Five on Friday - Sandals, Popsicles, and Ladies Night

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I honestly cannot believe that it’s Friday again.  Just where is this time going?!  I thought it moved quickly when I worked, well, it moves about 10 times faster when I don’t work.  The end of today officially marks the halfway point of summer break for our babies and I can hardly believe it!  We still have so much to do and we only have five weeks left!!  I’m just not remotely ready to turn them back over to the school yet… although, maybe in five weeks I will be, though.  Lol.

Time for some favorites from this week!

O N E – New Sandals

My very favorite, beloved pair of gold sandals bit the dust a couple of months ago and I’ve been on the hunt for something new ever since.  The goal was to find something in either gold or brown that straps all the way around my foot (no flip flops), that are comfortable, and that slide on and off very easily… basically just an every day bumming around kind of sandal. 

Well, I searched all over online and I looked at a few local stores including Target and Old Navy, and I just couldn’t find what I was looking for.  The kids and I had to make a quick stop at Walmart on Monday and it had never occurred to me to look there, but we just so happened to walk by the shoes on the way back to the freezer section so I decided to stop.  I am SOOOO glad we did!  I found the cutest, simple brown sandals that were EXACTLY what I was looking for.  I thought for sure they wouldn’t be comfy and that they would cut into my feet, but friends, these are as soft as buttah.  I’ve worn them every single day since Monday – I even walked all over Atlanta the other day in them – and I AM IN LOVE.  They are SO comfortable. 

The best part?  Only $5.87!!!!  Whaaaat.  I have no clue how long they’ll hold up, but even if they only last me this one summer it’ll be worth it because - $6.  They also come in black and nude and I might just go back and grab a pair of each.  They don’t come in half sizes so I just sized up and they are perfect!

T W O – This Book

I know I already mentioned this in my What’s Up Wednesday post this week, but it’s definitely a favorite from the week!  I am a big fan of Me Before You and Me After You and Still Me is the third book in the series.  While I loved the first two, I think this third book has been my favorite so far.  I haven’t been able to put it down this week!  If you liked the first two, or even if you thought the first two were just okay, I still recommend reading the third one because it’s better than the first two! 

T H R E E – Homemade Popsicles

One thing I’ve always wanted to try is making homemade popsicles.  I ran across a few of Shay’s recipes recently and decided that it would be a really fun project for the kiddos for summer.  We picked up this popsicle mold from Amazon per her recommendation and she was right!  We love them!  If you follow the instructions exactly the popsicles come right out and they come out whole!  The first batch we made were the Creamy Lime Pie ones and they are DIVINE.  I’ve never been a huge fan of traditional popsicles, but gourmet popsicles?  Sign me up!  I see lots more popsicle making in our future!  Next on the list are these Strawberry Lemon ones per Olivia’s request.

F O U R – Private School Attire

Olivia starts Pre-K4 in the fall and she will be moving over to Jacob’s school for her first year.  Jacob’s school is a private school that I attended when I was little, and the kids wear uniforms there.  The girls are required to wear plaid jumpers on church days but most of the girls just wear them every day, so Olivia’s closet is already loaded up with five jumpers for next year thanks to some of our sweet friends who passed down their daughter’s old ones to us (their daughter is in Jacob’s class). 

We tried one on for the first time the other day to make sure that they fit, and I may or may not have teared up when I saw her in it.  She will, of course, be wearing a blouse underneath the jumper for school, but you get the idea!  The plaid on the jumpers is different than it was when I was there, but I think they made the change for the better.  These are darling!  Somebody just go ahead and pass the box of tissues because I’m going to need it in August.

F I V E – Ladies Night

Wednesday evening I met up with four of my favorite ladies to celebrate my best friend, Shelly, for her birthday.  We opted for Bonefish instead of our usual Mex and as always it was delicious!  I’m typically a wine or beer woman, but when I’m at Bonefish I can never resist their martinis.  During the summer they have the Pomegranate Martini and it’s so delicious it’s almost as good as their Winter White Cosmo!  We had not one, but two rounds of drinks, and I had to have the Pomegranate Martinis for both.  I also had a steak and the garlic whipped potatoes + green beans and it was all yummy.

