The Gang Goes to the Beach

This past week Mimi/Papa and Nana/Granddaddy joined us on our journey to Destin, FL for four days. The weather was beautiful. Upper 70's and plenty of sun. The breeze was a bit chilly especially in the morning and when getting out of the water though. The ocean was strangely calm and actually was warm... or maybe it just felt warm compared to the air. The water was crystal clear other than some drifting seaweed and jellyfish. These suckers (or should I say stingers) were impressively big. They scared Addie just enough to be a little timid around the water. Thanks jellyfish, or should I say child protection.

Emme on the other hand was a smidge too fearless around the ocean. She tried to dive in a couple times. I loved seeing her experience the ocean for the first time.

 

 

Fortunately neither child was a sand hater. Addie was content burying her "people" and building castles.

 

We ate too much as usual on a vacation. I am proud of both girls for trying some shrimp and fish. I don't think I wanted to touch seafood until I was 20. But when it's battered and fried, who can resist?! The first night we went to The Back Porch and got in our 'seafood on the beach' fix. Friday night we did the big touristy chain, Fudpuckers. The girls enjoyed/were terrified seeing the live alligators outside the restaurant.

The last full day (Saturday) we went to the outlets to shop then hightailed it back around lunchtime to get ready to soak up the last afternoon of beach sun...um, and watch the AL football game at 2:30. Mom and I earned the beach bum award and spent the last 4 or so hours on the beach until the sun set. I persuaded/forced Andrew to take a break from the game and come out to the beach to rent a kayak. He obliged and we took Addie out on the ride. Since the water was so calm and clear we could see everything below us which made the ride delightful and a bit intimidating. After we saw a sting ray I decided we should stay closer to shore than my original plan. Addie loved the peaceful ride and actually got a little sleepy. At one point a dolphin actually swam up near us...and then Addie got to pet it ...and then we all got to ride on it.... or maybe we just saw a dolphin in the semi-close distance. It was still pretty cool.

 

We finally drug ourselves in from the beach and ordered some local pizza from Merlins and celebrated Brad's birthday with cake and ice cream.

Sunday morning we walked the beach one last time and took too many pictures according to everyone other than me. I've already posted those suckers on Facebook but no one knows the backstory of how I had to bargain and threaten everyone to smile and take the stinkin' pictures. Oh well, it doesn't matter how you reach the end goal... right?

Happy family enjoying a photo session

Reluctantly, we jammed all of our luggage and paraphernalia into the cars and headed back to Huntsville. Addie only had one major meltdown as we were leaving Cracker Barrel midway through the trip back home. We told her she couldn't get a beanie baby that she had been wanting the whole trip. We were actually going to buy it but she insisted on getting two (one for "Emme") and wouldn't stop running from us. The kid was way past exhausted. After wrestling her into her car seat she screamed then passed out. Everyone in the van did a silent happy dance. Key word- SILENT. DON'T. WAKE. THE. BEAR.


I didn't get to read my book or get my zen on in the sun, but no child was injured, sick, or misbehaved too badly. That's a success in my book. It actually feels a little wrong how well the trip went. Oh well. A win's a win and I'll take it. Thank you LORD.


P.S. I highly recommend traveling with 2 sets of grandparents. The ratio of 6 adults to 2 littles was spot on.