Orange Beach, AL

We went back to the beaches of Alabama, this year to Orange Beach (right by Gulf Shores) with Travis's family. Jack loved the beach and the ocean every bit as much as last year. This is my favorite picture of Travis and Jack from the first day on the beach.

He kept his Papa D busy building sandcastles all week. I think Papa D had plans for something much bigger, but he could hardly get it started before Jack tore it down.

"I wanna see kite!" or "I wanna see boat!" were Jack quotes from the week. Here he is flying a kite that first day.

"I swimming!" he also loved to say while paddling around the pool with his daddy. I was pretty pleased with how he did and I'm considering looking for some lessons for the end of summer that don't require Mommy in a bathing suit in the pool with him.

Here's Jack in the bubbles at The Hangout. It really is a neat place for kids.

Talk about a dancing machine! I love the looks on his face while he's getting down.

Back on the beach for our final day. I didn't take any pictures of the fireworks show, but it was so nice just to watch them from the condo and not have to get into the traffic. We watched the Orange Beach fireworks on Friday night from the beach, but the Gulf Shores show was too far for us to see Saturday night. Luckily, there were tons of great fireworks being shot off from the beach and we were able to watch them on Saturday from the comfort of our balcony. Jack was a little unsure of them at first, but once I explained that they just make a loud noise and then we cheer real loud for the pretty lights, he was fine with them. "Fireworks! Boom!" he would say.

I have to take a minute to brag on the little guy. What a trooper! It took us 10 hours to get down there with all the bathroom breaks that this pregnant mama needed to take and 8 hours to get back. He never fussed once. We also now have him in big boy underwear, only sleeping in pull-ups and he is doing so well! His only accidents on the trip, including the drives, were during naps. This is probably the hardest of the three goals I set for Jack before baby and he's well on his way to accomplishing it. I'm not claiming he's potty trained by any means, but the goal was to be out of diapers and they're too far gone at this point. Sometimes the kid is so good, I worry what this next one will be like.

Speaking of Baby Todd, my next appointment is Wednesday morning and that's the big ultrasound. I'm so anxious for them to really get a good look at the baby to make sure everything is progressing as it should be. Of course, the control freak in me also wants to start buying some pink or blue. Anyways, stay posted for the big announcement on Wednesday. I'm still feeling like it's a girl and Jack still says "sister", but he also says "boy", so he isn't too reliable at this point.