Sugar and Slugs: June 2014

For the past six months, nearly every night, when I would tuck the kids into bed, I'd tell them to have sweet dreams.

I'd say to them -

dream of us on the beach...

dream of us building sand castles, and playing in waves...

dream of us picking up seashells...

dream about the things we're going to do in florida.

we have (however many months/weeks/days were left on our countdown) until we'll be there.

have sweet dreams.

mommy loves you.

Well, our trip to Destin, FL this year has come and gone...

and I hope it's everything the kids dreamed of and more!

This year (like all years past), we enjoyed so many things!

We spent a lot of time on the beach -

peace, love, and sandy feet!

Daddy went deep sea fishing with Grandpa, Aunt Nina, and John -

(and a storm was brewing up right as their trip was ending)

We watched Sky Surfing at The Village of Baytowne Warf -

More time on the beach -

We rode on a Pirate Ship and did things that Pirates do! -

we had a water gun fight, a hoola hoop contest, mopped the deck floor, got our faces painted,

found treasure and pulled it up from the ocean, marched in a parade, shot off loud cannons, and ate hotdogs...

Makayla was scared of the pirates at first (i have to admit, the captain was kinda scary/rough looking, but once they called her by name and slipped a silver coin in her pocket, she was good to go). And even though the pirates on our ship were really fun, funny, and nice, she did say this to me once we left:
"I hate to say this, but pirates will probably go to Hell because they are mean".

oh, my goodness, i love that face

Swimming at the pool - morning, noon, and night -

The kids could not get enough swim time!

Every morning, grandpa would take Mason and Makayla to the pool...

(view from our balcony)

...and it never failed that one of them always had to go poop.

We went to a Fat Tuesday Parade at the Harborwalk Village -

Complete with beads, dazzling floats, music -

As soon as somebody would drop a necklace over Makayla's head, she would quickly take it off and put it in the stroller. When I asked her why she was doing that, she told me that she thought she would get more beads that way because more people would give her necklaces if they saw that she didn't have any, so the ones she would get, she would hide in the stroller.

More time on the beach -

We took a water taxi to watch firework over the harbor -

Since when did my baby girl get so grown up?!
The door from little girl to big girl is slowly closing...

A massage on the beach -

We took a couple of walks along the beach in the evenings -

A lot of time was spent at the Harborwalk Village -

walking up and down the docks looking at all of the fishing boats and fish,

eating snow cones,

dining out at Deweys and Margaritaville,

jumping on trampolines,

listening to live music...

Mia on the dance floor -

it's where this girl belongs!
(i know one day she is going to be totally embarrassed by me because i can't even keep up with her now as it is...)

We spent a lot of time eating on the water -

We wanted to try new places, places we hadn't eaten at yet since we'd been coming to Destin -

Anglers, The Back Porch, Deweys, Mellow Mushroom, Landshark, Merlins, Margaritaville...

and we did enjoy a pizza picnic on the beach one night -

Mason LOVED eating SHARK. He had shark (fish) for every meal when we went out!

Daddy spent a lot of time snorkeling and looking for sand dollars.
We brought home lots of sand dollars that we've cleaned and bleached to pass out to people.
If you run into Makayla anytime within the next couple of weeks, be prepared to receive a sand dollar from her!

We went to The Track one night where Mason rode go-karts and Makayla rode bumber cars.
She said she didn't really like the bumper cars because "they hurt her heart".