I know I mentioned last summer that we camp on vacation and that it might not be for everyone. Having said that, I honestly cannot imagine spending my vacation any other way. I might also have told you we had a travel trailer when we first got married and that it was the perfect size until we expanded our family. We sold it a few years ago in hopes of upgrading, but haven't felt good about making another investment of that size. For this year, we decided to try our hand at renting a trailer close to the beach and it was a dream come true. We found a great deal on a brand new camper and decided not only did it save us money this year, but it allows us to try out a few different floor plans before becoming an RV owner again. We could not have been happier with our decision. If you are used ...
beach
Beach Babies
I have just spent the last eight days with these beauties at the beach. We are positively exhausted. Luckily, they were excellent travelers and adjusted well to life at the beach. Everything we did, we did in abundance: rolled in the sand, got soaked, ate yummy food, snuggled in the sunshine and took an insane number of photographs. Not only will it take me a few days to wrap my head around normal life, but I need to upload the images, read over 600 entries in Google Reader, check my email, catch up on design orders and get my house back in order. I also have two girls in terrible need of a schedule readjustment and some downtime with mommy and daddy. Our trip was wonderful and I'll have lots to share in the next few days. We missed you guys! ...
Farewell, Favorite Place
Vacation Day 7 - Saturday, June 19, 2010 We had such a good time at the beach yesterday, that we decided to pull an all-dayer again today. This time, we left Sophie with my aunt Heidi {who keeps the girls while I work} and took daddy to the beach with us. This was my view from the sand. Sweet daddy, a good book and one very happy little girl. and two umbrellas and an awning that made us look like nomads on the beach! Have I mentioned my child is OBSESSED with Doritos? She calls them "ritos" and would eat them all day long if I let her. She cried and whined through two triangles of a bologna sandwich, but grinned ear to ear when she finally got chips! Our last day at the beach was spent digging with cousins and playing in the water. It was beautiful today and we ...
The Purple Shovel
Vacation Day 6, - Friday, June 18, 2010 Today, we left Sophie sleeping with our daddy at the campsite and spent the whole day at the beach with K. Guess what? The water was open! We dubbed this hairdo "mouse ears" and she proudly sported them all day long. The three of us sat huddled under an umbrella because it was HOT today. Ella is so low maintenance at the beach and rarely complains. The most I had to deal with was washing hands to eat lunch and taking a walk to the restroom. Thank goodness, my cousin Kalli joined us later in the morning. She dug in the sand and played in the surf with my girl all morning long. K slept in the sun and I read another book. Or two. See that purple shovel? That taught us a lesson about the moral fiber of that little mouse-eared girl. ...
Lazy Days
Vacation Day 5 - Thursday, June 17, 2010 This is how we started day five of our vacation. This is about half-way through. This is how we wrapped it up. In case you haven't noticed, we're kind of lazy when we go to the beach. My idea of vacation isn't running from water park to put put golf and from restaurant to restaurant. I want lazy days, sandy toes and book after book to read. Luckily, I married my mirror image and our kids are exactly like us. Y'all, the beaches are gorgeous. I don't care what the newscasters are saying about the devastation along the gulf coast, Gulf Shores has been positively breathtaking this week. There are people working very hard all day and night to keep the state park beaches clean and the boons in the water are doing a great job of ...
Shrimp and Scoops
Vacation Day 4 - June 15, 2010 We are celebrating Sophie's nine week birthday from the beach today {although I managed not to take a single picture of her!}. It is hard to believe she is already that old, but crazy to think she is already enjoying her first trip to the beach. She got a little windburn sitting out under the awning yesterday, so she woke up with a pretty pink face. Instead of going to the beach today, we've pretty much hung out inside. Ella has watched movies and colored princesses all day. SD played cards with the boys and I read an entire book. We had a late afternoon meal at The Shrimp Basket since today was AYCE shrimp day and boy were we stuffed! Apparently not stuffed enough, though, because after a nap we headed back into town for a stop at our favorite local ...
Pedals, Washers and Rain
Vacation Day 3 - Tuesday, June 16, 2010 Day three brought with it lots of relaxation and quiet. The big kids all went to a local water park and our hubbies went to play golf this morning. Ella, Sophie, K and I emptied and refilled the pools, brought out our stack of snacks and books and lounged in the sun {or shade depending on the participant} all day. Ella finally learned to ride her tricycle and thought she was so big pedaling around the circle with Garan. The boys played a game of washers on the lake behind Granmom's camper. We took a later afternoon trip to the beach and got caught in a rain shower, but took refuge under the emptied beach pavilion. We did manage to squeeze in an hour in the sand before bedtime, but I was holding a sleeping baby and didn't manage ...
Beaches and Inflatable Pools
Vacation Day 2 - Monday, June 15, 2010 I realize camping isn't for everyone. I know that to a lot of people vacation is about airplanes and condos, resorts and fancy restaurants. I just don't happen to know any of those people. I've been camping at Gulf State Park for 30 summers, with the exception of two that I wasn't happy about! My family thinks of GS as our second home. My mother's family has been camping here since she was a little girl and it's hard to picture family vacations any other way. There are usually somewhere around 25 or 30 of us here any given day in June. This year there are four travel trailers and two pop up campers, three inflatable pools and too many bicycles to count. Because of the oil spill we were worried about the beaches, but praying that we would ...