The best part was, of course, catching up with my girls!  We’ve been doing these Wednesday night ladies nights for 13ish years and they never get old!  We used to have them weekly, but now that we all have multiple kiddos and are being pulled in lots of different directions that’s nearly impossible, so instead, we tend to meet monthly these days.  I’ve been friends with these ladies for 20 years, 25 years, 22 years, and 8 years, and I’m so thankful for each and every one of them. 

Ladies, find your tribe and love them well.  Make the time to see them, to talk to them, to spend quality time with them because it is so important to foster these relationships.  It’s really, really hard to make new friends the older you get, and I’m thankful that I have a handful of ladies who I know will always be there for me.  I just know we’ll still be doing these ladies nights 30 years from now! 

Happy Friday!

*Linking up with A Liz Adventures and Carolina Charm for Five on Friday, A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favorites, Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites, and Cup of Tea for High Five for Friday.

30A Beach Trip - Day 2

We began day two of our beach trip by getting up and getting into our swimsuits and cover-ups and driving a couple of miles over to Alys Beach to Charlie’s Donut Truck for breakfast.  They are famous in 30A for their yummy donuts and they definitely didn’t disappoint.  B got a red velvet, I grabbed a blueberry, and the kids opted for the glazed donut holes in little plastic cups.  Since the donut place is quite literally in a truck, the only seating is outdoor picnic tables around the little town square next to the splash pad, so we did just that.  It was a gorgeous day and the view while we were eating was perfectly adorable.  Once we finished up, the kids took a peek at the splash pad but we didn’t hang around long because we were so ready to get to the beach!

We made the five minute drive back to our condo, loaded up our beach wagon and headed out!  This year’s trip was much different than all of our beach trips in the past because for the first time ever, we had no children that had to nap!!!!  In year’s past, we always squeezed our beach time in for the day before lunch and then after lunch B would stay in the room with the kids while they napped and I would head back down to the beach alone to read for a bit.  Well this year was so much freaking fun because the kids were able to hang all day!  Not to mention we had way more room on the beach to spread out.  It was wonderful! 

Anyway, we got down to the beach around 9 AM beach time (10 AM back home) and set up camp for the day.  The next few hours were spent playing in the sand, playing in the waves, and laying out and reading my book.  Heaven. 

In the past the kids always enjoyed the beach for a little while, but they seemed to get pretty bored after a while and they always wanted to go up to the pool or the room.  Well this time, all they wanted to do was stay on the beach!!

A little after noon, we left all of our beach equipment by the water and we headed up to the room to make a quick lunch of sandwiches, fruit, and chips.  Once we were done eating, we headed straight back down for several more hours.  The kids loved it so much, I think they would have been perfectly content eating lunch on the beach, but I wanted them to get a little break from the sun since it was so hot.  We barely saw any clouds the entire trip!

The thing that the kids loved the absolute most this year was finding shells.  In the past, we’ve always found a few to bring home, but this year they were pretty much on the hunt nonstop.  B was a master shell-finder this year, too, and he even found a few live sand dollars!  We put them back in the ocean, of course.  :o)

Around 3-ish we decided it was about time to head up to the room for the day.  The kids got their baths and then they relaxed on the couch and watched cartoons on Netflix (so nice that we were able to get it to work in our room!) while B and I got ready.

We headed out around 4:30 PM beach time (5:30 PM back home) so we could have an early dinner before the crowds settled in for the evening.  We decided to spend that evening in Rosemary Beach, the quaintest little town I think I’ve ever seen!  It was about a five minute drive from our condo to Rosemary and then we set out to find some food. 

Rosemary Beach is one of the most picturesque little beach towns that I’ve ever seen!  All of the architecture is stunning, there are big beautiful trees shading all of the streets, and there are little shops and restaurants on every corner with outdoor seating underneath strings of lights.  People walk or bike everywhere and everyone is just so friendly.  If I ever win the lottery, the first thing I’m going to do is snatch up a beach house right smack on the beach there!

