We got home yesterday from a week in Destin, Florida. It was the rainiest beach weather I have ever seen in all the times we’ve ever visited the beach!
After we picked the kids up in Charlotte last Friday we headed out to the beach. It was pretty nice having the kids gone most of that week so I could go shopping and get everything packed without them around. We left Charlotte around 2:45pm and we drove to Montgomery, Alabama where we met up with my parents. They took the kids for a very late night ice cream treat and then we headed to bed. An hour or so after we were in bed, my sister and her family and her best friend Shelly, arrived at the same hotel.
We all got up and about Saturday morning and the kids were so excited to see Hayley and Rylee. Everyone else headed to do some final grocery shopping and we headed to a Best Buy to try and get a free phone. Two hours later we still didn’t have phones so we headed to lunch in downtown Montgomery. We walked on the river, drove around a bit and saw the church where MLK preached. We headed back to the store and they still didn’t have our phones ready. We scrapped the whole plan and left. No one was very happy on our ride to Florida. We finally got the to the house around 7:30pm that night. We got unloaded, ate dinner, and the kids went for a little night swim across the street at the community pool. Everyone was enjoying the evening until we were getting ready to leave and in their regular fashion, the kids were messing around with each other. Lindy bumped (or shoved – never could really get a full story) Will and he fell and hit his head on the concrete. His arms were wrapped in a towel and he couldn’t brace himself. He had a big bruise and two big scabs on his nose the rest of the week (well he still has them now actually).
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were thankfully nice and sunny beach days. Sunday and Monday we spent the mornings and early afternoons at the beach and came back and swam at the pool in the afternoons. Tuesday we spent almost all day at the beach because we had seen the forecast for the next few days. I’m sure glad we did because that ended up being our last beach day. Boo.
Tuesday night we got everyone dressed and ready for the traditional tan shorts and white shirts family photos that all the guys LOVE (Not!). We headed out for pictures and then we had dinner at a neat restaurant on the beach.
Wednesday morning we had a dolphin and seashell boat tour scheduled at the far end of the island at 9am. We all got up and got down there and it was sprinkling off and on. They waited until about 10am and decided we would finally go. We had literally just stepped on the boat when we heard a clap of thunder and then we had to get right back off the boat. On our way home the bottom dropped out. And it stayed out the rest of the week. It poured ALL DAY LONG. We had some family games in the afternoon. We ventured out for a little shopping as well but ended up getting pretty wet.
Thursday was much of the same thing. It did actually stop raining early evening and we were able to walk down to the beach that evening but it was so windy we didn’t stay long. A lot of the fireworks shows had been cancelled or postponed. We saw a few people setting them off on the beach.
Friday we tried our dolphin and seashell cruise again and this time we actually got to go. We pretty quickly saw dolphins in the bay and then they took us to a shallow area and we searched for shells. The kids thought it was neat and everyone got some pretty ones. We headed back and the bottom dropped out again!
We ended up packing up all our stuff, eating dinner, and then heading out around 7:30pm Friday night. We drove 3 hours to Eufaula, AL and spent the night. We were gone by 7:45am Saturday morning and we drove in and out of rain the whole ride back. We got home around 6pm Saturday afternoon. We got everything unpacked last night which was nice.
Despite the rain, we still had a great time. It was great being with family and letting the kids play with their cousins. They really got along great all week. Hayley was a great baby sitter! It’s so much easier to relax at the beach. They have other kids to play with, are older and don’t require constant attention, and they had Hayley around most of the time. I’m so sad our vacation to ‘Florida Beach’ as Will called it, has come and gone.
Today we headed back to church and finished all the unpacking and putting up suitcases and bags. The kids and I went to see Uncle Ed and Aunt Jamie’s new house and pick up car seats from the kids’ trip to Charlotte and then we did some grocery shopping. The kids were in bed early because we are going to have a crazy busy week coming up!
And now – too many pictures from our trip!
The kids were excited to stay at a hotel Friday night. They have only stayed at one a handful of times in their lives.
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