Florida Vacation Part 1

We recently returned from our much anticipated family vacation to Destin, Florida. This trip has been in the works since mid-winter, when my sister called me up and asked if we wanted to rent a house somewhere for a week. That sounded like a good plan to us, and remembering how much fun we had had in Destin many years ago, we decided to head back there 13 years later to make some new memories with our own families. We rented a beautiful beach house in a gated community with a gorgeous pool and a quick little jaunt down to the beach (or a free trolley service!) Then we started the countdown to summer!

Did I mention we drove there? Uh huh, 22+ hours in the car with three kids. It was actually not nearly as bad as you are thinking....long, yes, but no real drama to speak of. Thankfully, our kids can keep themselves entertained with lots of movies, books, colors, etc. in the car, so it was pretty pleasant for the most part. But yes, quite LOOOOONG!

Thankfully, as expected, the white sand beaches and crystal blue water were beautiful! The boys were thrilled to see their cousin, Collier, as well as Aunt Kelli and Uncle Jeff. We played and played and had a fabulous time at the beach for the first three days!

the moment we had been waiting for...our first day on the beach!

happy cousins playing in the sand

On Tuesday, we took the kids down to the Boardwalk to check it out. We spent a little time panning for gold along with other fossils and gems. As predicted, Brody ended up with a bag of fossils and shark teeth, Leyton took all the sparkly things, and Callan ended up with the leftovers. He didn't seem to mind, and I think they all had a great time searching for their treasures!

At lunchtime, Oma and Opa arrived from Texas and we headed over to Fudpucker's for some lunch. This place is one of the more popular tourist attractions in Destin, and it boasts an alligator pit with live alligator shows and alligator feedings. Well, we couldn't pass that up! Our little dudes had a blast during the alligator feeding. It was pretty neat to watch them swim right up to the line and snap the bait right off!

leyton on his new pet, mr. snappy

look at all those gators!

that smile says it all!

leyton and opa hard at work during the feeding

callan and oma lowering their line to feed a gator

Our pool was awesome! It had a zero-depth area for the little guys, a nice hot tub (that I couldn't get in--boo!) and pretty waterfalls all around. We spent quite a bit of time there. After visiting the alligators at Fudpucker's, we just had to get our hands on this big guy to play with in the pool!

Back to the beach! This time Brody brought along a little fishing net and spent the entire time trying to catch a fish. He and Brad actually spotted a pretty big stingray swimming around their feet. Unbeknownst to us, this would be the last time we actually saw the sun or got to play at the beach for the rest of our time in Florida. :(

Time to get off all the sand and salt water! Bubble baths are even more fun with four boys in a giant tub!