Destin!

The last time hubs and I had a real vacation was our honeymoon in 2012.  Add the pressures of parenthood, several moves, starting a major construction project, weekends spent going in separate directions, and it was becoming critical that we get away for an extended period of time.  We've been talking for almost as long as we've been married about doing an annual extended family vacation at the beach and this year seemed as good as any to start.  Between my mom, his parents, his sister and her family, we were a large group ready for some fun!

We missed a week of school and she heard me tell her teachers that we were going to to beach and they all exclaimed about how much fun that would be.  We talked for a week about where we were going and what it was going to be like.  I think that even though it was Little Miss' first time to a beach, she was primed to enjoy it.  As it happened, we arrived at the house before anyone else.  We had an uneventful road trip down and stopped at a yacht club for dinner.  After dinner we sat on a dock and caught this killer sunset.

The next morning we got our stuff together and headed to the beach.  As soon as we rounded the corner to the public access point, Little Miss got really excited and happy.  We stopped to set up camp for the day and she just pondered the excitement that was about to come.

There was only one word to describe her first time in the water- glee.

She also enjoyed playing in the sand and making sandcastles with Daddy.

When we were done at the beach we walked back to the house and enjoyed the private pool.

One night we were able to feed some baby alligators!

It only got better once everyone else arrived.  The weather/surf was never quite as perfect as that first day, but it was fun playing with everyone.  The adults could hang out in the beach chairs and catch up and one or two could take shifts hanging out with the kids in the water.

The older kids could play in the pool while the younger kids napped.  At night, we all got flashlights and went crab hunting.  That was a lot of fun, but Little Miss just liked walking with a flashlight.

We all played things like play dough together and my mom and I taught the older kids to play cards at night after the little ones were asleep.

We caught a sunset dolphin watching cruise.  Little Miss was the most animated and bubbly for the camera that she's ever been.  Sad that it took place in the parking lot.  We were able to get some cute shots though.

We got a cute sibling/Mom shot:

And the photos on the cruise weren't too shabby, either.

Of course we couldn't go a whole week without hitting up a playground.  We found a quaint little town that also had lots of fun restaurants.

With all these adults around, we'd be fools to not take advantage and sneak out for a date.  Hubs and I had a lot of fun going putt-putt and playing at the arcade.

The vacation ended all too quickly- the week absolutely flew by!  Before we knew it we were on our way back North.  We headed back a different way and stumbled across an Air Force Museum with lots of old planes on display.  That was fun, but could only see so many before the toddler was over it.

It was a great vacation and I think we both realized that we need to do that more often.  We're optimistic that after all the renovations and the sale of the suburban house we'll have a lot more freedom to take these trips.  I've shown you a lot of pictures from the vacation, but no pictures of the entire family.  We did get one, and I'll leave you with that.  Enjoy the chuckle.