Madison Vining Blog | Page 17 of 20 | Daughter of a Good Good Father. Wife. Mama of 6. Adoption advocate. Choosing to live out hope in heartache as we wait for Heaven with our Harbor..

May 15, 2017 by madisonvining

SUMMER IS HERE! IT’S OFFICIAL! (BECAUSE WE SAY SO!)

We’re shouting loud and proud that SUMMER IS HERE!

The calendar might not agree with us, but we’re not letting that get us down.

It’s time for:
-splash pad every day
-pool every day (as soon as they open it!)
-riding bikes every day
-watermelon
-popsicles
-sun dresses
-bare feet
-minimal school (#homeschoollife)
-swimsuits all day
-swimming as baths
-hose and soap on the trampoline
-eating dinner on the trampoline
-sleeping on the trampoline
-catching fireflies at the land
-4wheelers and dirt bikes
-hay bale jumping
-outside all day
-baby brother joining the party! (due date: July 26)

We’re gonna go ahead and call it:

2017 = best summer yet!

Who’s with us?

XOXO
Madison Vining

May 10, 2017 by madisonvining

SEASIDE FAMILY PHOTOS 2017

We are home from Seaside!

We drove 13 hours straight yesterday and got in at 3:00 am. Harbs was up and ready to rock by 6:00 am (which is actually “sleeping in” in her world) so today has been low-key: breakfast at our favorite little hole in the wall in Broken Arrow, riding bikes to the splash pad, and church tonight.

On our drive home, we got our Seaside family photos back and we were so excited looking through them! Alexandria Hinders, you are a cornucopia of talent my friend. FOR REAL.

Yes, our 3 year old can do flips. So far all of our kids are able to do it by 3! #homeschool? 😉

This picture made my eyes fill with tears when I first saw it. It should be on a billboard that says “INSANE blessings are waiting for you through adoption.” These sweet sissies… God knew they would be together before the earth was ever formed. If you’re on the fence about walking through something hard to get to somewhere beautiful, all I can say it run full force… God’s got the most exquisite surprises for you; you can’t even fathom His faithfulness.

The little two are finally patient enough to feel their baby brother kicking. Their eyes light up and they scream each time. Cuties.

These people, these fleeting moments, these trips, these photos, this freedom to be together every day the way our hearts always longed to, THAT HOUSE AND ALL THE BRIGHT WHITE… such blessings. My heart overflows looking at these!

Thank you so much again for our Seaside family photos, Alex!

XOXO
Madison

May 4, 2017 by madisonvining

SEASIDE TRIP DAY 10

On day 10 we biked to Raw & Juicy for juice/smoothies/granola, then headed home and and one of my dreams came true — to have the famous Alex Hinders document our family in our favorite place ever!

Here are some peeks I’ve seen so far.

Photos have a way of removing the daily stress, annoyances, and hard work, and leaving you with only a reminder of how blessed you are. The best and most sacred parts of what you work so hard for. There are few things more valuable to me in the world than photos of my family that capture the love we have and the stage we’re in, whatever that looks like at the time. I know without a doubt that one day I’ll be an old lady and these days will be gone, and I’ll be so thankful I have these images of the best days of my life to reflect on… because I am living the best days of my life. “The good old days” are now. The zest of life is happening all around me. Even if, in the actual moments, it can be hard to see amongst the hustle & bustle and whining and ten million trips to the potty. Photos are a powerful thing.

Thank you Alex, for capturing these photos for us. They are pure treasure. I can’t wait to see the rest!

After photos we hit up Bud & Alleys for lunch and then rewarded the kiddos with snow cones at Frost Bites. Like Raw & Juicy, Frost Bites is one of the permanently-parked food trucks in the Seaside circle. They make a darn good snow cone. The Blue Hawaii is my personal recommendation if you’re ever there!

After swimming, we hit the pool, then headed home and ate again, because why not? Pizza By the Sea. Mmmm.

Oh, and then the grownups snuck off for some more eating. We hit up Heavenly for some gelato & cookies.

Good day.

XOXO
Madison

May 4, 2017 by madisonvining

SEASIDE TRIP DAY 9

“Just another day in paradise!” (name that song)

The weather said it was going to be a PERFECT DAY, so we woke up early, slammed some Great Southern, and hit the beach. We stayed for 4 or 5 hours. My kids never tire of the beach. They could literally jump in waves all day and never be ready to leave.

It was a red flag which meant lots of waves — my oldest’s favorite beach conditions. We got him two different kinds of boogie boards and he went hard on those all day. For the last couple hours, our friends joined us and made it even more fun. So much goodness. The moms and dads had a ton of fun too!

I was deep in the water (like, up to my neck) holding various kiddos and jumping waves for several hours. Of the whole trip so far, that has been my favorite part. There was much laughing and jumping and screaming and snuggling. Harbor fell asleep which was pretty sweet too… and always a nice break 😉

After that we hit the pool. Like I said… these kids don’t wear out. We got some Swell Pops which are darn good locally-made organic popsicles made with real fruit. DELISH. The pool near where we stay sells them, but if you’re staying near 30A at a different place, you can also get them at The Pop Stop. AKA the cutest popsicle place in all the land.

Later that afternoon, our friend Alex got in town to stay with us! She’s an amazing photographer and it was my dream to have her photograph our family in our favorite place. She also just hit the rank of Platinum with Young Living (check out what that means here) AND we just really love her… so it only made sense to fly her out and celebrate/take photos/frolic in the sea together!

We rode bikes to dinner and saw the sights. Apparently the ocean took a lot out of me earlier in the day. My crotch bones always give me hell during pregnancy (that might be TMI for some people… sorry) so that is already hard, but my back pretty much fully gave out on me and I could hardly walk. It was rough, man. I was Frankenstein-ing around in full waddle mode. (Luckily the next day it was lots better, and the next day it was almost fully better!)

Thank you Jesus for sunshine, your beautiful creation, good friends, popsicles, and great nights of sleep that result when all are combined!

XOXO
Madison

May 4, 2017 by madisonvining

SEASIDE TRIP DAY 8

This was such a fun day!

We started off with breakfast at Fish Out of Water which is one of our favorite places to start the day. Everything is within biking distance in this town, and everywhere you go is so picturesque… I just want to spend the day wandering around with an iced coffee and my camera. Before we leave, I’ll have to make that happen.

Later in the day when the sun came out, our friends the Critz Fam invited us to hop on a boat and venture to Crab Island. I think it will go down as one of my kids’ favorite memories of all time. They spent hours hunting crabs, sliding off the boat, and riding jetskis with their dads and would probably still be there if it were up to them!

Note to the public: Don’t drink the water at Crab Island (I mean, you wouldn’t anyway because it’s salt water, but…) because Nolan pooped in it. Twice. Also, note to the public: Seagulls LOVE to eat poop. #verydisturbing #overshare #butforreal #dirtybirdies

Not pictured: the tiniest kiddo and the one in utero. Turns out the Vinings & Critzes grow more than just businesses 😉

At the end of the adventure, the mamas got to drive the jetskis back to the marina kid-free. Ahhh… relaxing. Next time I will be pulling over at one of the tiny middle-of-the-bay floating pina colada shacks, and nothing will stop me!

We are thankful for a great day in God’s beautiful creation with great friends!

XOXO
Madison