Photo a day challenge...March

Ever since I got my new phone in November I've become slightly obsessed with the In.stagram app. If you don't have it on your phone. Download it. Now. I'll wait. Once you have the app, you can find all your friends and see their pictures. It's like FB. Only better. Pictures only. Me gusto mucho.

Last month I participated in a photo a month challenge. Felt like it was a scavenger hunt every day, trying to find the perfect photo to snap in my daily life. Was fun. I'm attempting it again this month, but have lost track a few days. Life happens. Here's March in photos:

 Day 1: Up. We do airplanes in our house. Often.

 Day 2: Fruit. The best way to have it. With dessert.

 Day 3: Bedside. Lots of reading, pics, and a print from France. My college cycling coach brought it back for me.

 Day 4: My neighborhood. As Meggie would say, "We'll leave a light on."

 Day 5: 5 pm. The girls and I were rocking to some Tayl.or Swift on the way home from school. Dance parties in the car with the windows rolled down. Because we can.

 Day 6: A smile. Nuff said.

 Day 7: Something I wore. Go Hoosiers. And 4 year olds brushing their teeth independently.

 Day 8: Window. Hello Katie Monster.

 Day 9: Something red. Nana gave me this chair from her house a few years ago. Treasure.

 Day 10: Loud. Big 10 Tourney with the Funsters. Can't say I paid much attention to the game as I was busy catching up with my girls.

 Day 11: Someone you talked to. Bob. Otherwise known as Bob Villa or Bobo.

 Day 12: Fork. Eating a quick snack of egg salad. Mike gets on a kick every few weeks and hard boils eggs. We then eat eggs for days.

 Day 13: Clouds. This day was so beautiful that there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Only cloud I could find was in this picture of Izzalicious. Love her squished nose. Little snickapaka.

 Day 14: Your car. Love my Saab. Been driving them since 2000. This is my third. Crashed the first. Sold the second when I got a car while pushing drugs (legally, obv). Some reason this one stuck. I'm a marathoning Hoosier.

 Day 15: A poster. This was plastered all over my office last year when I was promoting Back on my F.eet. I stole one and it now resides in my cube.

 Day 16: Sunglasses. We didn't have any kid sunnies so Bug had to borrow mine.

 Day 17: Green.

 Day 18: Corner of your home. My fave built-ins in the house. Custom corner armoire. Using the same carpenter for our new house, too.

 Day 19: Funny. Typical Laney fashion...always looking for a laugh.

 Day 20: Before and after. Dirty. Clean. Happy. Sad. My sentiments exactly, Bug.

 Day 21: Delicious. My nightly snack.

 Day 22: Kitchen sink. Oh, how I love thee large, single bowl sink. Best thing that ever happened to washing dishes. Next to the dishwasher of course.

 Day 23: Moon. Baby gift from Brenna.

 Day 24: Animal. If ever we can't find Katie, we simply look in Izzy's room. Snug as a hot dog.

 Day 25: Breakfast. We call Laney the Swiper around here. Whenever we are eating, she pops up and wants to swipe some. Swiper, no swiping. Oh man.

 Day 26: Key. It's the only one I own. Swear.

 Day 27: Your name. Anniversary gift a few years back. Pronounced: mik-kull-uck.

 Day 28: Trash. Only my Nana & Grandfather could appreciate this: crusts taken off my sandwich. I'll never grow up.

 Day 29: Feet. How I love working at an athletic retailer. Shoes as far as the eye can see. And casual attire. Every day.

 Day 30: Toy. On our way to gymnastics Izzy saw a blonde woman in a car next to us and announced, "Mommy, look! It's Jen Jen!" I said no, Jenny lives in Chicago. To which Izzy replied, "But she has long lellow (yellow) hair." Not so much. So we snapped this picture to send to Jen Jen.

Day 31: Where I relax. We had just arrived to the beach. Vacation had officially started. Grandparents playing with the girls in the ocean (background), beer in my hand, smile on my face.

Florida Vaca 2012

Ahhh, vacation. We've looked forward to this past week for over 6 months. Felt like it'd never arrive but alas, it was Spring Break. The week preceding our vaca was extremely hectic as we put our house on the market just days before we left. Let me just tell you...getting your house ready to sell is cumbersome and exhausting. Vacation couldn't have come at a better time for our family.

