The Long Drive Home

Today was the day we had to leave to drive home. Our condo wasn't perfect, but there were a lot of great things about it. I took a few last pictures of it, including the pool which hadn't opened yet for the day.

Meghan and I were up by 5:30, and by 8:00 we had the kids up and ready to go.  We took one last look at our condo as we drove away.

We took a different route home, since we wanted to be able to stop for the night in St. Louis if needed.  Retracing our route to Florida would have put us in the middle or the Ozarks at night, which didn't seem desirable, so we headed north.  We stopped for lunch in Alabama at Whataburger, and we made a mid-afternoon stop at a truck stop in Tennessee.  The huge parking lot was empty, so we let the kids run around for a bit to stretch their legs.  We later stopped for dinner at Panera.  The somewhat frustrating part was that every stop seemed to take nearly a full hour.  Whether it was a stop for food or just for gas, snacks, and diaper changes, it took way longer than we wanted, but that's part of traveling with kids.


We went this route to allow for us to stop in St. Louis for the night, but as we approached it, we felt awake enough to keep on driving, at least with the help of our friends Sugar-Free Red Bull and Diet Mountain Dew.    By the time we got home, it was nearly 4am, which made it a 20-hour trip, including stops.  The kids did so great on the trip, but since it was the middle of the night by the time we got home, they were super tired (well, I guess we all were).  It was a great vacation, and all in all it turned out to be better than we expected.  We look forward to more family vacations in the future.

Last Day

Today is the last day of our vacation that doesn't involve driving. We spent the early part of the day at my parents' house, so we could see them one last time before we left.

Both kids loved rocking in this rocker, which my parents have had my entire life. Clara especially took ownership of this chair (she recently heard Joshua tell her something was "mine" and really latched onto that word. I think she was happy there was a word to express something she so deeply believes in)

My dad grilled us a yummy lunch while we had fun in the backyard. Joshua unfortunately decimated some of my parents tomato crop, but otherwise it went well.

The kids ate picnic-style and Joshua enjoyed his corn.

After lunch, we took a walk around their neighborhood to see the bay and give the kids an energy-outlet. Clara really enjoyed walking by herself with my mom.

After our walk, we had a little time for Grandma and Grandpa to be silly with the kids.

But then it was time to say goodbye. Besides saying bye to my parents, Joshua had to say farewell to his new very good friends: Katie and Charlie. Clara warmed up to the dogs as well (they are a little bigger than the dogs she is used to), but Joshua absolutely loved them.

After we got home, Jason, Joshua, and Clara went swimming in the pool one more time before Jason and I put the kids to bed and started packing. It has been such a fun time here and so great to see my family. I feel like I have always been sad to leave every vacation place, no matter how long we have there and this is no exception. Tomorrow we start our drive home. We plan to drive to St. Louis tomorrow and then drive home Sunday morning.

As Easy as Riding a Bike

The communities along 30-A (Rosemary Beach, Seacrest Beach, Alys Beach, Seaside, Watercolor, etc.) are famous for the abundance of bicycles.  This is because there is a bike trail that is near the road that goes for miles and miles.  There are a lot of places to rent bikes, so at any time of day you'll see many people, often entire families, riding bikes.  I decided I wanted to do this with Joshua and Clara using one of the bike trailers.  So today I rented a bike from the shop with the brightly-colored bikes as well as a trailer.  It only holds two kids, and Hannah wouldn't have enjoyed it much anyway, so she stayed at home.  We rode quite a ways up 30-A and back.  The kids seemed to like it well enough.  They were screened in which protected them from the sun but also gave them a breeze, though by the end of our 12-mile ride we were all a little hot and tired, so we stopped in Rosemary Beach at the Sugar Shak for some ice cream.  We then went across the street to the Summer Kitchen again (which made Clara's third time there this trip) for lunch.  We then rode back home for naptime.  I went for a run this morning (unfortunately the only one I was able to get in during the trip), so I was pretty physically tired at this point.  Meghan and I took advantage of our respite and sat and relaxed on our patio for a couple hours.  We later all went to the pool again, which is now our go-to activity whenever we have time.  We hadn't planned the bike activity ahead of time, so that was a pleasant surprise addition to the trip and something we'll definitely do again if we go back, but probably by then Hannah will want to go too, so Meghan would have to end her two-decade biking drought.  But they say you never forget, right?

Just The Two of Us

The main point of this vacation was to go somewhere as a family.  We chose everything based on that idea: the location, the specific condo, and the activities.  So far it's been really great in that regard.  But Meghan and I were still hoping to get a little time to ourselves, and thankfully Meghan's mom generously offered to drive over to our condo (they live an hour away) and stay with the kids for the afternoon and evening today so we could do have a date day.  As we mentioned, our time at the beach on Monday wasn't all that great, so we took advantage of our opportunity today to go to the beach on our own terms.  We relaxed in beach chairs, lounged around reading books and sipping drinks, and spent some time in the ocean.  It was great and was everything we love about the beach.  They call this area the Emerald Coast due to the stunning water color and the white-sand beaches, so it made for a perfect beach day.

