Gulf Shores Trip

What a great long weekend! Our family went to Beach Club in Gulf Shores with the Henderson family. We always have so much fun together, and a weekend getaway is always nice. The Hendersons left at bedtime Wednesday night, and we left about 2 AM Thursday morning. We had a pretty good ride down; both girls slept well until we exited the interstate around 6 AM (CST so 7 AM "our" time). We got to the condo about an hour later, and Parker and Jill were awake and ready to greet us. Lily was so excited to see them! We unpacked our stuff and then Brian and Macey came out. Ryan went to lay down and rest for awhile since he had been up driving for awhile, and Mia took a nap too. We really just took it easy the rest of the day. After the kids went to bed we watched Jim Gaffigan's new stand-up act; he's hilarious!

On Friday, I stayed in the condo while Mia napped and everyone else went to the pool which you know Lily loves. After lunch, it was nap time and then Ryan, Lily, Brian, Jill and Parker went to the beach for awhile. They had a great time playing, finding seashells and building sand castles. Mia and Macey napped which meant I had the chance to relax and read magazines - yea! Once they came back up, we all got ready and went to The Hangout for dinner. One of the coolest things about this restaurant is they have a HUGE sand pit for the kids to play in while we wait for dinner. Lily and Parker had a great time playing in this while Ryan and Brian watched. Jill and I enjoyed getting to talk with one another while Mia and Macey enjoyed hearing the band play. It was a pretty good cover band playing; Mia sat in her seat clapping, laughing and watching them. An older lady at the table next to us came over at one point and told me how much she as enjoying watching Mia watch the band; her son was the lead singer/guitarist, and it made her happy to see how much she liked the music. We then enjoyed a delicious and fun dinner together.

Saturday was another beautiful day. Lily, Jill, Parker, Brian and I played out on the beach most of the morning while Ryan stayed in with the napping girls. It was so fun watching Parker and Lily have fun together. They played soccer together, helped Brian fly our Nemo kite, ran around and just had fun. Lily also enjoyed burying my feet in the sand, collecting more shells and helping me build sand castles for all her princess friends. While the kids napped that afternoon, Brian and I relaxed on the beach, and then Ryan joined us a little while later. Once the kids woke up from their naps, we all got ready and went to Tacky Jack's for dinner and to watch the AL/LSU game. One of the nicest things about going to Gulf Shores this time of year is how uncrowded everything is; we were the only people in the restaurant for quiet awhile! It was another nice dinner and then it was time for bed.

The Hendersons pretty much got up and headed out Sunday morning, but we hung around a little longer; we wanted to time part of our trip with the girls' afternoon nap time. We actually left just before lunch, so we could stop at Milo's; this was definitely a treat for Ryan. After lunch we walked around the outlet mall for a couple of hours. I find it very hard to resist Carter's! We hit the road, and both girls slept well until Montgomery which is about half-way home. We stopped there for dinner and let the girls run around a bit. Mia was pretty unhappy the rest of the ride home, and we think she was just unhappy to be back in the car seat. She would go in and out of sleep, but cry when she was awake. Lily did great though. We got home about 8:30, so Mia immediately went to bed. We unpacked the rest of our stuff and then put Lily down about 9:30. We put our stuff up and then went to bed too; it's amazing how riding in a car can be so tiring!

This was a wonderful trip, and I am so thankful we had the opportunity to go. It was great to get away from the house, and just relax with our friends and kids at the beach. I hope we can make this an annual trip!

 Ready with her tools

 Lily and Macey...beach beauties!