Mike's dad (Bob aka Bobo) and Laura offered (!!!) to pick up the girls on Friday morning and drive them down a day early. Um, are you sure?!?! We quickly obliged as it gave us one more day to pack ourselves up, run last minute errands and get the house in tip-top shape for showings. Mikey and I left at 3am on Saturday and the drive down was a vacation in itself. No passing snacks, changing movies, potty stops or entertaining the kids. Nope. Just blissful reading and adult talking. We did meet up with Bob, Laura and the girls somewhere in Alabama and caravaned the rest of the trip. Arrived in Florida around 3pm-ish, unpacked, changed into our swim suits and hit the beach. Pronto.

 We stayed across the street from the beach, about a 3 minute board walk to the ocean. The house we rented had 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, 1 of the bedrooms being a double bunk room where all 4 kids stayed. This was a different house than we stayed in last year, but the same beaches of Destin. Sugar white sand, clean and not crowded...just the way we like it. We'll be staying in this house again next year as it was so accommodating to our every need. Truly.

Anyway, back to the beach...

 Sunday morning was a bit overcast so we took a long walk on the beach. The girls were bound and determined to find seashells; however, the beaches are so clean that it's slim pickings. I believe we came home with about 20 seashells, all white and all the same size.

 The day cleared up and we soaked up the sun in our private pool, waiting for the Morse family and Lou & Gemma to arrive.

 Monday was picture perfect. Sandi and I woke early for a 5 mile run and the second we got back we were all in our suits and SPFing ourselves to hit the beach. The weathermen kept saying how temps were at an all-time record high, being 10-15 degrees above the average. The temps were in the low 80's while we were there and the ocean temp was a very comfortable 70 degrees. Perfect I tell you.

 Mike is a big fan of digging holes in the sand then filling them with ocean water (and our children). Lots of digging.

 How cute are these four? They played very well together all week and kept each other entertained all hours of the day. Watching movies together early morning, crafting, hop-scotching, dancing, and late night giggle fits when the lights went out. I think it's safe to say they had a great time together.

 Each family took turns making dinner throughout the week. We ate a lot of fresh seafood from the fish market, surf & turf, lobster boil and Bob's famous homemade pizzas. Was so much fun to all be together each night even if we went separate ways during the day. Lots of laughing and late night games were had at the large dining table.

 These are two of the best dads I know...always playing right alongside the kids. They joke that they are still kids at heart...and if that's the secret, then they have it right. They taught the kids how to fly kites and it was just so much fun to watch.

 Even Buggy flew a kite with Bobo!

 We had 2 rainy days, which we spent travelling to Seaside for shopping (the boys were at a bar while we shopped) and Outlet store shopping. Bob & Laura were gracious enough to offer to watch the kids while we got out for a day. Our pool was also heated (the kids joked it was a hot tub) so swimming was still had rain or shine.

One evening we ventured out for a sunset beach walk...

 We got into the routine each day of beach in the morning, come home for lunch, then pool the rest of the day until dinner. Sandi and I ran 3 times while we were there. Wednesday morning we did a few miles of fartleks on the walking trail and then crossed over to the beach to run a few miles back home. About 10 minutes into the beach run I looked back to find Sandi picking up garbage. I just laughed, as this is so Sandi. Anyway, we also went on a 2 hour run Friday morning. Was fun to see all the Midwesterners along the trail; lots of IU, UK, and Colts sightings. My favorite? I saw a man wearing an Alma College shirt and I hollered to him that both my parents went to school there. Small, private college in Michigan. Great people watching, that's for sure.

 Bob was the king of the blender, making Pina Coladas and margaritas for everyone...even virgin drinks for the littles.

 Sandi and I decided we were going to do family photo shoots our final night in Florida. We had the perfect sunset and took loads of pics.

 Fraternity brothers: Jason, Lou & Mike. Otherwise known as trouble.

Was the perfect vacation for our family. No one got sunburned, so that's a success in my book. Can't wait for next year!