Florida!

My family went on vacation for a week in Destin, Florida over the 4th of July.

Trinity had to work, so Genevieve and I traveled with my parents.

I felt like a teen mother with my child.  

My parents are slow drivers and they don't like to go very far in one stretch.  We made it to Northern Alabama the day we left, which was about 6 1/2 hours of driving.

We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant.  Mother follows  a strict gluten free diet, so her dinner consisted of wine.

I'm kidding.

She had tortilla chips too.

We stayed at our neighbors' condo for the week.  It was absolutely beautiful and was right on the beach.  That was perfect for my beach bum mother and my equally beach bum child.  

Katie, Chip, and Caroline met us there on Saturday.

I compulsively covered and sunscreened my daughter.

She loved it.  

The water was stunning.

Robby X2 and Meghan arrived on Sunday.  Everyone immediately commenced baby squeezing.  

MY NEPHEW DOES NOT CRY.

He coos and smiles.

Constantly.

G was a very good baby.

Robby is beyond perfect.

He even let us put hats on him.

I was very concerned that Genevieve would be all peanut butter and jealous of Robby, particularly when YaYa loved on him.

I was shocked that she was not at all PB&J.

She paid attention to him and was actually a big helper.  She fetched toys and diapers and played with him a lot.

One morning Chip retrieved the paddle board for me to try.  I paddled around a bit last summer at Jamie's lake house, but the ocean has quite a bit of motion in it.  

I probably played with it for about 30 minutes, and it was hard as hell.  

When I practice yoga, balance is definitely my strength.  Not so here, people. I got up and stayed up many times, but also took more than a few topples into the waves.  After that I decided I had exercised more than enough for the week.  

Since I was in Virginia for my 38th birthday, Bob wanted us to celebrate my birthday with a dinner out.  

We went to a restaurant in Baytowne Wharf that I did not realize was all outdoor seating.  My peeps were about to pass out and Li'l Robby appeared to be quite uncomfortable, so G led the way and found a little diner with air conditioning.  

Everyone was much happier with that option.

Sister braided my hair as a birthday gift.

As if!

I received Nordstrom gift cards from my siblings because they are great like that.  

G found a carousel and it was game on. 

My mother practically pitched a tent on the beach.  She rarely left.  We even brought her a baby to tend to.

The waves made a sandbar each day.

Isn't that water incredible?

We watched fireworks on the beach for the 4th.  

Some of them were a bit loud.

We took a break from the beach one day and perused the outdoor shopping mall.  We had lunch at Tommy Bahamas and it was seriously good.  

Our waitress brought macaroni and cheese with an umbrella in it so G was pretty excited.  

Babies like Bob's mustache.

Little known fact:  I have never seen my father without a mustache.  He has had one my entire life.  

Genevieve found the splash pad fountains and had a ball.  It was so hot outside!

Every morning we beached it, 

and then we had lunch and Genevieve and I did this for at least 2 hours.  Then back to the beach!

We enjoyed an evening in Rosemary Beach, site of two former family vacations.  

I broke my no exercise pledge and yogacized in the entry hallway one morning.  Mother sat on the bench with Robby and watched.  G  stuck stickers on me, so it was totally zen.  

Sister's family left on Tuesday, and the rest of us did not leave until the following Saturday.  Mother was bereft and said no less than a dozen times, "I can't believe I didn't get a picture with my grandchildren on the beach!"

Oh, but you did, mother.

Other than the major issue of missing Caroline, she totally nailed it.  

It was a wonderful trip but we missed Trinity.

Our next trip is to San Francisco!  

The Summer of Genevieve

Every season is the season of G.  

She's demanding like that.

I have been doing my best trying to keep my lady entertained this week and last week after vacation.

It's best for everyone if she remains busy.

Mostly for me.

After months of pleading and whining, I finally downloaded ABCmouse for her.

Those damn commercials are on constantly.

She was so thrilled and said, "Thank you, Mommy for paying for ABCmouse!"

Uh, I didn't, kiddo.

It was a free month trial.

Enjoy it while it lasts.

I'm kidding.

She does love it, and it is fun and educational.  

I am seriously limiting her time on it.

I've been nutty about technology with her.  I just know how addicted everyone is to their iThings (including me), so I've been avoiding the whole technology thing with G.

