Day 3 - Tuesday

Tuesday was a lot like Monday...we spent the whole day at the beach. We went for a few hours in the morning and then back to the beach house for lunch and naps. Once the kids were down, Brian let me go back to the beach. I sat in my favorite spot by the water for a while. It was so relaxing. I really needed that time because although the vacation was great, it is still a lot of work when you have two small, needy children! When Brian and the kids came back we played some more. We took several walks along the beach and just had an overall good day. Once we were back at the house, we got cleaned up and relaxed while my parents made dinner. My dad grilled and mom made some yummy sides. After dinner, my mom, sisters, and I did a little bit of shopping. We picked up a few items at Piggly Wiggly and got my mom a diet coke at McDonalds. We were all a little shocked that it cost $2.34 which is twice as much as it is at home! We also stopped by two little souvenier shops. I was hoping to find the kids t-shirts, but I didn't quite find what I was looking for. I did find a starfish for Macie though. She kept talking about finding a starfish and I knew that she wasn't going to find one on her own. Instead, I decided to plant one on the beach. I heard Tori Spelling tell a story once that her mom took her to the beach when she was little and put shells for her to find. Tori didn't know that her mom put them there until her adult life. I hoped to make some memories like that for my little girl.

Sweet little footprints in the sand

Gavin had so much fun playing in a bucket of water. He was so funny because he kept dipping his pap in the water and sucking it off. I guess he liked the salt!

Macie wanted to help carry stuff back to the house so she carried these noodles. She is such a great helper!

Day 2 - Monday

The plan for Monday was to spend the whole day at the beach and we did just that. We went a few hours in the morning, came back to the house for lunch and naps (well neither one really napped), and headed back to the house around 3. Because we were going to be there all day, we brought a pop-up canopy, cooler, and chairs. The canopy was perfect and Gavin spent a lot of time in the shade. We played in the sand and took walks down the beach. When we were walking, we noticed there were shallow pools of water a short distance from where we were. We brought the kids down there and they had a good time splashing and playing in the water. When we came back in the afternoon, I noticed that Allie was sitting way down by the water in a beach chair with the water splashing on her. I thought she looked a bit crazy, but this ended up being my FAVORITE part of the whole trip. I sat in her chair for a bit and it was so relaxing and perfect for me. I don't really like being in the ocean because it freaks me out, so this was a great way to soak in some sun and feel the cool water. Macie decided she wanted to sit on my lap. I started singing to her and rocking her and she conked out. It was the sweetest thing. I loved holding and cuddling my baby and she slept there for almost an hour. The ironic thing was, Brian rocked Gavin to sleep. Once we got everything packed up and back at the beach house, we all showered and got ready to go out to eat. We went to Toucans in Mexico Beach. It was really neat and we were able to sit on a deck outside. The food was wonderful and I was able to satisfy my crab leg craving. After dinner, we stopped in the store for a minute and then back to the beach house. After the kids were in bed, we played dice games.

Playing in the water...splash, splash, splash!

Carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders

Don't you like the mismatched outfit? This shirt has a towel liner inside so it is perfect for the beach.

Macie even found the beach at the store at Toucans

Day 1 - Sunday

Sunday was our first full day in Florida. We started out the morning going grocery shopping. We wanted to get this out of the way so we could enjoy the rest of the week. My mom stayed at the beach house with the kids and the rest of us headed to the Piggly Wiggly in Port St. Joe. My dad had been talking about this grocery store for weeks. After grocery shopping, we went back to the beach house, ate lunch, and put the kids down for a nap. My mom and sisters headed to the beach and we joined them when the kids woke up. We'd been talking to Macie about the beach for a long time and I couldn't wait for them to experience it for the first time. Macie was cute as can be walking to the beach. She was in awe when we got there and started putting her hands in the sand immediately! She wasn't thrilled by the ocean though. The water moving away from her feet freaked her out. Gavin wasn't thrilled by the cold water either. Both were perfectly content sitting in the sand playing. The water was cold, but all of the adults managed to get in for at least a bit. The highlight was that we saw dolphins. We only stayed at the beach for a few hours and then went back for baths and dinner. Allie and Annie made dinner this night and made a delicious pasta dinner. Brian and Dad crashed out the same time as the kids and the girls stayed up talking and watching tv. Our first full day of a vacation was a success!

Walking to the beach Miss Independent!

She started touching the sand immediately!

Macie kept calling the sand "snow"

"What is this stuff?"

Gavin refused to wear his sunglasses

What a stud!

Our little sea turtle

Cape San Blas

Our Spring Break vacation began on Saturday, March 19th at 2:00 am. Brian and I packed most of the car Friday night before he went to bed. Then we got up, showered, packed the last few things and loaded the kids in the car. We met my parents at their house at 3:00 and we were off. We'd been planning a family vacation to Cape San Blas, Florida for over a year. My mom, dad, and sisters went with us. We rented a house about a minute from the beach (literally) and we had a GREAT time! It took us 14 hours to get there even though the actual drive was closer to 11 hours. We hoped the kids would sleep a lot in the car, but that wasn't really the case. We got the kids bags for Christmas and I had packed them with new movies, books, and other surprises they had never played with before. We were also loaded down with snacks...of course! We had to stop for meals, potty breaks, and leg stretches, but the kids did pretty well. We had a few stretches (ok, the last full hour was screaming in the car), but we survived! For breakfast we stopped at McDonalds and we were cracking up because there was a truck in the parking lot with roosters in the back. For lunch, we stopped at Jim and Nick's BBQ and it was delicious! We finally arrived a little after 5:00 and the kids were starving! We quickly walked thru the house, figured out the rooms, set up the pack-n-plays, and headed to eat. We ate a Joe Mama's Wood Fired Pizza. It was delicious and we had some awesome wings and a mushroom pizza. After dinner, we headed back to the beach house. The kids passed out in the car immediately and we put them to bed as soon as we got back. Then, Brian, Allie, Annie, and I took a quick walk down to the beach. We wanted to see how far it was and put our feet in the ocean. The water was a bit cold but we were so excited to finally be there! After our walk, we played a game and went to bed. We were exhausted! More to come about our week soon!

Macie and I put on our last sticker on before we left Look how white those feet and legs are...they need sun ASAP!!

Daddy and Gavin at dinner

Macie was so happy to stretch her legs!!