I love these boys more than words can say. More beach photos coming soon, hopefully ;)
Category: Beach
happy new year
2013 year in review…
January
We played outside (in diapers and underwear since it was SO warm), Jay learned how to ride his first bike and we celebrated his 3rd Birthday!
February
We made some updates around the house, I painted some new bedroom furniture, Jay was potty trained and Charlie really started running around.
March
We enjoyed a little bit of a cold front, found out that we would be welcoming another baby boy to the family, built our super cool backyard fort and hosted the shrimp boil.
April
We battled some a nasty cold where Charlie had to do breathing treatments, I finished Jay’s quilt, we played with cars, played outside and enjoyed our new slip and slide.
May
We celebrated Charlie’s half birthday, we grew butterflies, we played out front in our kiddie pool, started swimming again and played outside in the rain.
June
Charlie got his first haircut, we took a trip to Starbucks Springs, we swam a whole lot, I painted the boys joint big boy room and we vacationed in Anna Maria Island with family.
July
We welcomed our third beautiful baby boy, Luc, into the world, Jamie and I celebrated 7 years of marriage and I turned 31 years old.
August
We spent a lot of time in the pool, the boys finished their swimming lessons and Jay started preschool 3 days a week.
September
We visited with extended family while they were in town, attended Jay’s first school parade and swam some more!
October
Jamie celebrated his 33rd birthday, worked out the kinks of our new shared sleeping arrangements and therefore battled with some very tired boys; we built a whole lot of duplo towers, made some pretty adorable Halloween costumes and battled off some terrible preschool germs.
November
Jay attended his first Florida State football game with Jamie, Charlie celebrated his 2nd birthday and we enjoyed visiting with family when they were in town visiting.
December
We decorated our house for the holidays, enjoyed Jay’s preschool Christmas program, took a trip to Terra Ceia and enjoyed holidays with our boys and extended families.
Every January as I look back at our year I can’t help but feel so incredibly blessed. We have had a wonderful 2013 and I can’t wait to see what 2014 is going to bring!
blue waters- water skiing and tubing
This year during the beach trip we were able to take advantage of a pretty amazing boat. Jamie’s dad, Pepere, belongs to a boat club which he generally uses to have fishing boats while he is in Terra Ceia; however, while we were at the beach he rented a deck boat and the family was able to do some skiing and tubing along with other boating activities.
While I would have loved to have gone skiing or tubing I decided that I didn’t actually want to have our son while were on vacation and I played the part of photographer from the boat. I kicked myself for not having our big camera (dslr) with us but I do love the photos that we did get of everyone having fun. We even were able to give the boys a turn, riding with Daddy of course, and although their faces don’t really show it they really enjoyed themselves.
The first couple of photos are Uncle Bob’s, he took some amazing photos (with his DSLR) of Josh and Jamie skiing before I grabbed our camera. Josh has been skiing for quite awhile and this was Jamie’s second shot at it.
more sand and surf
Here are a few photos from our fourth of July weekend Beach trip. Jamie, Jay and I visited my Mom while she was staying in Jensen beach for the week. Jay loved the playing in the sand just as much as our last trip and he got a big kick out of the larger waves and the bubbles that they produced. It was a very nice trip and every bit as relaxing as the time before- thanks Mom for having us.



















last day, last group of photos
Shortly after dinner on our last night on the island Jay decided to march straight down to the beach. We weren’t sure what exactly he wanted to do down there but both Jamie and I followed (thankfully I grabbed our camera and Jamie was still in his bathing suit). Jay decided to make an evening out of running up and down the beach, splashing in the waves until they were almost over his head (the reason I was thankful for Jamie still being in his bathing suit), digging holes and playing in the sand. We let him stay up way later than we normally would have and I am so glad that we did. We all had so much fun and I since I had the camera I got to capture some of my favorite memories from the trip.
Keep in mind that it was an impromptu beach trip, hence the huge sagging diaper that is in most of the photos. When we knew we were staying for awhile Jamie ran up to the hotel and grabbed a swim diaper so Jay wouldn’t have to drag around an extra 5lbs for the rest of the night.
I will apologize right now for the excessive amount of photos that I am about to post. I told you that they are some of my favorites and I had a really hard time choosing just a few to post…




















splashin’ in the waves
When we were at the beach we spent a good portion of the time splashing in the relaxing waves, floating on Maggie’s endless supply of floats or playing Frisbee. All of which I caught on camera- again, yahoo for the water camera!!






Jay loved the Frisbee games. He watched the first couple of games and then later on in the week he joined in with a little help from Jamie. I wish you all could have seen his face and heard the squeals; he was having a grand time playing with everyone!


Jay would get so sleepy after being out in the ocean for a while; with the rolling waves can you really blame him? His eyes would start to get heavy and then he would rest his head on the shoulder of whomever was holding him. One morning, mid-Frisbee game, he couldn’t resist actually falling asleep and crashed on Jamie for about 40 minutes.



A few photos from after his nap; he woke up rather refreshed…

Last but not least photos by Jay… the water camera is the only one that we really let Jay “play” with- it’s a whole lot more indestructible and far less expensive. That being said here are a few of his masterpieces- I think we might have a budding photographer on our hands!
pool time at blue waters
Aside from lounging on the beach I am pretty sure that we spent the majority of our time hanging pool side while at Blue Waters. I think that by the end of the summer Jay might actually grow gills- seriously this little guys loves to swim! He hasn’t finished his swim lessons yet (we actually have quite a few more weeks left) but he can kick his little feet with the best of them. Luckily Jamie thought to bring his underwater housing for our point and shoot camera so I was able to have a camera with me at all times- yea! Here are a handful of the photos that I got of people enjoying the pool.











Jay really loved to hang out in the showers at Blue Waters, especially after he figured out how to use the foot sprayer all on his own.



the first of the beach photos
Last Sunday (father’s day) Jamie, Jay and I headed down to Blue Waters Beach Club, a beachfront motel on Anna Maria Island, to spend the week with his family. A week at the beach was a long standing tradition with the Vickers Clan who sat sea side year after year and while they took a break for a few years (10 to be exact) it was such a nice tradition to resume. Everyone had a wonderful time, enjoying lazy mornings on the beach and in the waves, early afternoons in the shade, dips in the pool before supper, plenty of family meals, amazing sunsets and great conversations long into the night.
We have so many photos from our trip (surprise, surprise) I am not really sure where to even start! So in an effort to not overwhelm anyone I think I will probably break it out into a few post- you’re welcome, I know you were thinking it ;)
Here you go with the first batch…

























sneak peek
sun, surf and sand
While Jamie is out of town fishing with the guys Jay and I took a trip to the beach with Mom. I can’t remember the last time I packed up and headed to the beach, maybe it was college? Either way, the last trip I took consisted of a bunch of reading and beach dozing. It definitely didn’t include the shear amount of sandcastle building that this trip did but I am pretty sure that I prefer it this way. It was Jay’s first trip to see the sand and surf and while he wasn’t too sure of the waves and his sinking feet at first he really warmed up to it and had a grand time. So much so that he didn’t even make it 5 minutes on the car ride home before passing out.
It was fun but man am I ready for bed now too!