I love that she talks to us in restaurants.

She colors, asks how to spell everyone's names and plays tic-tac-toe.

On a piece of a paper.  

So I'm in no rush to change that.

Plus I don't like to share my phone.

I figured I still have years before I have to worry about her texting questionable photos of herself.

Until I found this on my phone before yoga started the other evening:

I almost walked out of the studio.

Chortling and wetting one's pants are not appreciated in yoga.

Have you ever?

I should have known when I heard G and T giggling when I was soaking in ma tub.

Yes, I soak in ma tub on a nightly basis.

Now her father helped her with this selfie, but how good is it?

So good.

We have been swimming with pals.  

I love li'l girl tummies.

Margo and Rosie are sisters and they are so good with G.

Genevieve went to Elena's 5th birthday party with her dance pals.  

It was really hard for G to remember that it wasn't her birthday.

See?

That mermaid cake was fabulous.

Yes, I hovered around waiting for my chunk.

I'm shameless.

G had her dentist appointment and received a perfect report.

I have to practically arm wrestle her and put her in a headlock to brush her teeth, but I guess my technique has been effective.

This week she is attending a musical theatre camp.

She goes for 2 hours for 3 consecutive days and then she has a short "performance."

I will post pictures from the performance.

Yesterday I was able to go to yoga during her acting stint.

Holler.

She reported that they "worked on a number from Annie."

What?

Ironically we watched Annie for the first time on Netflix on Monday.

I watched Annie so much as a young child that my parents were worried that something was wrong with me mentally.

Like I was going to be a serial killer or something.

She liked it and I sang along like a fool.

Her questions were challenging to answer at times.

"Why does Wooster want to kill Annie?"

"Why is Miss Hannigan dwinking her baf water?"

"Why does Annie sing about her bottom?" (bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow...)

"Why does Punjab have a man bun?"

That 1981 classic has some mature content.

She didn't ask that last question.  I just was saddened that hipsters have sullied a lovely cultural tradition.  

So we've been keeping busy.

We leave for Florida for a week with my side of the family.

Trinity isn't going.

He has a job, you see.

Sister and her family are meeting us there.  Brother Robby, Meghan, and Li'l Robby are meeting us there too.

Now don't go thinking I'm driving 12 hours with just my kid.

We are riding to Florida in 1 hour increments with my parents.

That's right, approximately one hour stints of travel between stops at rest stops and Starbucks.

I may die.

That's how Jane and Bob roll.

With their black tea addictions and overactive urethras.

I plan on sitting in the backseat pretending that I'm a teenage mother who is completely financially dependent upon her parents.

Bob, I'll take a soy chai tea latte for me and a cake pop for my child.

Wish me luck!   

Richmond Visit

On our journey home from Williamsburg we stopped in Richmond for a little bit.

We stopped at The Quirk Hotel and Gallery on Broad Street.  I wanted to stay the night, but Trinity was ready to go home.  I could only play my birthday card for so long:)  

Speaking of my birthday, T and I planned a trip for later this summer to San Francisco for 6 nights! 

He is taking me to see Hamilton in San Fran, coordinated with Court.  She will be our tour guide for part of our trip and we are seeing the play with her too!  Court is fancy and scored 6 Hamilton tickets with her impressive ticket acquisition skills.  I could not be more excited!

Now back to this trip.

The Quirk Hotel is just amazing and like totally pink.  It's a smaller version of The Grand Budapest Hotel, a great Wes Anderson movie.  

The hotel is connected to its own small art gallery.  G blended in with the pink walls.  We bought some goodies in the gift shop.

I made my peeps pose on this glorious pink couch.  Trinity is a sport!

We then went to Charm School Social Club for ice cream down the street.

It had a retro school house vibe, which was adorable.  

Genevieve had cereal flavored ice cream, T had cookies and cream, and I had Thai tea.  It was amazing.

I want this door.

I enjoyed this chocolate bar alone on my porch with a glass of Riesling.  It was fabulous.  Candied roses in dark chocolate?

Don't mind if I do!

Treat yo'self!

Lastly, Trinity and G have been high jacking my phone lately and taking selfies.  I found this one seconds before my yoga class started the other night, which did not make for a very zen like beginning of class:)