Vacation Recap Part 2 - FLORIDA

After a week in Texas, we drove to Destin, Florida, for a week of vacation. Destin is in the panhandle of the state, and the beach there is a natural anomaly. The sands are white and the water clear, like in the Caribbean. Most mornings we would head over to the beach, and then rest in the afternoon, and then head out again around 4:oo or so to beat the crowds at the restaurants. There was always something fun going on at night so lots of times we would head over to the little "village" right there on the resort for the free concerts, carnivals, sandcastle building workshops, fireworks, etc.

Little Man was not converted to the beach. He hated walking in the sand. Every day when we first got there, this was him:

Eventually he would warm enough to the idea that he would sit on the edge of the sand where the water would touch (I guess this was more compacted so it didn't bother him as much) and bum rides out on whoever would take him out into the water:

The boys kept themselves entertained in various ways. The beach is a great low-stress vacation if you have kids.

They can dig holes:

They can bury themselves:


They can build sandcastles:


They can splash in the waves:


They can boogie board:



They can make up stuff to do, like throwing sand back into the ocean:


Here are some shots from the "village" and the nighttime fun:

Destin has a lot of fun restaurants to eat at and good seafood to eat. One of the fun places we went was called Fudpuckers (don't even get me started on that name - and don't try to say it three times fast). They had live alligators you could feed:

Some other fun things we did included a day at "The Track". We played miniature golf, rode go-carts, etc. The boys totally gained up on me on the bumper boats. They cornered me and were out for blood! Poor Little Man just kept his face hidden the entire time. And after riding the go-carts, Little J declared, "I didn't wreck one single time! I could totally get my license!"

We also went to the Florida Gulfarium. It is like a mini Sea World. I saw one of the best multi-species shows I've ever seen there, and also the hugest sea turtle I have ever seen. If you look really close in the picture below you can see us at the rails right behind the dolphin.

It was a really fun week that went very fast. We drove the 13 hour drive straight through back to Texas because the next day I was due at the Mary Kay Seminar in Dallas. All of the boys did great! It helps to have Grandma and Grandad's car to rotate into. :-)

I went to Seminar for 3 incredible days while the boys and JC partied at my parents and with their cousins. Eventually, we made it back home and this has been the fastest week ever since I've been busy playing catch-up after being gone a month. The boys start school in two weeks, so basically our summer is over. I can't complain, though. We've made lots of fun memories!