It was our first car trip in the Silver Bullet. Life changing. Super easy to pack and unpack, tons of space, happy boys, easy to tend to children. How did we live for five years without a minivan?
We left bright and early Thursday morning so we got to enjoy a solid half day on the beach. Small Fry was his most fearless Thursday. Crying and begging to "go back in the water". And it was COLD. But of course we obliged because it was a gorgeous cold and Small Fry is at the age where we just marvel in his discoveries of the world. Fawn picked up right where he left off last summer and absolutely loved every minute of the trip. We got a quick nap in for Small Fry and Buck and Fawn enjoyed some one-on-one time on the beach. For dinner, we headed to Acme Oyster House. Always a great venue for kids and my oyster-loving hubby. The oyster man convinced Fawn to try a raw oyster with ketchup. He gave it a "medium thumb" -- a sideways thumb, not a thumbs up and not a thumbs down. The he told me all weekend that he made buddies with the oyster man and now he has a new buddy. So sweet. In lieu of the kids shrimp basket, Small Fry ate his body weight in saltine crackers. Like the entire basket. After dinner we headed to a welcome party for the conference. When we arrived, my hooligans were the only children there. In a really nice condo. Really nice. I quickly got the boys out of there for a trip to the awesome playground in Baytowne Village. They had fun and played so well together until we got the text from Buck that other kids arrived and we were welcome back at the party. Back to the party we went where we bribed the boys with cookies while we mingled.
While I do love oysters (though shy away from them raw in my wiser years), this guy's ability to down oysters is almost enough to make me sick.
Getting an oyster tutorial.
Down the hatch.
We're teaching Small Fry thumbs up.
Love them even when they're crazy.
Friday morning Buck headed to his conference and my little buddies and I went to the beach. Bright and early. We attempted to fly Fawn's kite. It was short-lived; I think because of the lack of wind, Fawn thinks because of my lack of kite-flying skills. Then it was water time. We started in the ocean. It was a gorgeous day and the water looked perfect. There was a yellow flag flying, though, and the undertow was pretty strong. While we never went out deep, I was still pretty nervous about being outnumbered by children. When I got knocked down by the undertow, we took the fun back to the sand where we played for a while before heading up to the pool. Fawn loved jumping off the side and remembering his swimming skills, while Small Fry got braver and braver in the water. I was thrilled to see him enjoying the pool, and it made me hopeful for many happy summer days at Mema and Abou's house. After a solid morning outside, we headed in for lunch and naps all around (including Buck and me). Buck and Fawn headed back to the beach first -- for Buck's firm's beach party for the conference. Small Fry and I joined them when he finally woke from his slumber. More of the same -- ocean, sand and pool fun for the rest of the afternoon.
My big beach baby. (This post will be picture-lite; I made a conscious decision to leave the big camera at home and not worry about lots of beach pictures.)
Then it was time to get ready for the family-friendly cocktail party. The boys were pretty good -- running and playing with other children -- and enjoying chicken fingers for dinner. About 8 pm our evening deteriorated a bit. Small Fry fell off a chair and bumped his head -- he was NOT happy. While I was worried about the bumped head, I know he's a tough cookie. He was bringing the drama though, probably because it was much past his bed time. When I finally got him calmed down I realized that he had a diaper explosion ALL OVER ME. Like poop everywhere. I had to send a friend to track Fawn down so we could head back to our condo. Oh well!
Saturday morning took Buck back to his conference. We dropped him off and explored the bay side of Sandestin. We started at Jolee's Island, where I'd never been before. But such a cool place -- the bridge to get there even fascinated the boys. They loved walking around the paths, listening to the many birds, and playing on the pirate ship. I think their favorite part was the wooden path around the edge of the island. After that we drove over to the Village and walked through the treehouses. Fawn was in awe -- exclaiming that we had to bring Buck back. We also strolled through the Marina to look at boats. Fawn attempted to ask a man if he could drive his boat, but I quickly steered him away (the man did not look amused). After a brief stop in the condo to change into beach clothes we headed down to the water. The boys insisted they wanted to play in the sand so somehow I managed to haul our chairs, towels, sand toys and beach bags down there (not to mention kept up with the two little boys themselves!). Literally, within five minutes of getting set up on the sand, they were ready to pack up for the pool. I obliged, though I left the chairs and sand toys behind, and we enjoyed the rest of the morning at the pool. After lunch and naps all around, we headed to another beach party as part of the conference. The boys and I didn't stay long and spent most of the afternoon back in the water.
Beach bums.
Saturday night was so much fun! We met three other families for dinner at the Marina. The kids had a great time together. Though Fawn was hesitant at first to mingle with children he didn't know, he quickly made friends. While waiting for their food, the kids went to the treehouses and also were thoroughly entertained by a talking parrot. After dinner, we walked to the Village and to an amazing arcade. Buck and Fawn played some awesome games together -- their favorite was probably a hunting game. We also rode a simulated roller coaster as a family (so realistic) and Fawn attempted to navigate a laser field. We pushed Fawn past the limit, though, and he ended up with a migraine. Poor buddy!
Maybe my favorite picture ever -- courtesy of Buck.
The good news was he woke up fine on Sunday morning and we enjoyed a few more hours of sand, water and sun before heading home. It was a fabulous four days as a family and a great start to summer.
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