PCB 2015 - Pier Park

Miracle Strip at Pier Park is another fun night!  They have soooo many fun rides for the kids.  Hannah asked every night after we went if we could go back.:)  

We took this picture of the kids before we left.  They did so great this week.  They got along all week. They all slept though the night and all took a nap every day.  One screaming child could have woken up the whole condo, so we appreciate their cooperation.:)  Sweet babies! 

Claire got to ride some of the rides this year and was super excited about it!  

Hannah was so sweet to Claire.  At one point she put her arm around Claire's shoulders and was trying to help her ring the bell.  She's such a great big sister!

Claire got to ride with Emmy for the next ride.  Every 30 seconds or so Emily kept turning around to check on her and talk to her.  It really is so sweet to see them loving on each other.  

Hannah asked me several times during the ride on the merry-go-round to "let go of her."  Ummm....no thank you.  She was on the outside horse, going up and down, and that thing actually gets pretty high.  She finally gave up and enjoyed the ride.  

After the merry-go-round it was time for the train ride through the park.  Our family sat in one car and the Sanders sat in another.  The girls waved and smiled at everyone we passed.  

Elsa just happened to be in the park the same night we were.  Hannah was beside herself she was so excited.  Elsa took a really long time to talk to them, she even danced around with them and let them hold the train of her dress while they all twirled around together.  This was probably Hannah's favorite thing of the night.  I had to pull her away, but it was so fun to see her so happy!  

The next and last stop of the night was the roller coaster.  This obviously wasn't in the little kid section, and we probably wouldn't have thought about letting them ride it, but Brett wanted to take Jacob on it if he was tall enough.  Once we got over there we realized Emily met the height requirement just barely (Jacob is several inches taller than Em so he was definitely good to go).  She was soooooo excited!  

This was a REAL roller coaster, y'all!  It's crazy to me that we have a kid old enough/tall enough to ride one.  Bert said that after they came down the first big hill that she yelled over to him "this is SO awesome!" and was smiling from ear to ear (while clutching his hands! Ha!).

 

We had a fun night at Miracle Strip and a fun week in Panama City Beach!!  A few nights ago at dinner (a week after we got back from the beach) we asked the kids what their favorite thing was that they did today. We ask that question almost every night at dinner and love to hear their little responses.  Tonight Hannah thought for a second and said "my favorite thing was going to the beach with Jacob."  Ha!  That didn't happen today, but close enough!:)    

PCB 2015 - Shipwreck Island

Shipwreck Island Waterpark is another one of our favorite things to do in Panama City.  We had a fun day and managed to wear the kids (and adults) slap out.:)  

Papa Stan was our main baby holder.  He got lots of Ressie time under the cabana, letting her nap on his chest or just playing with her.  

Mimi played with Claire for a lot of the morning.  She even took a morning nap (which she never does any more) on Mimi while they floated around the lazy river.  

The 3 year old cuties were taking a forced water break.  Had to keep them hydrated.:)

Hannah loves her Uncle Stan! 

Bert and me with our babies.  

They love this slide because the can all go down together.  

The slide below was their favorite this year though.  Emily and Hannah did it approximately 782 times.  

Claire was ready for her afternoon nap so Bert took her on the lazy river to see if her could get her to go to sleep.  She was out in no time.  Bert said not long after she went to sleep someone accidentally threw a tube and it landed on Claire's head and she didn't even flinch.  Ha! I love this picture!

Papa loves playing with Claire!  

My big girls sharing a frozen lemonade.  

We had a fun day at the waterpark!!!  The Roberts/Sanders/Watts crowd was there when it opened and there when it closed.  We didn't want to miss out on a minute of fun!  One of my favorite traditions!:)  

PCB 2015 - Roberts/Sanders/Watts Vacay

As usual, our family has been SO excited about our annual beach trip Panama City!  This year we were all 12 able to go which made it extra special.  My dad was only able to stay for the first half of the trip and then had to get back to work, but we packed in as much as we could while he was there and we were so thankful he was able to be there for a lot of it.  

Our first beach day could NOT have been more perfect....perfectly white beaches, perfectly clean water (no seaweed), a great breeze and calm water.  Seriously, the waves were just barely rolling in.  Some of the bigger kids that were wanting to ride the waves in on their boogie boards were probably disappointed that day, but it was nice for our family with all our small children.  We didn't have to worry about them getting knocked around by the waves.  Beautiful!!  

We stayed in the water most of the morning.  It just felt so refreshing!  

Watts family photo plus Katherine feeding Ressie a bottle.  This is the first year Emily has put on her sunglasses and actually kept them on for extended periods of time.  Cuties!  

My brother gets a Best Uncle Award after this trip.  You would think being in a condo for a week with 5 kids 5 and under might be a little tiring/overwhelming for a single guy, but he never seemed to get tired of the kids climbing on him, singing, dancing, or just being loud. He was constantly helping us with one of them, and it was a huge help!  Thank you so much, Stan, we love you!  

My sweet mom and dad, who make this whole trip possible for all of us.  They're the best.  

Isn't Ressie the cutest?  She mostly stayed in the shade, but she had fun watching everyone!  

It's hard for me to believe that Claire was Ressie's age last year when we were at the beach.  This year she was an active 18 month old, full of energy and a whole lot of fun!  

