I can count on one hand the number of summers I haven't camped at Gulf State Park -- I took classes one summer during college, I only got to visit the girls for a weekend when I had a huge project to finish at work, and that time we had a global pandemic. We went back and forth about whether to travel last summer and even though much of our family went ahead, Josh and I just didn't feel good about it. We went to Disney in the spring (gosh, I need to share that trip with you here!) and as wonderful as it was, it was not the beach. The girls have been beside themselves about going and Polly's face below just about sums it up. We had the best two weeks together in our favorite place and I hope we never have to miss a summer again. Most of the pictures in this post are my sister's. I ...
camping
2019 Summer Vacation | Part Three
In case you missed it, I shared part one and part two of our summer vacation recap, earlier this week! Towards the end of our trip, I realized I didn't have any pictures of the girls inside our camper. I know that seems like such a small and silly thing, but I know we won't have this same one forever and we all love it so much, so I want to be sure we capture our time in it accurately. The kids spent so many afternoons playing cards around our table and I can't count the number of times we watched Aquamarine on DVD -- ha! This girl was so much fun to capture. She spent a fair amount of time playing and crawling around the floor, which is why we finally agreed that the carpet has to come out before next summer. Carpet and sand are not a fun combination! These are some ...
2019 Summer Vacation | Part Two
In case you missed it, I shared part one of our summer vacation recap, on the blog yesterday! Polly started getting really good at self-feeding, right about the time we left for vacation. I remembered thinking that she might never actually swallow the food we were offering, when all of a sudden, she became a voracious eater. That made our trip infinitely easier and I was able to pack all sorts of healthy snacks and meals for days on the go. Her little clip on chair was perfect for our picnic table, but I also carried to most of the restaurants we visited, and I can't tell you how many questions and compliments we got. The more days we spent on the beach, the braver our little sister got. She spent a morning playing in the sand with Sophie and they were the cutest things to ...
2019 Summer Vacation | Part One
After an accidental hiatus, I'm finally catching you up with all of our summer fun. It's hard to believe it's been two whole months since our family vacation. We joke that we spend fifty weeks a year looking forward to this trip, but it's more true than you know. This summer was especially fun, because we were introducing Polly to all of our favorite places and teaching her how to be the best beach bum she could be. I'm not even going to try and recap all of the things we did each day. Instead, I'm going to share all of my favorite photographs -- way too many -- and share a few of my favorite moments from our trip. Polly still wasn't sleeping great when we visited Gulf Shores in June. We were closing in on sleeping through the night, but she was still nursing several times on her ...
Spring Break at Wind Creek
While we head to the beach for a two week stay every summer, we don't travel in our camper as often as I'd like. We've made grand statements about doing it more, we've taken a few fall trips to North Alabama and a random beach weekend here and there, but we haven't really taken advantage of our travel trailer the way I wished we did. When our favorite campground was booked for Spring Break, we decided to book a week's stay at a lakeside state park less than an hour away, and try something new for a change. Josh and I both had to work while the kids were out of school, but we managed to tag team both the computer and the kids, and had a really great family getaway before we wrap up this school year. Here's a quick peek at how we spent our week away. Baby camper naps are my favorite. I ...
Our Annual Beach Trip | Part Three
The weather might have been touch and go for a few days, but I'm so glad we decided to tough it out. Our last two days in the sand were so beautiful and there wasn't a complaint heard either day! Because of the storm ruining our mid-week plans, Jen and Allen decided to extend their trip by a few days and got to join us on the beach again for the weekend. There is nothing better than having plenty of kids to play with and the company was pretty much perfect. Josh and I joked on the way home that the only way to know if they really enjoyed the week was if they decide to coordinate our trips again next summer. Ha! These four kids played so well together on the beach all weekend. Jud is obsessed with Ella, so he was pretty much holding her hand at all times. Aside from reapplying ...
Our Annual Beach Trip | Part Two
As predicted, the tropical storm rolled right on in the very next day. While the storm raged outside, and the camper did a bit of rocking, we debated whether we should wait it out or head home. The forecast was unpredictable, but things looked promising towards the end of the week and I'm a firm believer that rain at the beach is way better than rain at home. We ultimately decided to enjoy a few lazy days around camp and pray that the sunshine would reappear later in the week. On that first rainy morning, I decided to take advantage of our lack of plans and get all of the laundry done. This was my second trip to the laundromat -- why do we create so much dirty laundry during vacation?! I loaded up six loads (I know, I'm shaking my head, too) of clothes and towels, two crabby girls and ...
Our Annual Beach Trip | Part One
Disclosure: Affiliate links appear in this post. Any purchases made using these links will earn Taz + Belly a small commission. You can read more about our affiliate relationships here.It's hard to believe it's almost been a month since we got home from the beach, so I figured I better get these photos on the blog before I forgot everything we did! I fluctuate between years having excellent photographs or videos and those with mediocre ones. This year definitely falls into the latter category. Tropical Storm Cindy blew in at the halfway point and ruined a few of our best laid plans and with them went any concern for photographic evidence. We just had a great time and whatever I got, is what I got. How about a three part recap starting now? Our letterboard has been hanging in our ...