storm that passed through earlier. It was so amazing and such a reminder of how awesome God and his creation are.

Here's a picture of that wonderful rainbow. One quick story, Maggie looked at that rainbow and told me that "God Lied." ????? What are you talking bout Mags?? "Well God said he sent that rainbow when the earth was flooded and he would never flood again but he didn't flood the earth today."

That girl. She's so funny. She had part of that Bible story right but wow, she thought God had to flood the earth EVERY time before he sent a rainbow. Oh to be young and so literal and innocent again!!

My Maggie and Gracie stopping for a quick pose for their good ole Mom. Love those goggles!

My girls got pretty good at swimming and jumping in on this beach trip. The longer we were there the more brave they were with the water. I was so proud of them!!


Here's Gracie with her face underwater. I know to most of you that's no large feat but for this momma it's a major milestone.

~And here's their first shovel full of sand for 2010~

I haven't forgotten that teaser I gave ya in that earlier post, I'll get there and it wasn't pretty!!

Most of the trip was wonderful but this, not so much!!

Beach Trip 2010

So you know we hit the beach this year. Our usual haunt at the Beautiful and sadly tainted w/oil Gulf Coast is the Orange Beach/Gulf Shores area. Our trip wasn't scheduled until this week actually. But with the current conditions there we upped the trip to June and headed to Panama City Beach, FL. We headed down on Monday and Meme & Pawpaw followed on Tuesday. We had not been there in 12 years. A lot of it has changed for the better. Lots of new and nice condos and Pier Park is great. Some of it is still the same ole PCB of old. Anyway, here's my first installment of the Hicks Panama City Beach adventure.....

The trip down....still fresh into it here. I don't think we had even stopped in Clanton for Ice Cream yet so we're looking pretty calm yet excited.

Here we are somewhere in the middle of the trip getting a little van happy and antsy. If we heard, "how much longer?" one more time I think we'd have sold them for gas $$!!

And here we are hanging out the window b/c we were past our patient point and were stuck in some road work traffic about 30 minutes out of Panama City. (Particular child in picture:Maggie-who else?)

And once we arrived we stopped to eat some lunch before check in b/c check in is always so darn late in the afternoon. Anyway, here's my girls sitting outside Sharky's.

A quick shot of me and Al waiting on our food. While waiting one of those summer beach storms popped up and you would have thought Maggie had seen the coming of the end of the world. She lost it, I mean LOST it so bad I had to take her into the souvenir shop until Alex got our table moved inside. And once he did the bottom dropped out. However, the meal was good and we enjoyed watching the rain come down (b/c we were dry inside and not outside)!!!

Our condo was beautiful and so relaxing with great amenities but here you see the piece De resistance. Yes, folks, bunk beds was all my girls needed to set their hearts on fire. They were blown away and to top it off there were two sets of bunk beds so no one had to fight over where to sleep. They took turns and did so quite nicely I might add!!

The water was gorgeous the entire time we were there. There was a day or two that we had small amounts of seaweed but otherwise it was this pretty turquoise color the whole time! Prettier than I've seen it in a long time-ironic since there's oil out there somewhere lurking in them waters!

Also, the first day we arrived the condo (Sterling Breeze) happened to have a party for the kidos that day. They got glitter tattoos (being displayed above), several balloon animals and played games for candy!! It was a nice little extra for the girls and started the trip off on a good note - however that was not to be for long......more later!!

Freedom....

So I have some great Beach pictures and stories to share with ya but today it's the 4th of July so I'm gonna take a minute to celebrate that. I hope you take at least a minute of this day to realize how truly precious our freedom is. I know I take it for granted daily but hope that I can sincerely begin to appreciate it's blessings more and more! I think in this day & time it is vital we cherish the freedoms we do have and with it certainly comes the right to worship my God and Savior freely! Hold dear to those freedoms and take time to honor and give thanks to those who have served in any capacity to preserve and guarantee those freedoms! We are a blessed nation and I pray that we continue to be so for the rest of our days!