Mimi and Papa with all 5 of their grandbabies.  Emily (5), Jacob (4), Hannah (3), Claire (18 months) and Ressie (6 months).  

Hannah loves standing on her Daddy's hands in the pool, and she's good at it too!  

Papa flipped Emily and Jacob many times one afternoon and I think they would have let him do it for hours. Hannah didn't want in on that action. 

One morning the guys and Jacob went deep sea fishing and my mom kicked Katherine and I out of the house to go have a few kid-free hours.  Katherine got a hair cut, we went to Starbucks, and did a little shopping.  We had fun just hanging out.  As we were walking out the door I snapped this picture.  Ressie was upstairs napping and Mimi was painting my girls' nails.  So sweet.  

Sweet kids.  Katherine told a few people after we got home that this week was the best week of Jacob's life. I think I could say the same for our girls.  They had so much fun together.  

Claire brought Jacob a book and then proceeded to plop down right in his lap.  He stopped watching his movie so that he could read it to her.  Sweet things. 

We tried two different nights to take the kids to go ride race cars, both nights it started raining right as we were driving over.  We finally got to ride them on the last day we were in Panama City.  We were there as soon as they opened that morning and then headed back for some fun in the sun.  This was Hannah's first year riding race cars and she loved it!  

One morning Bert took Emily and Hannah out for a Daddy-Daughter breakfast date!  They loved it!  

Boon Docks has become one of our favorite restaurants so we had to get that in before my dad had to head out.  We had a loooong wait (and we were there by 5:15), but the kids were troopers.  

Claire and Papa matched!  

We had plenty of time for a few pictures.:)  

When we finally got to our table Hannah picked up her menu and started "reading". Cutie!  

All 12 of us!  

So thankful that we got to spend this week together.  So, so many awesome memories were made! Thankful for family!

Washing the Van

Bert had the girls help him wash the van a couple weeks ago.  They had fun, fun, fun!  

He had gotten a rag for both Emily and Hannah, but hadn't gotten one for Claire because he thought she'd be too busy just walking around, checking everything out.  That lasted for about 2.5 seconds....Claire kept diving her hands down into the soapy water to try to find her rag, then she decided to try and take one of her sister's rags.  

Mommy went inside to get her one too.:)

E and H love their little ballerina bathing suits.  

It took Bert a little longer than he was expecting (with all the "help" that he had), but in the end we had a clean van and happy children. Win, Win!

Evening Walks

One of my ALL TIME favorite things to do is to take walks around our neighborhood in the evening as a family.  We've probably taken about a million since we moved into our house almost 3 years ago.  We have a certain route and it takes us a little over 30 minutes.  Some weeks we take three or so walks a week and some weeks we're doing good to get in one.  We usually take our walks after dinner and then come back and start getting the kids ready for bed.  It is such a relaxing time for me to just enjoy being outside and getting to chat with Bert while the kids are all strapped in and enjoying the walk as well. Our neighborhood has a couple of really big hills in it, but for the most part it is an awesome place to take walks. We have a pretty big neighborhood (a little over a hundred houses) and on most walks we see several of our neighbors out and about.  We love catching up with the ones that we are closer to and just saying hey to new neighbors.  Everyone likes our red wagon and many people have made comments over the years about wishing that they were being pulled around in one.:)

We started letting Claire ride in the wagon a few months ago and it is now her favorite place to ride.  And by "her favorite place to ride" I mean that she pitches a fit if she doesn't get to ride in it.  Thankfully her big sisters think it's a treat to get to ride in the stroller (since they almost never do anymore) so they take turns getting to ride in it. 

I know that as the kids get bigger our nights will get even busier (activities, homework, church), so that's why I'm cherishing these sweet walks with my family, and we take them every chance we get.  

A Day Trip to See Friends

Last Saturday we headed out for a day trip to see friends.  We started out the day with a FROZEN birthday party for Emily Dickerson.  Emily's mom (Misty) has been one of my best friends since kindergarten.  They had a visit from Elsa at the party and my girls were super excited!!  Elsa read them a story, sang them a song, gave them all hugs and just generally made a bunch of little girls very happy.  

They also got to dress up like their favorite FROZEN character which also was super fun!  Let's just say I was asked many, many times that week "how many more days until Emily's party?" 

After the party we headed over to Dahlonega to catch up with some other long-time friends, Nathan and Lenore Nix. Nate, who was also the best man in our wedding, and Lenore have 4 little girls. The last time we got both families together was about 5 years ago (Emily and Katelen were babies).  Bert's seen Nate a couple times since then, but it had been way too long since we all got together.  

The girls had so much fun dressing up, playing with play make-up, and jumping on the trampoline.  It was fun to see them all playing together.  

And here's our group picture!

Front row (from left to right):  Josie (7), Katelen (5), Emily (5), Hannah Watts (3), Hannah Nix (3). Second row:  Claire (18 months), Hope (almost 2).  You can see that our kids are very close in age. There are only about 2 months between Katelen and Emily as well as Hannah and Hannah.  Our Hannah was SO excited about Hannah having her "same name!"

It was a fun day of seeing friends!  God has blessed us with some wonderful people who encourage us and point us to Christ and we're thankful.