Freeport {1}

Michael's family came down to Texas for a visit during their spring break a couple weeks ago. We met up on Surfside Beach in Freeport, TX for the week. We had a lovely little beach house near the ocean. Day one was spent getting settled. Its a good thing we had the shortest drive because about every 15 minutes Rylee was asking if we were at the beach yet. It didn't take long for Kelsey to start chiming in with "Beach!!?? Where are you??"

We 'finally' made it :)

 Kelsey warmed up a little faster than I thought she might.

 Sunday morning we drove into town to attend a local church service.  It was nice, the people were very excited to have all the visitors.

 I get really excited about matching dresses.  Especially when they are acquired separately. One of the dresses was a hand-me-down from a cousin {our favorite way to receive clothing} and the other I found at a local resale shop and couldn't resist! haha.

 These three: too cute. They did an excellent job sharing the ipad during church.

we're just short one cousin here. 

We spent part of the afternoon just hanging out on the beach.

 The wind was blowing pretty hard, and just beating the sand up against our legs.  Rylee immediately wanted to go back to the house for leggings. too bad. We took our kite down but didn't last too long, as the wind was just too strong.

 We perched ourselves up against a dune and it was better. The kids played in the sand,  and the boys did some fishing.

 Then Miss Rylee and Daddy went on a shell and collecting excursion. that and sea glass.  I showed Rylee a shell I liked and she spent the rest of the trip bringing me broken pieces of white shells with purple undersides :) what a sweet heart. The camera on my phone didn't really capture the beauty of the dark clouds against the ocean and sand. It was really really beautiful.

 Oh man, something about a little backside on the sand. . . .and pig tails.. . . .  too cute.

 The wind (and therefor seagulls) got into the fishing bait.  The older nephews had a grand time attempting to scare the birds away.

After our hair had been tousled around enough and ingested plenty of minerals we headed back inside.  There's just something relaxing about listening to the waves.

Rylee turns 4!

We were so happy Grandma and Grandpa stayed long enough to celebrate Rylee's birthday!

 

Here's the traditional door décor.  Rylee woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and through sleepy eyes immediately noticed the heart balloon.

 We invited a few friends over for a little carnival. The invitations were the best part. . . . maybe I'll see if I can upload a picture of them. They looked like a ticket.  They were really fun to make.

The girls tested a few games before our guests arrived. Apparently not all ducks are created equal.  I was really annoyed these didn't float upright, maybe next time I'll read the description better. I was a nice enough day, a little humid but we were able to play outside for most of the time.

 Rylee's castle cake! It was very simple but really fun to make!

 Its can be very hard to watch someone else celebrate a birthday.  Here's miss cranky-pants playing on my phone.

 Rylee got her own doll nap-mat! She was thrilled.

 watching the cake bake.

 Rylee was a little under the weather but we pushed through it and partied anyway.

 The kids played games to earn tickets to buy prizes.

 the spinning wheel was a big hit.

 as were the crayon rolls

 We ate lunch, opened a few presents and just played together.

Later that evening she got to open the rest of her presents and eat cake (we just did mini cupcakes with her friends)

 who needs a spoon anyway?

I also made her a doll carrier.

 

Happy Birthday sweet girl! You are so special to us and a joy to be around. We love you immensely!