McDonough Five in Bahamas - Day 2

The set up at the Reef works great. The boys are sleeping together on the sleeper sofa and Hayden is in a crib in our room. I'm not sure who was up first but around 7:45 local time we all got up and hung out. It was nice to be able to get some food in the kids before heading out. 

Around 9am we headed down to the Splashers Kids Pool. The splash park portion didn't open until 10am but the kids could still play in the pool. 

Yes, Ryan is wearing floaties. 

Around 11:15ish we decided to go look for some lunch. My friend Jenni recommended the Lagoon Bar & Grill so we headed over that way. 

We made it all the way over there and for some reason it wasn't open. We checked out downstairs aquarium before figuring out what to do for lunch. 

The double stroller that American Airlines unsuccessfully gate checked would have been super handy about now...two little kids tired of walking right about now....

We grabbed lunch at Shark Bites, which is a casual outdoor dining spot. The kids portions are huge - the boys got cheeseburgers (again) and Hayden got the hot dog...which was the largest kids hot dog I've ever seen! Kevin got a spicy crispy chicken sandwich and I got a fish fillet sandwich which was pretty tasty. Oh and we also had some fun drinks. I had a frozen mango daiquiri (so so sweet, I need to stick to beer & wine) and Kevin got the Route 66 which I think might have been the best bang for your buck because I'm pretty sure it was all alcohol.  Like wow. 

After lunch we headed back to the room so that Hayden could take a nap. Grayson also said he was soooo tired and wanted to nap but of course once we got up there he suddenly had all of his energy back. I must warn you that there is a ton of walking. I kinda love it but I think it's a little hard for the kids - well Grayson mostly. That stroller would be pretty great.  By the time we got back to our room I had around 9k steps for the day! Woot woot. After an hour Kevin took the boys down to the Cascades pool and I am up here blogging. 

I woke Hayden up at 3:30 so we could meet the boys for a little more pool time. We found them enjoying some ice cream by the pool. 

We headed down to the beach for a little bit...

Hayden wasn't a huge fan. The boys enjoy tolerate it for a little while but as soon as Grayson's legs get wet and sand sticks to him he freaks. He starts screaming saying that his legs are stinging. I know his eczema is pretty bad so I am guessing maybe that has something to do with it. Oh well, we headed back to the pool and all was good again. 

We grabbed dinner at Mosaic at The Cove before heading over to the Royal Towers to check out The Dig Sunken Ruins. 

This little lady annihilated her shrimp & pasta. And some orange jello :)

There are some random cats that hang around and Hayden gets so excited when she spots one. She keeps trying to pet them but she isn't quite quick enough. 

The ruins were pretty cool and the kids really enjoyed seeing all the different kinds of fish. 

Ryan yelled "Mom, look - there's a Bevo" lol. Hook'em :)

We walked back to the Reef and put the kids to bed. The boys seriously fell asleep in less than five minutes. The lights were still on - we went in our room to put Hayden down and came back out to find them asleep. So sweet. 

McDonough Five In Bahamas - Day 1

Our flight left DFW at 10:20 and we arrived in Nassau about 2pm local time (about half and hour early!) Our plane was EMPTY - I don't think they plane was even half full. There was no one in the row ahead of us and the McDonough clan had an entire row to ourselves.  Wohoo!

Once we arrived we waited for our stroller that was gate checked. We waited. and waited. And then they said they couldn't find one but to check in baggage claim. So we zipped through customs and when we got to the baggage carousel our luggage were the onlyt bags left circling.

Since the stroller was still missing I headed over to the missing baggage area and filed a missing stroller report. It took a while...long enough that Kevin  was ready to just chalk it up as a loss. So after that mess we made it though customs and headed out to find our ride. Our kids are running wild at this point. Like really. Wild. Hayden has fallen 10+ times but always with a smile. Ryan is so excited and he can't seem to talk without screaming. It's super crazy.

