I've had several sweet readers send me emails yesterday and today to check on me because I haven't blogged in almost two weeks. I told them the truth was we went on vacation and had the best time and I took a vacation from the blog as well.
Harper gets a two week fall break (which is heavenly) so we decided to try going to the beach in October and it was just PERFECT! I'm going to do two posts about it because we took so many pictures and basically had two different vacations.
We decided the best thing for us to do was to drive all night. The gulf coast is a 12 hour drive for us so we left around 8:30 once Will Holden was asleep and we could get the car packed. It was great because we had no traffic and the car was silent all the way there. Staying awake was the tough part. The other hard part was we got to Peridido Key around 8 in the morning and couldn't get into our condo until around 4. So we had to waste time and we were all exhausted. But it worked out. We just happened to be playing Alabama in football that night so we ordered in pizza and watched the game and went to bed early.
It was Will Holden's first trip to the beach. He didn't actually see much of the beach. He spent most of his time in the condo but I know in the years to come he will love it. He slept so much at the beach - I guess the salty air just wore him out. I totally get it!
The weather was so amazing while we were there. It was cool in the mornings but we would sit on our balcony and watch the ocean and not be in a hurry to go down. It warmed up to the 80's every day and there was NO humidity and no wind. There was also no seaweed and the ocean was like a lake. There were no waves. It was the weirdest thing but I loved it. It was so different than the summer.
The beach and restaurants were much less crowded (although there were still a LOT of people there for October) and it is about half the price to rent a condo. I'm sold on visiting again in October.
The water was pretty chilly but it didn't stop us from having a great time!
The sand was cool and didn't burn our feet like in the summer. I could be a travel agent for the gulf coast in the fall - I'm just a huge fan!
The girls loved the pool the most. I kept saying we could just stay home and swim in a pool but I love the ocean view more than anything. Harper was like a little fish - she did so great and Hollis was so much braver than last summer. Isn't she adorable in those googles?
My parents came Sunday afternoon and we headed out to eat at Cobalt. It's one of our favorite restaurants. I ate nothing but gumbo, shrimp and grits and fried shrimp all week. My favorite foods!
My college roommate and matron of honor and best friend Kandi lives in Little Rock and with our busy schedules we only see each other maybe once a year. She has been trying to find a time to come meet Will Holden but her life is hectic. We found out we were both going to be at the beach at the same time and I was so excited. We stopped by to visit them for a little bit. She lived down the street from my grandparents when I was little so I've known her since I was about 5. It seems like literally yesterday we were two 18 year old babies moving into a dorm at OBU together and now here we are in our 40's with five kids. Sometimes I can't believe how fast life goes by!
Monday we were ready to hit the beach again. We went by the outlet mall when we were wasting time on Saturday and they had these swimsuits on clearance at Gymboree for $5! I was so excited!
The kids were so happy to spend time with their grandparents at the beach.
We had such a relaxing time. We ate breakfast and lunch in the condo each day and just split our time between the beach and the pool and then we went out to eat each night.
My babies
My cousin Gae lives in Mississippi about two hours from where we were. We haven't seen each other in years so she drove over to visit us Monday. It was so fun to see her. We just got to sit and talk while Scott and my dad took the kids to the beach and then Mom and I took her to lunch.
I love this kid
My parents insisted on us having a date night. I felt a little bad but my parents are retired and can go out to eat every night alone so they didn't have to twist my arm too hard. This was our first date I think since we had Will Holden or at least in several months. I was super excited!
We went to Fisher's which was by far the best restaurant I have been to on the Gulf Coast. It was our first time there. The atmosphere was SO pretty. It's a nice restaurant that I wouldn't take small children to and it's also pricey but the food was amazing! If you are there and get a date - go! I had the best gumbo ever - it had a super dark roux and was just delicious!!!
Since we had the chance to see a movie that wasn't produced by Disney we went and saw "The Martian" with Matt Damon. We were the only people in the theatre until the previews started - I thought we were going to be all alone. If you don't follow me on instagram - you need to read the comments on this picture - especially my mom's and the ones that followed. So funny!
Tuesday was another beautiful day on the beach.
I mean seriously - how can you not love the ocean?
Hollis was wearing an old suit of Harper's which was basically like a maxi swim dress on her. ha! But it was cute!
My parents and the kids before dinner.
Tuesday night we ate at Fisher's dockside. It's the outside more casual and family friendly version of the restaurant. It was good. I love this picture of the girls.
We got our condo on VRBO and had a great experience. If you ever want to rent in Peridido Key - I've got a place for you!
My parents left Wednesday morning and headed to New Orleans for a few days and my in-laws and Laurie and Steve came in that afternoon. I will recap the rest of our week tomorrow. I'm sure you will be on the edge of your seat.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha
