PCB 2014: Pier Park

One night we headed over to Pier Park to eat a quick dinner and let the kids ride some rides!  They loved it!  I got the picture below as we were walking from where we ate dinner over to the rides.  So sweet!  

Emmy was excited!:)  

They both were such big girls and were ready to jump on any ride!  Hannah wasn't about to let Emily do something without her if she could help it.   

Fun, fun, fun! 

The picture below is of the girls waiting to ride the boats.  You can just see the excitement in their stance.:)  

Cuties!  

This sweet girl just enjoyed all the activity.  By the end of the night she started getting a little fussy, so we had to keep the stroller moving, but I'd say she was very patient with her big sisters while they were having fun!  

Love the carousel!  

Hannah insisted that Uncle Stanley not put his arm around her.  She said "I do it by myself."  Ha!  We hear that A LOT around here.  

I actually hate the teacups.  I have bad memories from my childhood...all the spinning makes me sick every time.  I was planning on walking right past them, because I dislike them so much I can't imagine anyone liking them (you know the old saying...if Mama's cold everyone has to put on a jacket.:) ), but Emily kept asking to ride them...so we decided to let her.  She ended up riding them with this cute little boy.  He spun her around and around.  She had so much fun and laughed throughout the whole thing!  It was cute to watch!  

If you had asked Emily before this night what she was most excited about riding she would have said the Ferris Wheel.  She had talked and talked about the Ferris Wheel.  We saved it for the end of the night.  Mimi and Uncle Stanley were excited about riding it too.  Mimi and Hannah were going to ride together and Uncle Stan and Emily.  They were the very next people in line (it was a long, slow moving line) and Emily looked up with a very concerned look on her face and asked if the building right beside the Ferris Wheel was a bathroom.  I told her no and hoped maybe she wouldn't say anything else about it.  About 30 seconds later she got out of line and said she really had to go to the bathroom.  Poor girl!  I felt terrible for her.  It was the end of the night, Claire was fussy, the bathrooms were a little walk away, they were next in line, and I knew we wouldn't have time to wait through the line again.  I ran with her to the bathrooms (during the run, Emily said, "Hold on tee-tee! I'm coming!" Ha!) Mimi, Uncle Stanley and Hannah got on the Ferris Wheel since they were next in line, and Emily and I got back just as they were getting off.  Hannah loved it!  Emily was a little sad about not getting to ride, but we quickly told her we were about to ride our last ride, the train...so she got excited about that!  

Our little family getting ready to ride the cute train!  

Emily decided she wanted to ride in her own car.  The four of us sat together in the black car (above) and Emily wanted to get in this blue car right behind us.  Big girl!  She waved at people and smiled the whole time!  

About the time we got everyone buckled in the car to go to the condo Emily realized that she hadn't gotten to ride the Ferris Wheel and we were leaving.  And the wailing began.  Ugh.  We felt terrible.  She was a combination of exhausted and disappointed and it was pitiful.  After we got home Bert stayed outside with her for a few minutes just holding her and talking to her.  He promised her that before we left Panama City Beach he would take her back to the Ferris Wheel.  

We only had 3 days left after this and they were pretty jam packed at night, but we were definitely making time for Emily's Ferris Wheel ride.  

Emily and her Daddy about to go ride the Ferris Wheel.  (The rest of us stayed at the condo as we had just gotten back from playing at the waterpark all day.)

They had fun!  And I learned a lesson...just go ahead and have your 4 year old take a potty break before they get ready to stand in a long line.  

We had such a fun night at Pier Park...for sure a highlight of the trip!  

PCB 2014: Race Cars, Water Park and Dinner Fun

We like traditions in our family and driving race cars in PCB is definitely a tradition.  This year Emily was tall enough to ride with her Daddy, which she was sooo excited about.  I wasn't totally sure about it at first as my Dad, brother and husband have a reputation for being a little rough out there, but they were all on their best behavior with my baby girl out on the track.  Hannah jumped in the picture with us, but she didn't get to ride.  Maybe next year...

My mom snapped this candid shot of us all waiting in line.  Bert and Stanley did a lot of shoulder carrying on this trip.  My eyes are closed so don't look at me, but I thought it was sweet of everyone else, especially Hannah.  

This is what Claire did while we waited in the long line.  Sweet baby. 

It's blurry, but this is a picture of Bert and Emily getting ready to take off.  She had so much fun!  Her Daddy loved her riding with him too!  

We also spent a day at Shipwreck Island Waterpark.  This is definitely one of my favorite things we do on vacation.  I just love waterparks!  We got one of the huge cabanas again this year that is right in the kiddie section.  You have to be one of the first in the park to get one of these, but it was so perfect for us again this year so that we could keep the babies out of the sun during naps, breaks and lunch.  

As we were leaving the park I asked Emily what her favorite slide was and she said the elephant.  It's a really fast one and she did it many times.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of her doing it though.  Then, I asked Hannah what her favorite slide was (I thought she'd probably say the elephant slide because she often like to be just like her big sister) and she said the duck.  Little cutie.  I just happened to have a picture of her on the duck slide.  

Bert and Claire found a little shade!  She obviously doesn't smile all the time, but she really is a happy baby!  

I had to keep a hat on my fair-skinned-hair-is-slowly-but-surely-coming-in 2-year-old!:)  It didn't slow her down!  

It was such a fun day at the waterpark!  

One of my other favorite things we do on vacation is when we all go out to eat together. We usually do this twice during the week, and this year we tried a new place!

Group photo at dinner...

Our sweet Hannah is talking so much these days!  It's so fun to have conversations with her little two year old self.  

Uncle Stanley, Emily and her mermaid.  Emily has a new love for The Little Mermaid.  We watched the movie many times over vacation.  

This was the sunset as we were driving home from dinner.  

Beautiful!  

PCB 2014: Edgewater

We headed down to Panama City Beach the week of July 4th this year!  We had such a great trip!  We're so thankful we were able to go and spend this time with family!  Precious, precious memories!  

Here is Claire waiting on all of us to get ready to head out the door to the beach.  Take whatever time you think it should take for us to get ready to walk out the door (everyone dressed, sunscreened, pottied, lunches fixed, bags packed) and multiply it by 5.  That's about how long it took us.  The girls were patient though and it was very worth the effort!  

Eating some lunch in the shade.  Notice Hannah's feet up on her Daddy's knee.  They are there for a reason.  She did NOT want them in the sand.  She said over and over "I don't yike the sand."  Haha!:)  

Feet are still up...

Hannah really wasn't a huge fan of the ocean either.  She had to be held and even then she wouldn't crack a smile.  If you ask her if she likes the pool or the sand better she'll happily tell you "the pool."  

I'd definitely say Claire enjoyed her first trip to the beach.  She took several naps out there, enjoyed the breeze, sand and water, but I think her favorite part was just being with her favorite people (that was my favorite part anyway).  

The beach is one of Mimi's favorite places to be!  (My dad is not the hugest fan...he'd much rather the pool, but he's a good sport.) She's working on passing her love of all things beach on to her grandbabies.  I think she's succeeded with Emily (definitely still has some work to do with Hannah, and Claire's up for debate).  Emily LOVES the sand and ocean.  She loves building sand castles, running into the water and splashing in the waves.  I'm pretty sure she could have sand from head to toe and be as happy as a lark.  It was so much fun to just watch her play!!  

Me and my sweet girl...

We also enjoyed lots of pool time!  Hannah has made so much progress with her swimming abilities from last year.  She loved the pool last year, but this year she was jumping in, happily going under, swimming to us.  We were so proud!  

The waterfall is always a big hit! 

Claire decided she couldn't wait another minute before she took a nap, so she just went to sleep in her float.  Papa Stan was in charge of holding her legs and he just floated her all around the pool.  She was out!  As she floated around many people were jealous of her adorable, peaceful slumber.:)  

The next two pictures are of Bert and Uncle Stanley throwing Hannah and Emily up in the air.  I just love the smiles on their faces...so much fun! 

Mimi and Papa with 3 of their grandbabies.  We missed Katherine, Brett and Jacob this year, but we're already looking forward to next year when we have everyone there!  

Sweet, sweet Claire!

She actually fell asleep in her float again another day.  She's the first one of my kids to ever fall asleep while in the pool.  3rd child = laid back....(Claire - "Mom, if you're not going to let me go back to the condo to take a nap, I'll just nap here.")

Another game that the girls liked to play in the pool was for Stan and Bert to let them stand in their hands.  Hannah was so good at it.  She would lock her legs and wouldn't fall until one of them made her drop.  She has some serious balancing skills.  Go girl!  

2014 Watts Family Pool Picture

It was such a fun week....we love Edgewater Beach Resort! More vacation posts to come!  

Claire - 6 Months

Our Claire is 6 months old!!  She couldn't be any cuter or sweeter if she tried!  She had a great 6 months check-up...here are her stats:

Weight:  17 lbs 11 oz - 81st percentile
Height: 26.5 inches - 78th percentile

She's had a growth spurt...she's two inches longer than she was at her 4 month check-up!  Just for comparison Hannah was 18.9 lbs at her 6 month and Emily was 17.1.  So Claire's right smack dab in the middle.  Sweet girl!

Eating: She's nursing 5 times a day, eating rice cereal in the morning and a veggie for dinner.

Sleeping:  She's sleeping about 9 - 9 1/2 hours at night.  I put her down at about 9:30 (after her last feeding) and she sleeps until 7ish.  Her naps have improved!!  Woohoo!  She naps about 3 times a day.  The morning nap is her best nap lasting between an hour to an hour and a half.  The afternoon naps are still a little up in the air, but I've seen progress!  She sleeps in her crib, in her sleep sack and on her stomach.  I lay her down awake and on her back but she quickly rolls over to her stomach.  A few weeks ago she decided that she would prefer to sleep with her face planted (completely smushed) into her mattress.  Ugh.  I did not like finding her like that.  She was obviously getting air, but I had to look hard to figure out how.  I would roll her back to her side or back, but she would roll right back over to her face.  Thankfully, she's not really sleeping in that position as much anymore.  She still sleeps on her stomach, but turns her head.  Thankful!

Other Fun Facts about our 6 month old:
- She's rolling back and forth these days and one time I saw her keep rolling in the same direction a couple times.  I'm not sure what she was trying to get to, but I was impressed!
-She's sitting up for longer periods of time. I always have a boppy or pillow behind her though b/c she's sure to fall...it's just a matter of when.
-She's had a hair growth spurt too in the last few weeks.  It looks like it has a bit of a redish tint.
-She LOVES to be talked to and will smile in a second when someone starts talking to her.
-She's a big fan of sticking her tongue out.
-She doesn't hesitate to grab a handful of hair, much to her sisters' dismay.
-She's not a big fan of the Ergo these days.  She just can't get comfortable.
-She really likes her excersaucer and bumbo.  Really don't know what I'd do without the bumbo.
-She's such a cuddly little thing.  She doesn't nap with me holding her as much as she used to, so I enjoy it when she does.

Claire, you are an absolute joy!  We couldn't be more thankful for you!  Happy 6 months!