We had our hearts (and tummies) set on Southside Slice (pizza), but we strolled around for a bit to take in the sights before heading that way.  The post office is right in the heart of Rosemary Beach and it was a big beautiful white building with the cutest little courtyard so we headed into the courtyard to take some pictures.  Jacob was being a grumpy pants (or more like a hangry pants) so he wouldn’t cooperate for pictures at all.  And by not cooperating I don’t just mean not smiling… he wouldn’t even open his eyes.  Lol.  He did happen to find a tree to climb after that which perked him up a bit, so I was able to get a few shots of him looking dapper in his crisp blue shorts and lime green polo… and with his eyes open.  ;o)

Just as we were getting ready to head out, a nice lady and her daughter came strolling through and she offered to take a picture of our whole family, which I thought was so sweet!  Jacob actually cooperated for the stranger, so I guess we just need to get strangers to take our pictures more often! 

We walked over to the pizza place after that because we didn’t want to press our luck and have the kids get even hangrier than they already were.  Southside Slice was the cutest little pizza place EVER and the pizza was delicious.  The menu was on tiny individual chalkboards, they had a huge selection of craft beers (our favorite!), and it had a sort of hipster vibe to it.  Not to mention they played 90’s pop music the entire time we were there.  Could that be any more perfect?!  #BoyzIIMen4Evah

We ordered the largest pizza they had and topped it with pepperoni and sausage and B and I tried two of the craft beers (we both agreed that his was the better one), and we were shocked when they brought the pizza out because… it was MASSIVE.  Haha. 

We ended up putting a good dent in it, and then we headed back outside to stroll around Rosemary Beach some more to walk off all of those calories.  The kids climbed up on the bench outside of the post office so I snapped a couple of pictures of them.  Those faces!  They were much happier with full bellies.  ;o)

After that, we walked down the street to the town square.  They were having some kind of family friendly event that evening and there was face painting and a couple of other activities for the kids.  We snuck a quick peek at the beach and then we headed back to the car.  We had promised the kids that we would go to Pier Park in Panama City to go to the carnival so we had to deliver!

The drive into PCB was pretty quick and we headed straight down to the beach just outside of Pier Park first.  It’s been our family picture-taking spot for many years (with the exception of last year) and we had come dressed and ready for pictures!  We have a small tripod that’s really easy to transport and it sets up in a jiffy, so we always bring that with us to get our pictures.  As we were taking our pictures, the sun was setting and everything was just gorgeous.  I got some of the sweetest close-ups of the babies that I’ll surely cherish forever.  Just look at that smattering of freckles across Jacob’s nose and cheeks and those rosy pink cheeks of Olivia’s.  Our babies are just so beautiful.  <3

After we watched the sun set, we headed back up to Pier Park where we let the kids pick out souvenirs from the Toy Store (AKA junk store) there.  Lol.  B and I were tripping out because the toys were clearly not made in the USA as the grammatical errors on the labels were horrendous.  Most of the words didn’t even make sense!  Haha. 

After we left the toy store, we stopped for shaved ice for the kids and then B ducked into Kilwin’s to grab ice creams for the two of us.  The line was ridiculously long so there was quite a long wait, but I got to have my beloved s’mores ice cream and it was worth the wait!

Upon arrival, we had noticed that a huge sky wheel was under construction right where the kids’ beloved carnival once was, and we were all pretty bummed that the carnival was gone.  We’ve been going to that carnival every single year since Jacob was teeny tiny so the kids were pretty disappointed that we wouldn’t be able to continue the tradition.  They did have a new feature – bumper boats – nearby instead, though, so we let the kids ride those a couple of times since they couldn’t do their carnival things. 

By the time the second round of bumper boats was over it was already 8:45 local time which meant that it was 9:45 back home, so it was waaaay past the kids’ bedtimes.  We hopped in the car, made the short drive back to our condo, and the kids were both out cold in mere minutes!  That’s what the beach will do to you, I suppose!

Stay tuned for day three…

*Linking up with Home of Malones for Thoughts for Thursday.