March 16-24, 2013
Okay, you'll have to forgive me for the over-abundance of photos. But I seriously narrowed it down, and I just couldn't do it anymore. What an awesome trip! It was the first family (or friends for that matter) trip I've ever taken.
We got a bit of a late start on our first day, I think it was around 11am. I had to work the night before. Here we are eating at the Big Texan in Amarillo, TX. The steak did not disappoint. Yummy!
It ended up being about a 26 hour drive, straight through to Florida. Luckily it's near Pensicola on the very most northwest portion of the state. I was so happy Chris had agreed to let us drive all the way through. Not only did it save us on a hotel, the girls were sleeping during part of the trip. Chris was super great about driving through the night. I had figured I'd do most of the through-the-night driving, but he ended up doing even more than me. The only bad thing about driving through the night is missing out on the beauty of the south. The girls did fabulous in the car! Keira may have watched two movies, but it may have been only one. The girls were just perfect!
We arrived at our temporary home in Perdido Bay, Florida at the Grand Carribean East. We weren't able to check into our hotel for a few hours so we immediately went down to the beach! (We were a bit over dressed for the occasion with the warmer weather and humidity.) We also went to a souvenir shop while waiting a couple of hours for Chris' mom and step-dad to arrive.
Chris' step-dad, Don went night fishing several nights. Chris went with him twice I think. They mostly caught catfish. They threw most back but did save a few to eat. And they actually weren't too bad.
He also did some day fishing while us girls basked in the glorious sun! I think this was the only sunny day while we were there. It was a bit chilly.
Glorious evening sunset walks.
For our anniversary (it just so happened to work out that way) Don and Chris went deep sea fishing. This is a red snapper that unfortunately he had to toss back in. Of course they caught many of them and had to toss them back in. They were able to bring home a bunch of trigger fish and white snapper. It was delicious!
My CUTE little girl! Our place was great, it had a kitchen with everything in it. And what it didn't have Chris' parents brought. It was perfect. We only ate out once though, saving a lot of money!
Every morning except one I went running along the beach. It was heavenly! The sand was perfect for running on! A couple of times I arrived back to breakfast including bacon! It doesn't get much better than that! The girls and I also went on walks along the beach.
Keira is a little beach bum just like me. We had a blast!!!
Sierra got some lovin' from Grammy! They hadn't seen each other since she was a couple of months old. Keira also got LOTS of lovin' from Grammy!
Sierra was not a big fan of the sand. Again, it was slightly chilly there, and she just did not enjoy the feel of sand on her feet. Or on anything for that matter.
The cutest!!! This was from Keira's bunk bed.
Chris' mom had wanted to take the girls to an awesome park close by. It was really awesome! The coolest park I've ever been to. Keira had a blast!!!
As our anniversary gift we went on a Dolphin Watch! Of course it was magnificent! It was a little cool but it didn't rain! I jumped and shouted for joy every time we saw dolphins! I LOVED being out on the boat in the ocean! It was just fabulous!!!
We stayed a day later than the Tallmans and the last day was the coldest and rainiest. I was happy to have one more day there though. Before having kids I never wanted to return home from a trip. Since having kids, I'm more ready. I definitely could've stayed longer this time.
Needless to say we went to the beach on our rainy last day.
We also checked out a State Park right next to us. Chris "threw in the pole" (I think that's the 'cool' expression Don uses) without success. Not even a bite!
The drive home was not bad either. We got an earlier start and stopped for several hours in Dallas, Texas where we were able to hit up both Trader Joe's and In-N-Out. Two of my favorite places ever!!!
We decided to stop at Amarillo for the night at about 1am and then drove the rest of the way home the following day.
What a wonderful trip! FMI (instead of FYI)... We LOVED where we stayed! It was the cheapest we could find and the last hotel in the bay. There were several houses and then the state park. So after a short walk we weren't surrounded by hotels or homes! We loved having a kitchen! Next time we'll spend a little extra and do two bedrooms. Keira was in the top bunk in the hallway, Chris and I shared the sofa bed in the living room, and Sierra was in the Pack'n Play in the living room with us. It kind of made naps and night time difficult and the kids went to bed late, us early. That was a little rough at times, sleep deprived children.. Keira had a very hard time falling asleep in the hallway with any activity going on, or even peaking out at us while we were trying to sleep. We took Sierra into the bedroom for naps. That was the only thing we'd do differently next time. Well, if we went there again, which I wouldn't mind going a lot, we might want to go a little later in the year. March was a little cool. It was also awesome meeting up with family. It was a wonderful way to see grandparents that we hadn't seen in about eight months but also be able to do whatever we want. We both had our own cars and could do whatever. Nobody felt stuck or bored. Chris isn't a beach lover (very unfortunately) so Keira and I could go down while Sierra was napping and Chris was napping or playing on his iPad which he would be doing anyway. Nobody felt or bored and could do whatever they wanted! Such an awesome trip!!! :o) I'm ready to go back!
