Destin Diaries

We went down to Destin, Florida in February for daddy's birthday and loved it so much that we decided to go back for a little summer vacation.  We were joined by lots of family members (I think there were 28 of us at one point); spent hours out in the sun playing in the sand, pool, and gulf; ate at lots of yummy restaurants; and made some wonderful memories - none of which will be forgotten because we'll always have this 'blog turned into book' to look back on.

Friday June 1 -

Find what brings you joy and go there.
-- Jan PhillipsVacation starts!  Yippee!

Saturday June 2 -

After hours of driving, we safely made it to Destin.  We got in around dinner time and headed over to the club house for a family cookout and to celebrate Kyle's 21st birthday.  Burgers and hotdogs on the grill (and cake) is just what we needed after the long drive.  After eating and visiting, we of course had to head to the beach, because afterall, that's why we came all the way to Destin!

Our Sand Princess laying in the sand like Barbie,
and Mason riding safely on Grandpa Allen's shoulders.

Sunday June 3 -

We started this beautiful, warm, sunny day on the beach. 

We buried each other in the sand...

Played in water...

We did some people watching and enjoyed yummy fruit...

(he melts my heart) 

Played in the sand...
(he melts my heart) 

After we played on the beach all morning and part of the afternoon, we headed back to our condo for a little pool time.  The kids loved the pool! - Makayla loved jumping in on the count of three and Mason was extremely happy just peacefully floating along in his floatie.

After swimming we went inside and crashed.  The kids took a long, hard nap! 

While the kids were napping, daddy napped with them and mommy took her "nap" at the pool.

When the kids woke up we had dinner at AJ's, where I had the most amazing crab legs!!  Ooooh, they were so good, I didn't even need butter!

We ended our night by walking along the harbor and riding go-carts.

Monday June 4 -

We started our day with another early morning on the beach!

We ate peaches and popcorn...

Built sandcastles... 

This quote makes me laugh - the kids have it easy!

Babies don't need a vacation but I still see them at the beach. I'll go over to them and say, 'What are you doing here, you've never worked a day in your life!'.
-- Stephen Wright

And played, played, played...! 

After the beach, we headed to the pool!

(I think we always followed the beach up with the pool to help get rid of some of that sand!)

Mason loved jumping into the water.  He would stand there with a humongous grin on his face while we counted to three.  On three, he would close his eyes and grin with anticipation as he went into the air, waiting to land in our hands and slowly sink into the water.  Over and over again, we had to play this game!

After our morning of swimming, we headed out to lunch to Pompanos Joes! 

Delicious food and a gorgeous scenery - how I wish I could do lunch every day!

To end our night we watched the sunset at Dewey's in Destin

...had another family cookout and game night.  Below is a picture of daddy playing the Tea Bag game.  Without using his hands, he had to get both of the tea bags to stay on top of his hat.  We played other games like the Vaseline game (without using your hands, transport cotton balls from one plate to another by vaseline), the Panty Hose and Baseball game (put a baseball in some panty hose, put the panty hose on your head, and try to knock down water balls by swaying the panty hose), Ping Pong game (tie an empty tissue box behind your back filled with ping pong balls and bounce around shaking your booty until your balls are out)...among many other fun games to make us laugh. 

And when the games were over, we headed to the beach for some fun with sparklers.  Makayla waved sparklers and Mason waved glo-sticks! 

Tuesday June 5 -

 We skipped out on the beach today and went straight for the pool.

(the water was a tad chilly for mommy)

Then we headed to lunch at FudPuckers! 

Yummy food, fun atmosphere, and a gator beach!
Makayla got to hold Cupcake, a scary dangerous alligator who had her mouth tied shut, and then Makayla and daddy got to feed the alligators!

After lunch, most of the guys headed to the harbor to board Sweet Jody.  They were going to go out to sea for some fishing.  Unfortunately, after an hour out at sea, the waves were too big to fish.  At 8-10 foot waves, they had to make their way back to shore.

*Grandpa took some medicine to make sure he didn't get seasick, but just in case he did, he made sure to drink a tomato juice V8 and eat some corn.  He thought that would make for some interesting vomit in case he got sick.* 

We ended our day by playing in the rain on the beach...

...and eating at The Crab Trap with Grandma and Grandpa. 

 

...one last sunset at Dewey's in Destin!

(There's just something spectacular about watching the sun go down over the water) 

Another great trip had by all in Destin.  Makayla was so ready for this trip that she had had her bags packed for two months.  In her bag, she had every pair of underwear, her swimsuits, and a pair of pajamas.  She was soooo excited to go to Florida...and now that we've gone, she is sooo excited to talk about Florida.  When I ask her what her favorite part about her trip was, she'll say holding the alligator or swimming at the beach.  When I ask Mason what his favorite part of the trip was, he'll say wa-wa (as in water).  He is a swimmer and I know he definitely loved being in the water, moreso the pool than the ocean.

I thank God for some amazing children to travel well and easily go with the flow.  They definitely make life easy!  We had so much fun and watching my kids experience the white sandy beaches along the emerald coast was unforgettable.  We look forward to going back next year with another little one to experience life with.  Really.  We do!

P.S.  The kids didn't get a sunburn!