White Sand Paradise

So, I want to share some highlights from our vacation.

I was really nervous about the 14 hour road trip with the two boys. It was a little bit hard to look forward to vacation b/c I was just dreading the drive. But it really wasn't that bad at all. The boys did really great. I tell you, we were praising Jesus the whole time!! We left at 6 a.m. which helped. We got the kids out of bed in their pj's and just plopped them in the car. So they were still a little groggy and calm. Nice. We were able to drive for a few hours before stopping for breakfast at Waffle House. Nothin' like a greasy southern breakfast. We let the boys watch a movie and that passed the time until we stopped for lunch in LA at a place called Old Dutch Bakery. It was so yummy and I think owned by Mennonite. We were planning on driving half way on sat. and the rest on sun. The trip was going so well, that we just thought we'd drive as far as we could. By about 5 p.m, the boys (and me) were done and ready to get out of the car. We were in the middle of nowhere so we pushed through and stopped in Mobile, AL at 6p.m. We were all getting cranky and ready to be out (after 12 hours) so we pretty much stopped at the first hotel we could find. In my exhausted state, it looked like a pretty nice hotel at first glance, older but nice. Well it ended up being pretty skeezy. It did have a huge bathtub that the boys took a bubble bath in so that was nice. It ended up being a pretty rough night w/the boys not sleeping well, but we made it through. The next day we took our time getting around and eating, etc. We got on the road to Destin around 10am. Thankfully Finley passed out asleep. We only had 2 hours left to go and it was a really pretty drive. It was fun watching Avery see the ocean out the window for the first time. When we got into Destin we ate a place called Destin Diner. It was so yummy! Then we took the boys for their first walk on the beach. They LOVED it and got completely soaked. We finally checked into our hotel around 3:30. We stayed at the Edgewater Beach Condos. Our room was so beautiful. AJ booked everything himself and he did GOOD. The room had 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, kitchen, dining, laundry, & balcony overlooking the beach. It had 2 big pools, a kiddie pool & hot tub. It was just so stinkin' beautiful. It was perfect for us. I loved standing on the balcony watching the waves rolling in. That first night we ate at Joe's Crab shack. I had Maui Mahi which was so fresh and yummy. We tried to eat as much seafood as possible while we were there. The next night we ate at Fudpuckers. It was really neat. They had live alligators that the boys got to feed. They give you a big, long stick with a long string hanging on the end w/ the food. Here are a couple of pictures we took there:

The boys loved building sandcastles with AJ on the beach. We also collected lots of beautiful seashells. The first 2 days the water was really calm and perfect for swimming in. The next two were pretty rough and would knock you down immediately. Avery didn't seem to mind though. He's such a fish, he never got tired of swimming. I think he would have been happy to never leave. It was always refreshing to go swim in the swimming pool after sucking down so much salt water.
This was one of Finley's favorite activities on the beach. He liked to keep a bucket of water close by so that he could rinse his hands when he wanted.
We took one afternoon to shop at the Destin outlet malls & go to the Bass Pro shop. One evening we ate at The Crab Trap. It's right on the beach. The whole back wall is open windows so you can hear and watch the waves as you eat.

I love this picture. I think I'm going to blow it up and hang it on their bathroom wall.

Our little family. :)

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