We left on Friday the 13th at 6 am. Left the kids in jammies thinking they would sleep the first ways. No sleep in these kids eyes, they were so excited and had not a very good idea of what 18 hours of driving really meant!
There was a lot of driving through two lane roads with very tall trees on both sides. There was not much to look at for a very long portion of the drive! beautiful trees do not get me wrong, but they did get boring after a few hundred miles!
It was all thumbs up when we finally reached our destination!!
We got in, unpacked, ordered pizza and ate quickly while enjoying our view so we could get on the beach before dark! We had a great view and it was very hard to eat because we all just wanted to get on the beach and enjoy the sand and discover what it had to offer!
off to the beach.....we had to pull them in at dark as I was no longer comfortable with them swimming in the dark.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! no better way to spend a day than on the beach!! We were able to find some books, and we were able to keep them hidden until Sunday.
Tuesday we went on a Dolphin cruise and it was very successful!! (unfortunately my camera was set on the wrong setting for the first half of the tour, hence the bright picture of the kids) It was a 90 minute cruise, two boats go in search of dolphin pods. Once spotted the boats come together and they kind of "drag", causing a very large wake and then the show begins. The first set of dolphins were very playful and entertained us for a good 7 or 8 minutes. I thought great we are only 15 minutes into the 90 minutes so now we will just coast. Nope were went on to find two more sets of pods of dolphins and again the boats met and created the fun wake for the dolphins to play in. Much to our delight we had a great tour!
The boats are very good size, we had about 30 people or so on our boat which made viewing very nice!Maggie did very well, I was concerned as she struggles with car sickness but no hitches this boat trip!
I wish I could have caught the shock and awe on their faces, completely priceless! however I was not 100% into pictures as I was enjoying the show as well.
After dolphin watching the first mate came and opened a fish tank which taught the kids about the fish found in this area! PJ completely loved this part as well! It was so enjoyable to not be packed in like sardines and to be able to move around!
We spent everyday on the beach. Many lunches were spent like this and this was the view from our spot. Many drip castles were created and washed away in the week. Many people stopped and commented on Pete's beautiful artistry in making his drip castles. (have to say they are pretty amazing)
Pete donned the scuba mask many days and dove to the bottom of the water and collected many a magical shell for the kiddos. They spent so much time searching for the perfect shells, recalling everyone they were going to gift with one of the special shells.
A couple of Brie pictures that are too precious not to include. Some of the best photos are the ones that are not perfectly posed.
Boogie time: Makayla and Maggie discussing the plan........
Makayla got the hang of it and was able to get some pretty good rides as most days the waves were good for boogie boarding!
Makayla was trying to prepare Brie was the ride she was about to have.... she trusted Makayla and thought it was a good idea.... until.....
the wave got her. Never again did she try the boogie board, just could not convince her the next wave may not be as big!! :~)
Thursday a boy explained the wildlife floating on the seaweed, that is all it took. Makayla and PJ were hooked! They were finding all kinds of little fish, crabs and other sea creatures!
Shell sorting at the end of the day was always a fun time.
There were many beach breaks to go enjoy some ice cream and then to the pool. It allowed there bodies a break from the endless crashing waves. PJ and Brie are just too cute and I had to include these ice cream and pool pictures!
The condo came with 2 large pools and 2 hot tubs that were not really hot tubs, simply hot tub sized pools that were only 2 1/2 feet deep. The littles played many games as dolphins!
PJ's face in this one just cracks me up!! He lived in this scuba mask all week, hilarious but he loved it! no water up his nose!!
The Hang Out!! a famous place in Gulf Shores. We managed to make it there our last night in town. It was a good time, however Brie was feeling more than tough and that proved to put a damper on things. She was a trooper and did her best to keep up. The Hang Out has a giant sand pile and live music going with dancing and lots of fun.
Kayla was able to capture a pretty good picture of Pete and I! It was a fun time!
There are many slushie places on the beach. Our family enjoyed a few while we were there. The weather was definitely HOT and HUMID!(thank goodness we were not paying the air conditioning bill that week!)
A must do is Ghost crab hunting. Pete went out with the kids earlier in the week but I choose to stay in with Brie. I wanted to see these things so we headed out again. No luck this night, I left and only had the pictures on Pete's phone to prove to me that they really do exist.
A few of my Makayla photos from the week that I like.
Maggie is always worth a thousand faces. She is just my sweet Maggie!
Brie had a few more close ups in the blog so less here, but a couple I wanted to include.
PJ like I said spent his whole week in this mask! I LOVED it! He would just float right on the edge of the beach and let the waves crash him into the shell line. The first couple days his skin took quite a beating but he figured out how to go out just a little farther and still stay safe. He was able to come up with come very pretty shells because of his determination and patience!
As I said Brie was sick. She started with a fever Tuesday and nebulizer treatments on Wednesday. She was feeling pretty tough and had a very bad Friday night. It made for a long drive home with a stop off at the doctor for a diagnosis of pneumonia and ear infection! Bring on the medication and hope for better days ahead. While it was a very long trip home she really did very well considering how sick she was. We ended up doing a neb in an Arby's!
The kids got popcorn in bed while watching a movie our final night as Pete and I packed. This is definitely a treat as we never do this at home! After the popcorn was gone and the movie was over they asked to just stay in our bed to sleep!
Makayla summed it up best about going home! BOO!!!!!!
Gulf Shores you proved to be a very good time and on the to do again list!!
This little man's cheeks had to hurt every night as he has the biggest smile from the minute his eyes opened till they closed again.
