Who needs a vacation?!!

I do! I do!!!

A couple of weeks ago we loaded up in our new VAN and drove to Destin, Florida. I have to admit I was absolutely dreading the drive, based on our past driving experiences with Finley. But there's just something about the van...and our drive down and back was actually pleasant! (whaaaaaaaat?!) Isn't that amazing!? We had a great drive and made good time down and back. It may have been the awesome built-in DVD player...

We had intentions leaving the house at 5 AM, but Finley ended up waking us up at around 3, and I couldn't get back to sleep. So we decided to go ahead and get up and get on down to Florida. We stopped somewhere in Alabama at Chick-fil-A around 730 in the morning and ironically ran into an old fraternity brother of Josh's who was also on their way down to the beach...and from the same county that we live in!

Needless to say, we made it down to Destin by early afternoon, got our groceries and unpacked the car in time to run down to the beach for a few minutes to satisfy two little boys who just had to get their toes in the sand and water! Keagan managed to fall into the water...  So up we went to get ready for supper at Dewey Destin's (GO! It is delish!) and we ate outside and enjoyed boats and the sunset. And the boys enjoyed their shrimp and hushpuppies!

Pictures on our balcony as the sun starts to go down! I do believe I have two little boys very excited to be at the beach!

The next morning I was up super early. I didn't really want to be, but I have to admit that I was excited too. And there is really nothing better than watching the sun rise over the ocean. So since I was up already I went ahead and grabbed a blanket and my camera and sat on the balcony. I will admit that this was the only morning I was up this early but it was a great vacation kick-off for me. And when the little boys finally joined me out on the balcony the party got started! Check out their sleepy yet excited faces!! Love it!

It wasn't long after the above pictures were taken that the incessant asking to go down to the beach began. And I should really emphasize the word incessant. In fact, this lasted alllllllllllll week. I am glad to know they enjoyed and looked forward to going down to the beach.

Keagan wasted zero time getting in the water. Josh, too. Finn, was a little bit more reserved, and hardly got in the ocean at all the whole time but was content to play in the shallow waves. And do yoga-like moves.

Grandma gifted Finley a really awesome sand castle building kit for his birthday. Let me just say: hands-down the best. Josh made a great castle with it! 

Now's where the fun begins and I don't know where my pictures end and Keagan's start. Well, I do...but the line is fuzzy because my 5-year old is quite the little photog. Several years ago, we invested in a waterproof-sandproof-shockproof point and shoot camera for our beach adventures. I decided to let Keagan use it to take pictures of fish. Well, that evolved rapidly into Keagan being the unofficial photographer during our beach vacation. It also means that there were no fewer than 352 selfies of Keagan (and Keagan + family member) on the SD card.  He also had no problems asking perfect strangers, and his brother, to take his picture with certain backgrounds...like a cool sand castle! Here are some of his pictures...but know that the majority of beach pictures in this and the next couple blogs are his doing!

 
Before we left Kentucky I purchased a selfie-stick. I felt kind of stupid purchasing it, but I wanted to be in some of the pictures, too! And I didn't know at the time that I would have my own pint-sized paparazzi, or I wouldn't have wasted the $5. But we had a good time with it and got a few cute pictures. 

I really just love being on the beach. It just does something to me...and so good for my soul. It is my own mental health escape...

We got lucky again this year and got the boys to nap on the beach almost every day. It took a lot more work this trip than it ever has and we did a lot of bribing, and the naps weren't nearly long enough for my liking...but they slept! Which meant a small break for the grownups, and a better evening. 

 ...

I should be embarrassed.

I mean, really. It is absurd on so many levels that I a) horde cookies, packages upon packages, while I wait for the perfect amount to blog about, b) that I hide them in the pantry so no one gets to them first, and c) even have this obsession in the first place.

But I cannot stop.

I think, however, I will try and make myself less absurd by just blogging about the limited edition Oreos as they come out on store shelves.

We'll see. Right now I have a refrigerator and freezer FULL of Oreos. If you want to try any of these flavors come on over!!!

So, here are my reviews of these cookies!!!  And I liked them all. So in the order that I tasted them:

Brownie Batter
These really do taste like brownie batter. And I love brownie batter. So what's not to love?!! Josh, who doesn't care for brownies (he's strange...I cannot understand it) didn't care for these. I suppose that if you like brownies or batter or both, then you will also fancy these. Otherwise, you probably won't. But then you wouldn't be purchasing anything with the words "brownie batter" on it!

