Our last two days on the coast were decidedly different than the first two. We saw the sun shine and there was LOTS of shenanigans going on in the camper. Kids wanted pictures of themselves, they took silly pictures of us, made weird faces and generally traumatized their parents. When we got up on Saturday, the sun was shining and it felt great outside. I had on shorts and a tank and the kids were in short sleeves. We hung out around camp for a few hours, ate Arby's for lunch (we laugh that this has somehow been designated as "beach food" since we never eat it at home) and packed all of our gear. Imagine our surprise when we pulled into "our beach", as the girls like to call it (the Gulf State Park Beach Pavilion), and it was closed to the public. We later asked a guard at the ...
beach
Spring Break | Part One
This is the first time since Kamin & I went to Disney World in 2004 that I can remember going somewhere for Spring Break. The girls are usually with my mom for the week and we operate on a normal schedule. How boring?! This year Josh & I were both having serious withdrawals and it seemed like a pretty good excuse to "take the camper down so we can get there quicker in June". Because spending money on two vacations inside three months makes PERFECT sense. Our girls had been counting down the days for weeks. We left on Wednesday after lunch and made the five hour drive (it takes an extra hour with the camper in tow), hoping to get there by dinner. We were super impressed with the girls, who traveled so well. There were several movies, lots of books and very few potty breaks. Sophie ...
a family tradition
I think this is my earliest childhood memory of camping with my family. My grandparents had a Winnebago and they took us to Gulf Shores for a week every summer. It's was "grand kids week" and my parents would usually come down at the end of the week and we would move into the tent with them for a second week. I LOVE thinking about the fact that my parents do the very same thing with our girls. The Winne was so cool. My grandparents had two twin beds in their "room" and the dinette folded out for a double bed at the other end (seen below). The coolest part, to me, was that there were cabinets above both beds that folded down into a bunk. I loved sleeping up there, even though there was only about 18 inches between the mattress and the ceiling. And even though we know of at least two times ...
Another Beach Post
Remember back in June when I blogged about our disastrous Father's Day experience? It seems that is as far as I ever got with the vacay recap, so here is a quick tour through our annual camping trip. There was a lot of DVD watching and iPod playing, plenty of beach sitting and ray catching, a few serious faces thrown around, lots of smiling and laughing, some white powdered donut breakfast-ing, some beach sleeping and ice cream cone eating, sunset watching and cousin talking. There was even some dancing and tank top wearing by these two, and lots of goofing off by these two. There was splash pad playing, and picture posing, daddy burying, and even some mommy burying, couple cheesing, and family loving. ...
Girls of Summer
I love to travel with my husband and there is nothing like introducing your children to your favorite places on earth - but, there is something to be said for weekend trips with your girlfriends where the only person you are responsible for is yourself (and your friend, but only if a man in a bandana tries to pick her up on a Harley). I had the immense pleasure of spending this past weekend in Gulf Shores with four of my favorite friends. There is no possible way to recap the entire weekend and I'm not sure I would want to if I could. We waited two plus hours both nights for dinner, we danced, we misplaced debit cards, we walked miles for an ice cream, got kicked out of the pool by a security guard, got pulled over and yelled at by a real cop, bought clothes, had a couple of near-death ...
Father’s Day: A Cautionary Tale
Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of really great days on our vacation last week. I do NOT regret going and the moments spent on the beach with my family were, as always, amazing. There is nothing like being in paradise with twenty of your favorite people. Amidst all of the good, however, were a few moments when I just wanted to bang my head against a wall. On Saturday night while traveling down, we blew a tire on our travel trailer. It was well after dark and we were precariously parked on the side of the interstate. After a failed attempt to call roadside service, my uncle caught up to us and helped Josh jack up the camper and change the tire. Sunday and Monday it rained. All day. The first day didn't bother me, because it's always nice to hang around camp and settle in. I read a ...
beachgirls
I cannot even begin to tell you how wonderful our weekend at the beach turned out to be. It was the first time since I've been married that I've taken a pleasure-trip without Josh and the first time since the girls were born that I've been to the beach without them. It was surreal, but boy did we have fun! We pulled out in Amanda's mini-van on Thursday night and made it to our condo in Gulf Shores around 11:30. One would think we would head straight to bed, but that was the first of many nights we barely missed the sun rise. There were eight girls in a three bedroom condo and we had a BLAST. there was lots of beach laying, poolside sitting and balcony people watching we saw sun and rain, waited hours for dinner and read lots of books we rented expensive lounge chairs, ate ...
Pensacola, Round 2
Saturday is the day of the actual airshow (although Friday is exactly the same, it is technically the "dress rehearsal"). Crowds are heavier on Saturdays, you have to stake your spot on the beach at daybreak and you don't drive anywhere. If you plan on eating dinner on the island somewhere other than your condo, you should be prepared to walk there. Unfortunately, it was only after we paid $45 each for three sets of beach chairs that we realized it would rain. ALL. DAY. LONG. We packed it up about 30 minutes into the day and ended up doing lots of reading, cartoon watching and balcony sitting. The majority of the airshow was cancelled, although we heard on the radio the Blue Angels might do their low show a few hours late. Bummer. I had bought the girls super cute new patriotic bathing ...