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 ...
gulf shores
2018 Summer Vacation | Part Two
In case you missed it yesterday, check out the first part of recap here. Confession: I've never actually been crab hunting. I usually bail out of this activity, leaving my husband to torture the kids, while I read in bed. There is something about being pregnant again that has made me so much more maternal than usual. A huge part of me thinks it's completely weird, but the rest of me hopes it will stick around. I opted to tag along and we met my sister and Jennifer at the pier and the let the kids all hunt together. I have so much video footage from this excursion, that I'll need to share at some point. The kids were squealing and the daddies were running around trapping crabs with their bare hands. Jennifer and I walked very slow and Kamin kept us company. At the end ...
2018 Summer Vacation | Part One
I was looking back through some of our vacation posts from previous years and noticed a few things. The posts I loved most were those filled with random snapshots of camp life and beach days, but also those where I let the photos do most of the talking. I'm still figuring out my new camera, so these aren't the best vacation photos I've ever captured, but I got a little emotional looking back through them this morning. We had the most wonderful two weeks together and I wouldn't trade that time for anything. I had somebody ask if our extended family really liked each other that much and the truth is -- YES, we really do. I can't imagine spending fourteen days together on vacation if we weren't having the time of our lives and I can genuinely say that we really enjoy one another's company. ...