There's a Kenny Chesney song that I always enjoy listening to that makes me remember and appreciate what freedom means.

Here's the part that hits me hardest:

"Through the joy and pain that living brings
Don't we all want the same thing

Freedom, sweet freedom

Its what the junkie needs that the needle cant give
depressed and forgotten are praying for it
Its what the brave and courageous are fighting for
An open sail on a distant shore

Freedom."

God Bless America!

Happy Daddy's Day

We're heading out on vacation soon but I couldn't let this get by without taking a minute to honor the most important men in my life.

I looked up Father's Day and this is what I got:
"Father's Day is a day honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. "

It's a little bit more to me than that because a good Father is something everyone should get the opportunity to experience. However, not all do. I am so truly blessed and fortunate to have a husband and best friend that is all things to my daughters that any dad should hope to be. He's there for them. He protects them. He loves them unconditionally. Plus so much more.

Daddy & his girlies!

PawPaw reading to his grand babies! He's such an awesome man that has done such an amazing job at being my girls grandfather!

And I can't let this day pass w/out honoring my Dad. Time goes on and although I think of him daily and miss him every minute of every day, I know his legacy and memories are what me & my family hold on to and cherish. He was the best dad and Pappy any girl could ever know. My family are the lucky ones who got to share in & receive that love and devotion. Who he was and what he stood for I hold dear and share with my girls constantly.

Father's Day is a time to love the ones that mean the most to you. It is an excellent time to also remember that our Heavenly Father is the one who set the original example of what a father is and should be. Strength, Devotion, Honor, Compassion, Protection & Ultimate and Unconditional Love!!

Don't take a minute to take anyone you love for granted! Happy Father's Day to you all!

Bye Bye Preschool & 1st Grade...

So I'm trying to catch up before we head to the beach next week. SOOooooo, my babies are now officially all school girls. The twins have finished Preschool and CP is now a 2nd grader. Where did my babies go?? They are now little girls that are full of life, love and happiness. Here are a few snap shots of their end-of-the-year parties with their classes.

Clara with her wonderful teacher Mrs. Donna Ferrell. We will miss her next year but sure we'll get another great teacher.
Cp's friend Sophie,her little sister and CP snacking on some delicious Snow Cones from Kona Ice. The truck came to the school just for CP's class. It was a fun time playing outside blowing bubbles and hangin' out with her friends.

Maggie, Ms. Lori & Gracie. My sweet girls loved their Ms. Lori so much this year. I hope they get a wonderful Kindergarten teacher that they will love just as much as Ms. Lori. They will miss her very much.

And here's my munchkins partying it up with their buddy Chloe. You may remember at the beginning of the year we were told by my precious twinkies that her name was "Glowey." Haha. Well here's to the last year we've had before I have all my girlies in school come August. We'll save those tears for the fall. Now off to summer and all it's adventures!!!

Cowboys Cheernastics

So, my girls have been taking "Cheernastics" for a couple of months now and we've been more than pleased with their love for it and progress with it. First, let me say that I know these pictures are terrible. I promise (once I find a great camera to borrow) to get some really great ones for you because these do not do them justice at all.

Anyway, my baby girls are learning so many things that it's amazing to see how quick they pick the stuff up. Basically, this is a competition cheering company that is locally owned and very well run. So when I refer to "Cowboys" well, this is what I'm talkin bout. My girls love it so much that they are now also officially members of the tiny but tough and terrific Tumbleweeds squad. They are still learning the basics now but come fall they'll be heading to local competitions and they can't wait! So, here are a few pictures but like I promised, you'll see more and you'll actually be able to tell what they are doing.

Gracie midst her famous cartwheel. Her legs flip over like a windmill! This also happens to be what they all do all over my house and anywhere there is an open spot on the floor these days. We should rename our living room the Cowboys Practice Room.