S'mores
These are simply AMAZING. Who doesn't just love graham cracker + marshmallow + chocolate. These are also good nuked for 5 seconds in the microwave...the only thing missing is the char from a burnt marshmallow (I hear a lot of you saying ICK). Josh, who really only likes the plain-Jane double stuff black-and-white oreos, even liked these. I think his exact words were "those are pretty good!" I believe that these may eventually not be limited edition. But don't take my word on this...

Key Lime Pie
While Josh thought these were too tart, I thought they were spectacular. (Are you seeing a trend...I love them all). I love tart cookies and adding the graham cracker cookie to the key lime cream is genius. 

Cotton Candy
These are pretty sweet, like extra sweet. But I love cotton candy anything (as in, I will buy cotton candy ice cream, cotton candy sno-cones, cotton candy candy) so it is only fitting that I also buy and like the cotton candy Oreos. And the blue and pink cream just calls out to me. The boys also really like these. Josh thought they were OK only and said with his nose wrinkled that it tasted a lot like cotton candy. Amazing revelation. But I found out this weekend when the boys were dying for bags of cotton candy (like, they literally looked like and acted like they would die if they didn't get any while we were in Bass Pro...sheesh.) that Josh did not like it. Whaaaaat?!! Who is this man I married...??? No brownies and no cotton candy!? 

Lemon
Another yummy and tart cookie. These are vanilla cookies with lemon cream, vs the graham cracker cookie in the key lime pie ones. I absolutely love lemon cooler cookies and these remind me of those. There is just something refreshing about citrus foods. I don't think these are limited edition, but I had never had them. I see them everywhere now...

Red Velvet
OK, these are my least favorite of them all. But with that said, I should also disclose that I have almost finished a whole package by myself. So they aren't all that bad. I just really don't care for red velvet. It's ok, but that's it: just OK. Now Josh liked these, but then he said that he liked the S'mores much better. 

Pumpkin Spice
Oh yes, Pumpkin Spice. These were limited edition last year, and I see they have made their way back onto shelves this fall. They are good, but everything is pumpkin spice these days (and I do mean Everything. I just bought some pumpkin spice bagels. Strange, but good).  I think I will finish these off once I get to November...it is still summer in my mind.

Root Beer Float
This is honestly a strange cookie flavor. I don't know why this would ever come up, but I have a feeling the flavor team was probably looking to make a different flavor and stumbled upon this and thought, wow! this tastes like a root beer float! Now I love root beer flavored things (much like the cotton candy...) and so I was excited to stumble upon these! And I think they taste pretty good...but I still believe it is a strange flavor. 

When I finished taste testing all of these (and yes, I did them all in one afternoon. I had some emotional things I was working on at the time...) I looked back at my pile and laughed at myself. Really!?! This is absurd. Oh well...I never want anyone to think I am conventional. :)

First Day(s) of School

So. It has been a while.... I apologize, and I hope I can get you back into my good graces!! Life has really given me a lot of ups and down-downs lately and been insanely busy, and I have been struggling to keep my head above water.. But I have carved out a tiny bit of time to crank my blog back into working order.

Starting back up about where I left off.

The boys started school (well, preschool) in early August. They are both going to the same preschool, but there were staggered start dates to give the little ones more attention before the big kids joined in. So Finley started on a Wednesday, and then Keagan started on Friday.

Finn was beyond excited to begin preschool. He had watched his brother having a blast all last year and asked us constantly when he could go. I am pleased to say that he hardly looked back when he got out of the car. He boogied himself all the way to the doors!  

I let the boys pick out their own backpacks this year, from a few different choices/sources, and we got their names embroidered on them. I got a bunch of picks of Finley's "pack-pack" but didn't get any of Keagan's...will explain later.

Finn loved hanging out in the carpool line. Clearly no anxiety about his first day of school!!

Sadly, the afternoon of Finley's first day of school I found out that my Grandpa passed away. And I ended up booking a flight out to California the very next morning, and had to miss Keagan's first day of school. Being that I didn't leave specific instructions of exactly what I wanted photographed, I have to say that I am tickled that Josh at least captured Keagan with his "First day of Preschool" sign. 

When I got the text from Josh that contained this picture, I swooned. My boys are so beautiful...it hurt me to be away from them. But their daddy did a spectacular job getting them off to their first (and second!) day of school. 

This is a crop of a much bigger picture of Keagan with his classmates on the first day of school. But because I didn't think it would be cool to post a pic of all the other kiddos, I just got Keagan. He looks so little to me sitting on the rug. If you could see the whole picture, you would agree with me 100%.

My sweet boys are simply in love with school. They love to tell me everything about it every day. I hope this enthusiasm sticks around for a while!!! Because next year Keagan starts the big Kindergarten. Yikes.