Rehearsal Dinner at Fly Creek Marina

First things first, my cousin got married in THE cutest town in Alabama, y'all! I am like legit obsessed with Fairhope. I never thought I'd say something like that about a town in Alabama, much less a town in lower Alabama. But here I am, standing corrected!

The wedding weekend kicked off with the rehearsal dinner at Fly Creek Cafe last Friday night. This cute little cafe is located on a marina that leads out to Mobile Bay, and the sailboats that dock there were simply gorgeous!

The dinner was held outside under a white tent, and by the end of the night most guests traded in their shoes for walking barefoot on the sand. My kind of soirée!

The decor was very colorful, which also translated to the dessert table. The had the most delicious petit fours and melt-in-your-mouth brownie bites!

So here are all the girl cousins with the beautiful bride, Creagh, in the white dress in the middle. We were only missing sweet Caroline, who couldn't make it into town until the next day.

The cute couple, Chris and Creagh, grabbing a quick photo together as the sun set. Glad they were able to capture this moment!

And this, my friends, is typical Kyle + Alan behavior. Want to get a normal picture of the two of them? Fuhgetaboutit.

More sunset pictures. :)
Mom and Dad lookin' fly in their black and white.
Fly Creek Cafe often has live music, and that night we were graced with the sounds of Hank Becker and The Little Tomatoes. I love live bands! It was so fun to dance under the stars with the sand between our toes. A perfect start to the weekend. :)

Be back on Monday with the rest of the wedding festivities! Have a great weekend, y'all!

Vacation on the Emerald Coast {Part 2}

What all can you really say about vacation? Our days consisted of reading a good book at the edge of the water or napping under the shade of the umbrellas:
And our nights consisted of gobbling up every kind of shellfish known to man:

We got to celebrate my brother's 20th birthday while we were down there. Even though in my opinion you never need an excuse to buy a Hershey's Chocolate Creme pie, we waited until the night we celebrated his big 2-0 to bring home this delicious frozen dessert.

I think this picture would fit in perfectly among the ranks of Awkward Family Photos.
While they were waiting on us ladies to get prettified at night, Kyle and Drew would duke it out playing Mortal Kombat, of all video games. Apparently a 'revival' edition recently came out? Either way, they are addicted.

Near the end of the week we went out to eat at Fisherman's Wharf because they cook your deep sea fishing catch. Even though the guys didn't catch enough to go around for everybody, we went anyway because our family can't ever get enough of seafood!

We ended up eating outside on the porch and got to enjoy some live music. Right as we got our food, the musician called for a kids dance contest and picked ME to be the judge. Oh muh goodness!

It was really hard to pick because they were all so cute, but I ended up picking a little girl whose birthday happened to be that day! What a special birthday, winning a dance contest and a free strawberry milkshake!

The rest of the week we occupied ourselves with frisbee and more chillaxin' under the umbrellas.

Then it was back to reality we went! Sorry if these posts were boring, most of all I just wanted to document our vacation this year. I'd love to hear about y'alls summer vacays as well! I'm semi-patiently waiting on my sister to finish up her San Diego posts, ahem ahem. ;)

Vacation on the Emerald Coast {Part 1}

So about that one time we went on vacation. After a loooooong summer landlocked in Augusta, Kyle and I finally got away with my family for seven glorious days in Miramar Beach, FL, the first week of August. It was exactly what I needed, spending precious time with the Lord, my husband, and my family. I came back feeling rested and rejuvenated, ready to take on this next season of life and inspired to pursue new things. More on that later. :)

We were blessed with great weather, but unfortunately not-so-great water. The ocean was full of green algae, and it got so bad near the end of the trip that it was kinda gross to get in the water. But hey, we were on vacation, so what did we really have to complain about?

This picture was taken during one of the rare mornings that the water was beautiful and clear.

That afternoon we had to resort to playing on the beach, but we made the most out of the algae and used it to make a four-square court. Yep, we are those people!

Apparently Kyle and I were in deep thought about the meaning of life here. We look so serious!

While we were there, we made a point to eat at The Back Porch, one of my family's favorite restaurants in Destin. They have the best fried oysters, if that's your thing!

Since we had a little bit of a wait, Kyle and I took a walk on the beach, and naturally, Kyle had to stop and try to catch some little fish.

What a hottie! I really like this photo of Kyle, I'm thinking about framing it for my office. :)

We also took several trips to Destin Commons, a shopping center that appeases everybody in my family. Bass Pro Shop for the boys, tons of cute stores for the girls!

I'll be back this afternoon with Part 2!

Doc's Dip in the Pool

Since we didn't take Doc to the beach with us this year, we decided to let him have a little fun in the pool once we made it back to my parent's house last Saturday.
As you can see, he didn't think it was very fun, though:

Doc's Dip in the Pool from Lesley Anne Fenton on Vimeo.

Bless his little heart! One of these days he'll learn that bird dogs are actually supposed to like water. ;)

P.S. I've got a ton of drafts waiting to be finished and published. Tales of the beach and my cousin's wedding weekend are coming your way soon!

Sunday Morning Poem

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to your Cross I cling;
Naked, come to you for dress;
Helpless, look to you for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior or I die.

-Augustus Toplady on what it means to be “poor in spirit”
{Photo by Fabio Bartelt Photography}

Missing The Beach Already

...The sand between my toes...
...Reading an inspiring novel...
...Not having to be anywhere or do anything...
...Seafood...
...Walking on the beach hand in hand with my love...
...The salty ocean air...
Man, I am missing the beach! We got back in town on Sunday after seven glorious days away, and I'm so excited to tell you about it. But it will most likely have to wait until next week, because that's the other thing about vacation--a lovely pile of work is always waiting for you when you get back! Hopefully things will slow down a little bit in the Fenton household soon, and then I can get back to blogging. :) In the meantime, have a great weekend!