Blessings

We are back from our beach trip and home safe....and  I have many pictures to share. We are counting our blessings today. 

We had a direct flight (thank goodness....) because traveling with a 7-year old, a sometimes queasy 3-year old, and a very active 6-month old is very exhausting in and of itself... But each one arrived with smiles on their faces. (The pics are a bit blurry because I took them with my phone:))

And yay.....thank goodness for motion sickness meds...b/c this guy made it without getting sick on the flight this time:)

And here is sweet Sammy....he was the talk of the plane....people were guessing that he was 18 months old.  You should have seen their jaws drop when I said he was just a BIG 6 months:)

There were a few little mix-ups with our hotel room at the beginning...but after an hour wait, we were able to settle in.

Have I mentioned that traveling with 3 can be EXHAUSTING?  We got in and out of the car so many times...and having to carry the stroller and car seat everywhere we went was a workout in and of itself.  Then there was the arguing about who was going to put their car seat in the middle and who was sitting by the window.  Oh my...  The first night after driving to a late dinner....we had to stop at the store to get some diapers and baby food....J was wild and crazy and then all of a sudden...he just crashed....poor guy was just exhausted!

We woke up to just a bit of sunshine on Monday....and after feedings and sunscreen applications we headed to the beach and pool.

The water was warm and so relaxing....

Even Sam LOVED the water!  The sand on his toes took a little getting used to...but he was a natural beach bum!!

Hmmm...this sand sure feels funny on my toes!

See...I told you he was a natural!

Love the expression....

"Hmmm....hope I didn't get sand in my button!"

The afternoon of our first day... we had a very unfortunate accident that landed our sweet little J in the ER.  It was something Brett and I will never forget...a reminder that we are all imperfect....a reminder that Someone so much greater is in control.  Our world certainly stopped for some hours that day, and we prayed, prayed, and prayed.  God heard our prayers and held our sweet baby in His hands the entire time.   We are so blessed...so fortunate....so lucky that God placed so many of the right people in our midst at the right time.  It was certainly a reminder of just how precious these tiny lives are and how quickly things can change in the blink of an eye.

Fortunately after about 7 hours at the hospital our little J had bounced back to his normal spirited self.  We were exhausted both mentally and physically from the whole experience, but bound and determined to make the most of the rest of the trip for Sophia, Joseph and Sam.

Rain the majority of the week put a damper on some of our plans, so we found some indoor fun at the Aquarium.

Here is J watching the....SHARKS!!

And Sophia....she liked the sharks but was sooo excited to see the dolphins and sea horses!

We also played some miniature golf, saw an albino alligator, fed some baby alligators, watched lots of movies, went out to dinner lots, got ice cream, went to toy stores, lounged in our jammies.....and when the sun came back out....we headed to the beach.

We had room service in our jammies the last nite...

and made it home safely.  A trip we will never forget, to say the least.  We are sooo blessed and will definitely hug all the littles a little bit tighter each and every day.