Clara working on her back hand spring.

Maggie is over there on the wall doing her hand stand.

And again bear with the quality but we were so proud of this one. This is Gracie standing on that dude's hand. Not his hands: his (singular) hand. We couldn't believe it!

So, here's to another adventure for the Hicks Circus!

But I think it's going to be a fun one for us all!!

Take Time....

I hope you take time this week to enjoy and appreciate the good and beautiful things in this life. I'm reminding myself to do the same.

Have a nice week!!

The majesty of God's hand bringing beautiful flowers for us to enjoy.
A pretty, sunny Summer day looking off my back deck!
Ahh.....take a deep breath and relax!

Tiger Prowl 2010

CAUTION: Auburn post below. Just thought I'd give ya a warning since it's not football season!

OK so a few weeks ago we stopped by on our way to Wednesday night church to check out the Auburn Tiger Prowl bus. It was pretty darn awesome! Our good friends the Stricklands & Nana met us there too. I know it's a ways off from football season but this was a great boost to get our blood pumping for the upcoming season.

Here are the girlies hanging out at the back of the bus under their coach. You know, Coach "Cheezit" or "Chizzy" as my girls call him.

Here's our new basketball coach Tony Barbee. I was impressed by his obvious intelligence and passion for basketball and enthusiasm for being OUR basketball coach. He's got one heck of a new facility to do his job in and can't wait to see what he accomplishes while at AU.

Coach Luper spoke next and was very inspiring and it is obvious why these guys are so good at what they do whether it be recruiting or coaching. They care about family and have certainly adopted the AU family as theirs. They care about those boys they coach and want the AU fans to keep up their support and spirit for the university. No problem there with us.

Here's a shot of Al and the girls walking up to the bus.


And here's Coach Trooper Taylor with all our girls. He's exciting to say the least and such an inspirational speaker. He means what he says and already has a tremendous love and respect for the Auburn family. It was really awesome to be so close to the coaches and feel the excitement and energy they bring to the atmosphere. It's a shame the NCAA put a damper on the whole Tiger Prowl idea as it is such a great idea for promoting and recruiting the university or any university at that matter. I know that other SEC schools have done similar things. Oh well whether we have a bus or not, it won't stop people from being drawn to what is the AUBURN Spirit.

Below is just a snip-it from Coach Trooper's speech explaining a little bit about the AU family you are probably tired of hearing me talk about! He takes the words right out of my mouth....

McWayne Center

OK since school is already out for the summer I thought I'd catch you up on the field trip I was so honored to chaperon. The 1st grade took a trip down town to the good ole McWayne Center. Now, let me admit to you that the McWayne Center is not my favorite place to be. Call me a bad mom but I'm just not that into the place. Science and such do not amaze me. However, I am very interested in my child and her education so since she wanted me to go I gladly went. How many more years do I get where she WANTS me around ya know?

The IMAX movie was on bugs. Strike #1 in my book. It was kinda gross in a lot of ways that I will spare you the details. But after that we were free to roam the halls. I was graced with 5 beautiful but energetic little girls to keep up with. Yup, 5! Me thinks Mrs. Ferrell overestimated my abilities. We did fine but I was absolutely 100% exhausted from the trip. But the girls had a good time and all ended well.

Here they are: Clara Paige, Sophie, Kinsley, and in the back Sabrina and Amani.

Petting the sharks and sting rays!

Clara and her school buddy Sophie.

One of those sharks we all got to "pet." I did actually stick my arm in the pool and touch the guy and he felt slimy and like rubber in case any of you ever wondered!


AND......

in news unrelated to the field trip, we have a new toy at our house!! Alex and his "Horse Trading" ways has acquired a SeaDoo for the Hicks Family. Thanks Mr. Vince for such a fun new toy. We got to try it out last weekend so maybe I'll get some pictures up of that fun soon!