Fireworks and ear plugs!

Before I get to the mountain of pictures from our vacation, I want to first include the 4th of July shots. We were preparing to leave late that night for Gulf Shores, but we did have a mini celebration before we left (there were 4th of July outfits that needed to worn and pictures taken =)). Fortunately, there was a huge fireworks display in the neighborhood next to us to watch, as well I believe that all of our surrounding neighbors spent thousands of dollars on fireworks!! We just sat in our culdesac and it sounded as if we were in a war zone. Poor Claire, she had no fingernails left by the end of the night from her nervousness. Here some cute pictures!

Most of the pictures, neither child is smiling, VERY uneasy about all of the popping and booming surrounding them =), but they look adorable in their Red, White and Blue!!
Now we are happy, Daddy saved the day and found some ear plugs!!!

...and Owen is out!

Beach "Bacation" Teaser

Who are these sweet babies on the beach?? =)

These pics were taken the first day we were here, the first time for Claire and Owen to ever see the ocean and the beach!! We are packing up this morning and going to hit the looooong road (12 hours) to home. I cannot even begin tell you how great of a time we have had this week!! MANY MANY MANY more pictures to come...stay tuned...

You know you are a Mom when...

...you have to be held back from giving it to a group of teenagers that are setting off fireworks right near where your children (and others) are OBVIOUSLY scared and uneasy as it is watching the big fireworks show...

Yep, I was ready to knock some heads =). Last night, we went to watch the Rogers Fireworks show and we parked where we always have for years, in the old high school stadium parking lot. Claire was very very anxious and not really sure about this whole fireworks thing, but was trying to get excited about them. Owen, from past experiences, did not like them and holds on like a baby monkey =). So we are watching the show last night, Owen in my lap, seems to be okay, and Claire sitting in the front seat of the van, but with the windows down, actually enjoying it. Sterling came with Keith and Becky, he was sitting in his Nana's lap, just fine. Then all of a sudden, we hear a round of fireworks go off just to the left of us, you know the really really loud ones that almost hurt your ears. The ones that are not even pretty, they are just set off for noise, RIDICULOUS!! Before I know it, I am stomping right over there, Owen on hip, ready to "politely" ask them to refrain from their show until after the big show as we have young children watching. But, Mom and Shane made me come back and did not let me say anything, they were probably right saying that I would only worsen the situation if I asked them to stop. So I sat back down and they actually did not set off anymore. After I was back in my chair, I had to laugh as I realized that I was up and on my way over there before I even could stop myself as my natural response was to protect my babies! Everyone was giving me a hard time, it was pretty funny! Here are some really cute pics of the kids from last night...

Owen LOVED looking at the football field. There was a soccer team practicing on one end and the minor league football team on the other. He kept going over there saying "Foball..DEEEASSSE" (football, please).

We were so proud that Claire actually held the sparkler, at the beginning of the night, she was hiding.

Sterling was a pro!

Here is Owen watching the show...

...and Claire (she insisted Poppy stay nearby)

We are leaving for our trip (12 hour drive to Gulf Shores) in just less than 12 hours!! Off to pack and get ready!!

Whoever said "Sleep like a baby..."

...obviously never had one. This sums up us this morning...I have been a slow blogger this week, I have been SLOOOOW at everything this week. Claire and Owen have made an official decision for the Brown household, NO ONE needs sleep. I am not quite sure how this decision was made, but me and Shane want to dispute! We have not had a full night's sleep since before Friday night. Let's start with Owen - He has never been a big sleeper, throw a cold in and you have a week of round the clock TV. He has been waking up every night about 12 (just after we fall asleep, nice huh) and is absolutely furious with the world. Throwing the fit of all fits and there is nothing we can do to console him but sit up and watch TV until he falls back asleep. Neither me or Shane can do anything with him. One night I tried to just put him back to bed after I got him up, gave him a drink and all seemed well...he threw a HUGE fit and climbed out of his crib! I was going up the stairs because I noticed he was getting quieter and I wanted to peek in and see if he was finally going to sleep, nope, he met me at the top of the stairs!!! Last night was so bad, I stayed up with him and watched a few episodes of the new Denise Richards reality show (she is so STUPID, but you get sucked in). I think I was asleep by 2. Now Claire is another story - Claire is a night owl. She could probably stay up all night if we let her. We let her watch a movie or cartoons in her room while she is supposed to be falling asleep (terrible habit, I know). Well, we set the TV timer for a couple hours so it turns off on its own, after she is definitely asleep, we are talking it turns off after midnight. Almost every night this week, we are woken up by Claire, "My TVs off". What??!! It is 1am and you want to watch The Incredibles AGAIN!! Then when we tell her no...you probably know how this goes!! One night, I finally had Owen asleep in the living room (watching the Food Network, about 3am) and just as I was making my way up slowly off the couch, Claire greets me with "Can I have a snack?". Owen shoots up like a cannon...Like I said, It's been a LOOOONG week!!

Now I am off to drink a few diet cokes for the caffeine, after I clean up the red pen marks off of the chaise lounge here in my office, courtesy of Owen while I was writing this blog...FUN FUN FUN!! Oh, and I just checked on him while he was supposed to be watching Playhouse Disney, he dumped the entire sleeve of crackers in the floor and is smashing them in the carpet...I think I might run away...better yet, we are going to Krispy Kreme =).

We leave for our vacation Friday night, 12 hour drive to Gulf Shores. I am sooo looking forward to a vacation...

I have started taking these kind of pictures for documentation...