Beach Excursions

Our first getaway from the house was down the island to Fort Gaines.

MG's favorite spot was the gift shop.... didn't blame her- it was air conditioned.




Alice and Henry found a passage way and all the cousins followed them.

Little did the parents know, the aforementioned passage way had no guardrail, and we were thankful no one fell 20 feet to the bottom.

One evening we drove across Mobile Bay to meet up with Brent's mom, eat dinner, and go swimming in the bay.

Too bad a big windy storm blew through at the same time we wanted to swim.

Luckily, Brent knew of a covered pavilion at a great local park where we could enjoy our dinner while the storm blew over and went back to the bay after we ate.

Henry wasn't too excited.

Margaret loved jumping off the dock.

Kate got this great pic of Thomas, Alice, and Ella.

Sam and Addie got a good shot, too.

Love MG looking up at Tom... wish I wasn't looking off to who knows where.

Crazies.



Finally, we went to the aquarium on the island.

Best part of the aquarium was this table set up with sea animals that had been soaked in formaldehyde. Kids loved it... reminded me of sophomore year biology class.

"I NEED to hold that snake!"

Louis Beach Trip 2011

The first week of July we headed down to Dauphin Island, AL for some Louis time and relaxation on the beach.

It was our 1st year to go to this spot, and I must say we were pleased. Practically had the whole beach to ourselves.

The 10 hour drive from Shreveport wasn't that bad. Kids did really well. Tom and I got along.. most of the time :)

Pulled up to the beach house a little before dinner and the fun began.

Here's a smorgasbord of pictures from our week.

(We took a couple of "excursions" and I'll do a separate post for those.)

(like the low light and spots all over my lens?? can't wait for my camera to get back!!)

Margaret Gray loved the beach! They hit it off from the start.

Henry and the beach got along much better than they did 2 years ago when he wouldn't even touch the sand.

The 1st morning... Margaret also loved what the humidity did to her hair.

A bunch of beach pics:

Mary Pat- the buckets were a hit!

Didn't quite turn out like I wanted it to.

PawPaw and PatPat joined us for the last 2 days.

PawPaw organized his traditional treasure hunt.

Henry still talks about Pirate "Red Beer".

Alice and Margaret getting their pirate's booty.

It was pretty hard for the cousins to sport their pirate dinosaur hats for the pic... was quite windy.

The 7 cousins who were at the beach the entire week with PawPaw and PatPat.

Gabe, Arden, and Isabelle were there the 1st few days. We missed Evie, Jackson, and Dillan!

And here's a bunch of family pics:

L-R

Addie, Isabelle, Alice, MG, Ella, H, Gabe, Arden, Sam, and Thomas

No one was crying this year!

L-R

Kate, Brent, and kids

Us

Alex, Jim, and kids (one more on the way due in Sept!)
Ross, Jenny, and kids

We had a great time and are blessed that we have family to enjoy a vacation with!

Lagersen Cousin Time

The kids got to see their Lagersen cousins briefly last month.

The 1st visit was with Liam. My sister was coming through town, so we met at a McDonald's for breakfast. Henry was confused why we were going to Old McDonald's, but quickly figured out it was for food, folks, and fun.

Sarah shot these pics with her phone:

They had a lot of fun running around together.

Margaret Gray didn't want to stop playing to get in the picture.

Then, on our way to the beach, we stopped in Shreveport for the night.

We went over to Elizabeth's so H & MG could play with Madeline, Sarah Grace, and Emma ...

.... Then headed on to Madeline's "art show".
She had been at art camp that week.



And finally, went to dinner to celebrate Liam's birthday.
It's a family tradition to go to a local hibachi restaurant... it's real kid friendly (not really)... but tradition is tradition. Henry still talks about the food being on fire.

Kids looking in the fish pond while we waited for our table.

Yay for cousins!