Destin, FL

Oh where to start?? Okay, I tried to make this short but realistically, it's a vacation and there is lots of share. So, I am warning you now that this is LONG.

Audrey was really great in the car on the way down and couldn't get enough of Elmo, Teletubbies, and Baby Einstein. She doesn't watch a lot of TV during the day so I think that helped a lot because she was thoroughly entertained. I loved getting away and spending some time at the beach- although, it took a few days to finally "relax." I had a mental lapse and forgot that I was taking a 15 month old to the beach, not a 5 month old, and that she has her own ideas of fun- none of which were playing on the beach. Audrey was not a fan of the sand AT ALL. In fact, the minute we walked onto the beach, she would start whimpering and whining (keep in mind one of us was always carrying her so there really was no need for this). When we would try to put her down to get her used to the sand, this is what would happen:



Audrey did LOVE being in the ocean, though. The funniest thing is that she would FALL ASLEEP while we were swimming. And it happened more than once! I must have looked like a bad mom who never let her child take a nap! One minute she would be splashing in the water and the next, would put her head down on my shoulder and go to sleep. I guess the water and salty air was soothing to her. I wish I had a picture but it was kind of hard to be in the ocean with a camera. What's funny is that it wasn't just in the ocean where she would randomly fall asleep. We would take walks on the beach and she would fall asleep in the middle of those, too.


One of the funniest things was during one of our walks, Brett put her on his shoulders and she was laughing and messing with his hat, etc. The next thing I know, she has put her head down on top of his head and has gone to sleep!! I was kicking myself for not bringing the camera on that walk! It was so funny! So, here are some fun beach pictures:


One of the few times we made her walk on the sand to get to Brett. I got tired of "handing" her over!



So, one of the reasons I love going to Destin is because of the white sand and the beautiful, crystal clear water (see previous post for picture). However, we've never gone in July nor have we gone when a hurricane was in the Gulf of Mexico. Thanks to Dolly, we had seaweed and jelly fish-filled water for most of the week. The last couple of days no one even dared to go into the water and you had to watch where you walked on the beach because they had either washed up on the sand or kids, tired of making sand castles, were catching them in nets and collecting them on the sand (or the really creative kids were using the jelly fish to add a little color to their sand castles)! Nasty little things...


We spent the rest of our time either in the swimming pool (which Audrey loved) or shopping. Well, to be more accurate, I spent the time shopping. Brett loves getting to spend time with Audrey so they played and swam while I went shopping. And when I tried to return home early, Brett told me to turn the car around and go buy more things (how lucky am I??). More specifically, this purse I had been eyeing.

Of course, Audrey loved it, too.

If you ever go to Destin, you must check out the Sandestin Baytowne Wharf. They have great restaurants and lots of activities for the kids. Each afternoon there was either activity stations, kareoke, concerts, or movies on the lawn. It is a beautiful area and we spent several evenings there!



There were lots of beautiful yachts docked at the marina. And they were all decked out with plasma tvs, wave runners, ski boats, 3+ floors (who knows how many bedrooms!). Although, I kept questioning why they were in Destin and not in the South of France. Maybe one day...

We had a great time and I'm hoping that next year, Audrey will like the sand or we might have to find a new destination. Here are some random pictures:

Dinners with Audrey are always entertaining.




Before:

After:
Sunglasses? Sure. Hats? No problem. Bows? You have lost your mind.