In the evening we went to a nice restaurant, Onano, in Rosemary Beach, which is a neighboring community to Seacrest Beach, where we are staying.  Our food was great.  The only downside was our outside table was right next to the curb, where a giant GMC Sierra parked right after we were seated.  For dessert we went up the street to La Crema, which specializes in tapas and chocolate. We had fondue, one white chocolate and one peanut butter chocolate.  Again, it was delicious, and again we ate outside enjoying the fantastic weather.  It was a really fun day, and it was wonderful to have a break from parenting for a bit.

Date Day and Fun in the Pool

Today I had a date day with Clara in the morning. Right now she really likes walking by herself without being in a stroller and without holding hands. There aren't very many places I can do that with her, but we went exploring in nearby Rosemary Beach and there were several places that were away from the road that I could let her roam. This included a butterfly garden. We didn't actually see any butterflies, but we still enjoyed the flowers.

Later on, we got a snack at the Summer Kitchen and went grocery shopping, which Clara loves. Here she is in her car seat, holding our receipt.

After naps, we went to the pool. This went much better than the beach. Here are the kids in their swim gear.

The kids took a little while to warm up to swimming, but once they did, they seemed to really enjoy it. Well, Hannah didn't so much enjoy it as find it super relaxing. It was hard for her to stay awake in her floatie. We had a really fun day today and I was glad the kids enjoyed the pool.

A Bummer of a Beach Trip

Today we went to the beach. I had high hopes because Jason and I love the beach, but the kids weren't really fans. Joshua was okay with it, but too scared of the waves. Clara hated every part of it from the sand to the water. Hannah did her part by staying in the shelter and napping a bit, but overall it wasn't that fun. Maybe next year when the kids are older, they will see how awesome it is. I think we will try the pool tomorrow.

After nap,we walked to dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Seacrest Beach. It was a very nice night and we were having a great meal, but the girls kind of ran out of steam since it was a late dinner and our food took forever on top of that. I ended up getting my food boxed up and took it home so I could put them to bed (part of the beauty of a walkable community). Jason and Joshua got to have a fun little mini-date as they finished their dinner and also got ice cream for dessert.

Except for the kids not liking the beach, which I found a little disappointing, it was a great day and we had a lot of fun.

Brunch at the Summer Kitchen

Today my parents and Christine came over to Seacrest Beach, where we and Michelle and Sam are staying. We all walked over to Rosemary Beach, which is just a short walk, to eat brunch at a cute little cafe called The Summer Kitchen.

Here we are eating, except for Hannah, who was asleep in the stroller during the meal.

After brunch, we walked back to the condo. One of my recent projects has been to organize a quarterly gift exchange for the girls in my family. The idea is you spend a small amount to share small amounts of a thing or things you love with another person as a way to introduce them to something that they will love too. This was the first of three exchanges and it went really well. Here we are with the gifts we received.


All too soon, it was time for Michelle and Sam to head back home so they could work tomorrow. Here is Hannah with Uncle Sam and Aunt Michelle, enjoying hanging out with them shortly before they had to go. Not too much later, my parents and Christine also went back to their home. Though we will see my parents later in the week, we were also saying good-bye to Christine since we won't see her again before her departure on Tuesday.

After naps, we wanted to go outside and enjoy the weather, even though we don't plan to swim until tomorrow. We decided to go for a walk with the kids. This is the stroller situation we are using for this trip since our triple stroller was too large for the car (we may need a car-top carrier for future trips. Jason is amazing at packing and it took him a long time to make everything fit). It is our double stroller with a ride-on board for Joshua if he needs it. The downside is that it is hard to walk behind, but other than some walking awkwardness, it seems to be working well so far.

A Butterfly, The Back Porch, and the Beach

Today we made the relatively short drive (well, a 4-hour drive seems short when you just drove 15 the day before) from Birmingham to my parents' home in Valparaiso, Florida, which is about thirty minutes from Destin. Christine was already there. We ate lunch at their house and the kids took naps. Before his nap, Joshua noticed a slow-moving Monarch in their backyard. I can only assume this poor butterfly was injured because Joshua was able to catch it and hold it without much difficulty.

After naps, we went to a restaurant called The Back Porch in Destin. Michelle and Sam had spent the day at the beach and met us there. This reminded me a lot of Joe's Crab Shack. Our food was okay. I think it was universally over-cooked. But it didn't really matter because when this is your view:

food is completely secondary. It was really wonderful to have our entire family together for the night.

Michelle and Sam	Mom and Clara

Our group, minus Sam who took the picture

Our little family

After dinner, we went to the back of the restaurant and the kids got their first taste of the ocean. Joshua loved it and was super excited, but Clara thought it was the worst thing she had ever seen or experienced. She hated both the sand and the water. So we shall see how the beach goes later in the week. Hopefully not too bad because Jason and I love the beach and it will be a little bit of a bummer if we have to stick with the pool.