The RR Memorial Golf Tournament and Our Beach Vacation

As I say every year: WHAT AN HONOR!! I am so proud of my Daddy and the legacy that he has left, and I am so grateful to everyone in Dothan who puts on and participates in the Ronnie Randall Memorial Golf Tournament! THANK YOU to all of you! It is a wonderful tribute to him and a special way to raise money for various charities. Every year, there is a fabulous turnout! And this year, I especially enjoyed getting to see so many of my childhood and high school friends participating. Thanks, as always, to Annette for letting us stay at your house. We missed seeing you!

Boots, checking out the flowers

Dede and Boots

Oh, how I love little tippy toes!

Alli Lane had a blast with Keith! She especially loved "playing soccer" (kicking the ball) with him!

When we left Dothan after the tournament, we headed down to the beach to stay at Grandmommie's condo. THANK YOU, Grandmommie, for letting us use your place! It is such a special time for our family each year. Brad is able to take vacation days so little, and this is the one time each year he takes off a week at a time.... We look forward to this time with our little family each year. It is especially meaningful to me because I grew up there; those beaches are my home, and I get so homesick for them. It is a blessing to be able to visit each year. As always, it is an emotional time, as well. I miss my Daddy so much, and this was his favorite place, as well. And of course, it still hurts my heart to drive past where our house used to be, before the fire took it 3 years ago this past March. I still thank God that we had left the house and were safe, but it still seems surreal that our house is gone.

We had a wonderful time! We ate at Boondocks, got to visit with some of my Randall/Alabama relatives that we rarely get to see, walked around Seaside, got donuts from Thomas' Donuts, and played hard on the beach!

We had beautiful weather for most of the week, even though thunderstorms were predicted every day. Our first day on the beach, we did get caught in an awful storm, with sand blowing and swirling so hard that we were all sand-burned. Poor Alli Lane is still a bit traumatized from the experience. My little girl who used to love watching storms with me on the porch is now terrified. We are working through it, though ~ keep praying for us! Besides that one little blip, our vacation was fabulous!!

Brad and our girls, Alli Lane and Elizabeth (Boots); my cousin Amanda's husband, Jeremy, and their girls, Malley (Moe) and Mimi.

These next 2 shots are "typical Alli" shots!
Lounging in the "pool" on the beach...

...and dancing at "Groovin' on the Green" on the Carillon Lawn.

Alli Lane and Boots dancing

As our regular blog readers know, I am obsessed with our annual beach pictures. We get the girls up early and trek down to the beach, with them in their white dresses. Each year, we bribe them with Thomas' donuts! :)

Our beautiful, sweet, precious little girls!
So, so happy!!

Daddy and his little girls

Daddy and Boots
I have a similar picture of Brad with Alli at this age; this one will be framed next to it. So sweet!

The girls

Dinner at Bud 'n Alley's in Seaside

Boots stayed busy, as always.

Alli was busy, too, and often wanted to read a book, as her Daddy and I would attempt to do from time to time.

For those of you who always ask if Alli Lane's hair is still curly ~ YES!! And this is what happens in extreme humidty!

We ended the week by driving to St. Simon's for Brad's cousin, Katie's wedding to Jason. We had fun with his family and at the wedding and all of the festivities. Here is our family at the pool.

Thank you, God, for our safe travels and a wonderful, special vacation! We "toured" the southeast ~ got to start our vacation with my family, have time with just our little family, and end our vacation with Brad's family. It was truly a special time.

By the way, keep checking back! We have already been having a very busy summer! Brad and I went to Chicago for a conference, and I have had the girls at the Y several times a week ~ not to mention the library, Vacation Bible School, and summer day camps for Alli at EDS! More posts to come....