The Beach!!!

Last week, Meemaw and Poppie treated all of their daughter-in-laws to 3 days at the beach!!! GIRL TRIP!!! Woo Hoo! We were so excited! I left on Wednesday and headed to Birmingham to pick up Meemaw, Angie and Tammy. We were packed to the top of my Tahoe with all of our various beach necessities.

Meemaw went to great lengths to spoil us rotten! She took the time to do so many extras to make our trip special. She made each of us girls journals with special pictures and sayings inside. On the cover she glued pictures of flowers that were our favorites. How special! Mine had daisies.

The weather was great, the conversations were great, the food was great, the timing was great, the company was great! We were truly blessed. The new pier in Gulf Shores had opened the day before we arrived and so we were able to take an evening walk. It is very long and covered with fisherman. We even say a young girl catch her very first fish. She was so excited!

One night for dinner, Meemaw treated us to the Oyster House. We waited for an hour an a half to get in but it was well worth it. We goofed off while we waited. This very handsome alligator became a photo op for each of us. I have really enjoyed hanging out with my sister-in-law, Tammy. We have had some extra time this year away from our usual large group family gatherings to just spend some time together and she is a blast. We were bunk buddies on this trip, as we slept in the living room with our air mattresses parked next to each other. I didn't sleep honk once. Yeah for no embarrassing sleep honks! Now Tammy on the other hand... just kidding, she is a silent sleeper.

Angie and I got up every morning and walked 5 miles down the main street in Gulf Shores. Angie works full time in her church and it was great to just have some time to talk about ministry and the ways we see God moving, as well as burdens and prayer requests we can take to our Father. She is a kindred spirit and it was so good to spend time with her. Can you tell from the picture above that we have been in the beach sun?
Meemaw and I have had some very special times this past year and this trip was no exception. I love my mother-in-law and am so thankful for her. I would like to point out that pictures do not lie--that woman's face is RED! She burned so bad on her face and neck that she was a little swollen. Poor Meemaw! Her lips were even burned.
I really don't know what to say about this pic other than "what an idiot!" All pictures of me are ridiculous. I am only glad that the pic was taken somewhat at a distance so you cannot see the strange thing I am doing with my mouth. If only I were as photogenic as my mother but she passed the photogenic gene to my brother, not me!What did we do during the day? Nothing but lay around! It was awesome! We had no schedule and so we went to the beach in the morning and just laid around until we were ready to go up. What did we do at the beach? Talk! Talk! Talk! It was great! I know more about my sister-in-laws and mother-in-law than I have ever known. I am just sad that it took us so long to have this type of quality time. But no need to think about that, we are already planning to take this trip again next year! Girl time just rocks!

For those of you who know me well, you know that as I have aged my skin has gone crazy! I can barely get in the sun without being a mess of blisters, knots, rash, etc. It's awful and terribly sad because I love the beach and being outdoors. Meemaw and Poppie bought a huge canopy just for our trip for us to store our things under and it was also part of the "Save Brooke's Skin Campaign". Between that and me wearing 50 Sunblock, I came home with somewhat of a small tan, and minimal, and I mean minimal, burn on my neck. I only saw about three hives on my neck that popped up the last day we were there and they went away the next day. Yeah!!!

Another special thing Meemaw did for us is host a luau. She brought the table cloth, cups, leis, etc and Tammy grilled Teriyaki Chicken out on the grill. What a fabulous griller might I add! We had chicken, baked potatoes, salad, sherbert ice cream (mine in Diet Dr. Pepper FYI-rainbow sherbert is not good "float" ice cream. It makes your drink turn putrid brown. But it was still tasty)

Dinner was divine and I have a new chicken recipe to try out on my husband and kids.

It was great! I can't say it enough. I am very blessed with amazing family. Thank you to my sisters, Tammy and Angie for being so awesome. I love you both so much! Thank you so much Poppie for the trip, for the umbrella, for everything! Thank you Meemaw for making it so special!
I love you both, bunches!
These are memories that will last a lifetime!