Gulf Shores ~ 2009

Way back when (pre-moving, storm, surgery, etc.), we had a great family vacation to Gulf Shores. Better late than never.

This trip was a first for us in many ways. It was the first trip with us, my parents, and my sister’s family where we weren’t visiting family on the West Coast somewhere. Don’t get me wrong, we love seeing everyone there, but we had never taken a family trip like this before.

This was also our first long car ride with little kids, our first time to rent a condo, and our first time to Gulf Shores. Considering that there were so many firsts, the trip was overall a pleasantly surprising success!

Here's Wade's "What are we thinking driving across three states with three kids two and under?" face as we start the trip and are all pulling out of the driveway.

The drive there was a lot longer than the drive back. Getting stuck in 5:00 traffic in Baton Rouge on a Friday was not fun. But overall, the kids really did great in the cars. My parents took their car, and we rented a Suburban. It was snug, but there was just enough breathing room to not be too miserable. Having to lean over the seat to pick up dropped Hot Wheels 100 times is another story.

The best surprise of the trip was the condo. When you’re renting online, you just never know how things will be in real life. Even after a 16-hour car ride and arriving at 11:00 p.m., we were all giddy, excited to find such a nice place. The bad economy has resulted in pretty great rental rates. We had the entire floor to ourselves, and the elevator opened up right into the foyer. We kept saying we felt like we were on MTV Cribs.

So for four days, we had pretty much the same routine. Wake up. Breakfast. Go out to the beach. Dig. Splash. Build sand castles. Swim in the pool. Lunch. Naps. Dinner. Play some more. Repeat. Vacation is the best!

Brad was the obligatory buried-in-the-sand guy. My parents seemed to really enjoy doing that for some reason. :)

Tate still talks about the beach and the beach house. He absolutely loved it! He wasn’t crazy about the area where the waves crashed, but he loved being in the sand and being out in the ocean with Wade. His favorite part was the little tide pool areas. Perfect combo of splashing and digging without the scary waves!

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During the kid’s naptime, my sister and I had several attempts at a relaxing kid-free sunbathing afternoon on the beach (complete with SPF 50, floppy hats, and some beach food).

Dinner out at Tacky Jack's

And the three kids together had so much fun. Smart-sister Shannon brought the big tent, which provided lots of entertainment while we were inside.

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And when it got too crazy, we just let them run up and down the huge hallway and throw beach balls at Grandpa.

While there, we also had family pictures. There is something about those Gulf Shores sandy-white beaches that just make the pictures so pretty.

Tate's heaven on earth = a car and dirt.

And extra points if you can tell what movie I’m reenacting. (Hint – “No one puts Baby in a corner.”) The gauzey white shirt and white crop pants reminded me of her…I just couldn’t help myself.

We all had a great time together. Goodbye Gulf Shores…until next time!