We had to wait a bit for them to bring the van around (I guess they were waiting on a car seat that Hayden had no interest in sitting in. awesome.). On our way to the hotel we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some breakfast items, snacks, water and milk. Oh and beer & wine. #basics  We made it to the hotel. Checked in. Had ourselves a little mini happy hour in the room while the kids ran wild. again.

We didn't have reservations for dinner but figured we would just head down to the Marina Village to see what they had to offer. We caught the shuttle from the front of the Reef and the kids thought it was the best thing ever. 

#crazies

We walked around the village and the Bahamian music and bright colors of Bimini Road Restaurant were calling our name. We got right in and they put us in a nice little corner booth. The boys got cheeseburgers and Hayden chowed down on some pasta with marinara sauce. Kevin and I ordered the signature mojito - it was a bit too sweet for my taste but it had quite the kick! lol. For dinner Kevin got a blackened fish sandwich and I decided on the blackened whole fish snapper. 

Playing with the fish eyes

The restaurant is loud so even though our kids were a little nuts I would like to think that we didn't stand out too much. It was also nice that we were in our own little corner of chaos.  After dinner the kids were really excited for ice cream and apparently everyone else was too! There was a crazy line at  Ben & Jerry's but we joined the crazy and waited too. Just outside they had some entertainment for the kids. They had set up a ton of drums, maracas, hats and were playing music. All the kids were welcome to join in - and they LOVED it. Seriously. Hayden left kicking and screaming. 

Nighty-night from these goobers!

Show & Tell: Favorite Pinterest Pins {February 16}

I am a pinterest junkie. Dare I say that I use it just as much as Google. Seriously. If I am thinking about a project, I go straight to Pinterest. I want to find posts from people who have donw similar projects, tips/tricks, before/afters, reviews - love to find it all! Here are a few of my favorite projects:

Project #1: No Sew Bench Cover

Pinned from IHeartOrganizing

I  made the no sew benches for the breakfast nook

And most recently made one for our mudroom/craft storage room:

Project #2 Dinosaur Tails

One of my favorites but I can't really take credit since it was my mom who actually made them! I found this pin, gathered the supplies and then she made a bunch for Ryan's 4th birthday party. 

Pinned from Running With Scissors

Finished product:

More of Ryan's 4th birthday party here

Project #3: Organizing: Outdoor Toys

Pinned from Domestic Charm 

The results:

This was the best picture that I could find. I will have to update this...but I probably won't. 

Pinterest Food

You should be able to order from Pinterest. That would be amazing. 

There are so many great recipes on pinterest. The best part is clicking through to an amazing foodie blog...which I have done quite a few times now. These are a few of my favorites:

Gimme Some Oven

Pinch of Yum

Damn Delicious

Kevin and Amanda

Two Peas and Their Pods

Although not from one of the blogs listed above, this is one of our favorite recipes.  And it's great for large groups!

Recipe: Beef tenderloin sandwiches with dijon horseradish sauce and caramelized onions.

For the sweeter side....this strawberry yogurt cake is amazing for desert and even better for BREAKFAST :) So delicious!

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

As you can tell, I love Pinterest. 

Valentine's Day Fun

My sweet Valentine planned brunch for us :) 

He arranged for his parents to watch the kiddos so we dropped them off and headed to Lark on the Park. 

 The littles were so excited to bake cookies with Gigi and Papa

Big G rolling out the dough

We picked them up and headed to our friends house for Ryanne's first birthday celebration. 

Hayden had a blast

Kevin with Brady & Chet

And the mama's

After cake we played a little bit longer then headed home for a quick rest before our next party. 

The Haydel's Valentine's party was fun & festive!

We all made flower crowns :) 

I thought Hayden's would love to wear one too (since she loves hats) but she wasn't so sure about it. 

These two got their craft on and made some adorable V-day cards. 

Playing with some Valentine goodies

We didn't spot this adorable backdrop until the end of the night...

Awkward but it was the best we got. lol!

And my boys made me these sweet Valentine's at school!