Destin in the Fall

There's no other place like the beach in the fall, especially when that beach is DESTIN. We've been fortunate enough to have come to the beach duty-free the past few years. Duty-free meaning we've never paid (Matt's aunt and uncle own a place at Crystal Dunes), have had endless babysitting (grandparents join us), extra money to spare (grandparents pay for everything), etc. This year, however, we flew SOLO as a family. The free condo wasn't available, but we were able to find a great place right across the street called Caribbean Dunes. It was perfect for us--1 bdr, 1 bath, twin bunks and a sleeper sofa (and most importantly, for me, a washer and dryer).

Our Beach Adventure (feel free to stop reading and enjoy the pictures--this blog is my journal):

We decided to take off on Friday afternoon and find a halfway point that evening. I decided to surprise the kids with the DVD Monsters vs. Aliens. I also scored some great movies from the Book Mobile--what would our community do without Mr. Tom and what on earth did our parents do without TV/DVD's in the car on roadtrips??? What a lifesaver! We made it to Clanton, Alabama and stayed at a Best Western which was super nice. There was a free breakfast in the morning. I felt like "one of those potluck people" that never brings anything but loads my plate up dozens of times--you know the ones. After our smorgasbord breakfast, we took off and arrived in Destin around lunchtime. We spent about two hours on the beach before checking in.

I headed to Walmart for our weekly groceries but the main purpose of my trip was to find a crab hunting net =). I had NO IDEA how to crab hunt but had looked at videos on You Tube. We ventured out on the beach that evening as amateur hunters but quickly became professionals as the crabs are EVERYWHERE. Creepy huh. They are white, speedy little suckers that blend right in with the sand. We had a blast chasing them with our net and flashlights. I'm sure all the teens that were making out on the beach didn't appreciate the commotion, but we sure had fun.

SUNDAY: we spent the day at the beach and the pool--nothing major this day. I did sneak away for a bit to the Silver Sands Outlet malls. I am absolutely loving Gymboree Outlets. Who knew you could find size 7 clothes for $3.99 and $4.99?

MONDAY: we woke up to a downpour in the morning but by the afternoon, things had cleared up. We spent most of the day with Josh and Sarah Owens who were also staying at the Dunes. They told us about this fabulous restaurant they'd eaten at the night before called Louisiana Lagniappe. They offered us some babysitting so we could enjoy a kids free dinner there. It was AWESOME, some of the best food we've ever had. We returned the babysitting favor when we returned, and they went out. We had a blast with Lydia. She fits right into our party of five.

TUESDAY: another gorgeous day at the beach. Isaac is officially a swimmer. Karson let him borrow her goggles yesterday, and he fell in love with the water. He was swimming all over the place. We took the kids to The Track later that afternoon, dropped some major dough, rode some rides and got soaked on the bumper boats. We went to Dewey Destin for dinner and then headed to the Destin Commons for some free play at their cool children's area. I ran into one of my high buddies there. It was great catching up with her and she told us about SanDestin and a place called Baytowne Wharf.

WEDNESDAY: after a day at the beach and pool, we treated the kids to McDonald's. YUMMO, huh =). We ventured over to Baytowne Wharf afterwards. It was one of the coolest places--cute little shops, restaurants, tree houses, a wooden playground, etc. After playing at the Wharf, we met up with some BG vacationers at the Destin Commons.

THURSDAY: sun-n-fun. We said goodbye to our friends the Owens's =(. We were going to try a place called Gratzie's for dinner but it was closed =(. So, we headed over to the Back Porch for dinner. Afterwards, we went back to The Track for some miniature golf. This was apparently the HOT SPOT of the night because it was wall to wall people.

FRIDAY: more sun, more fun. Matt met up with Brad Caffey for some golf at Indian Bayou. I decided to take the kids to Chick-Fil-A for some familiar food and play. Afterwards, I took them over to Hurricane Lanes for some bowling. It was Miles's first time. He was cute toting that heavy 6 lb. ball to the lane. When we got back home, I started power packing--ugh. We decided to go to P.F. Changs for dinner and Dippin' Dots for dessert. It was the perfect end to our week.

Down to the Creek to Play

We spent the afternoon at Romanza Johnson Park enjoying this perfect weather and splashing around the creek.

Some brave soul put a rope swing. The kids had a blast landing in the ankle deep water.

Evan doing his SpiderMan trick.

Elizabeth got the hang of it quicker than anyone and learned how to actually let go of the rope instead of crashing back into the bank.

Silly Isaac and his tricks.

I believe Miles's trunks were either to big or to small. He showed his coin slot most of the day.

Group photo of our cutie's!!!

We're on a boat...

with our swim suits and our flippy floppies. My sister and Paul rented a fabulous pontoon boat on Saturday at Nolin.

The day was perfect

and the company superb!!!

All the kids suited in life jackets and ready to go.

The girls enjoyed sitting up front and relaxing.

Miles enjoyed sitting in Meme's lap.

And, the other boys were way to busy "exploring the studio space" for me to get a picture. They were up, down and all around, in and out of the snacks and cooler. We stayed out on the lake most of the day and made our way to the beach, candy docks, and dam. Sorry, I didn't get any dam pictures =). The lake was crazy, busy, full of people grasping at the last days of summer.

Bodda Bing Bodda Boom

Our boys are official bunk bed buddies. I wasn't quite ready for this transition but knew it was coming SOON. Miles has been getting up at 2:00 a.m. and again at 5:30 a.m. At 2:00 a.m., he's complains about being cold. Once he's wrapped up snug like a burrito, he's fine. At 5:30, he runs out of water in his sippie. Once it's filled, he's fine and off to bed. This has been going on for the past couple of nights CONSISTENTLY. I thought to myself...huuummmm...maybe his toddler bed is getting uncomfortable? We decided to go bunk bed hunting yesterday morning while Isaac was in school. Big Lots is the BEST place for affordable, decent furniture. We scored this cool black/silver metal bunk there--it reminds me of a gym locker room. I'd love to eventually find some metal lockers to put in their room. This morning, just like clockwork, Miles got up again. Ugh, I'm out of ideas. Anyone know where I can purchase restraint straps??? j/k

From this...

to this...

Isaac is officially a 4-year old preschooler. Today was his first day of school. I am absolutely psyched that Ms. Denise has returned to EEP. She is fabulous, and I'm thankful that Isaac is in her hands. He's always been my sensitive, more clingy child. He'll lose his marbles if I go outside for one second. I can't even check the mail without notifying him. I was worried how he'd handle being left at school, but he handled it like a pro. It was nice seeing all the faces from last year and all the new faces for this year.