Delayed Spring Break 2010

We just returned from another amazing family vacation to sunny, fabulous Destin, FL. I realize this post is impossibly long (which Dean said is annoying) but I really wanted to chronicle what we did on our trip, so feel free to let the pictures do the talking and ignore my verbose musings! Suffice it to say, it was a wonderful week!

Day One We boarded the van at about 6:20 a.m. armed with donuts, various other goodies to sustain us, and gifts from Nanny that she had dropped off the night before, telling the boys they could only open one gift at a time, in hopes that the surprise presents would last the whole drive...little did Nana know that we did not even make it to the end of the street before Ben wanted to open the first gift....which means the gifts lasted until noon, but were still very appreciated! The morning drive was uneventful; the boys watched movies, sang along with the radio, played with their gifts and also colored with their new twistable crayons and colored pencils (I highly recommend for cartrips by the way). Dean is the trip planner of our family. He (with input from us) picks the location, chooses the condo, selects the route, and drives the entire (in this case) 12 hrs and 40 minutes. My contribution this trip was priceless (if I do say so myself) as it saved us time and money AND helped make the trip go smoother (not to mention was much healthier). My brilliant idea was to pack a picnic lunch and stop at a rest stop rather than McDonalds. The boys had a blast running around, playing catch and blowing bubbles. We all were able to blow off some steam and I truly think this stop was part of the reason our voyage was so drama free. I definitely think a family tradition has been born.

The boys were remarkably well behaved...and so was I until about the last hour and a half...I can't handle that last stretch of 2-lane highway. It drives me nuts and I couldn't wait to get out of the car. As Ben so aptly put it "Oh Alabama. Why do you have to be so long?" The boys had their swimsuits on within 15 minutes of arriving at the condo and we headed down to the pool to play for a bit. They were thrilled to be reunited with the pirate slide and the splash area.

After some time in the pool we all headed down to the beach to check out the ocean. Some of us were a bit excited!

Last summer we were shocked and a bit dissapointed to discover that Joey HATED walking in the sand and wanted nothing to do with the beach. Oh what a difference a year makes. Joey was mesmerized by the ocean. "Oh." he said with such reverence when first laying eyes on its vastness and the large waves rolling in. Our beach time was cut short, however, as the high tide had brought in a bunch of small jellyfish and our midwest selves weren't sure if jellyfish could still sting when washed up on shore so we decided not to risk it and headed back to the room for some showers and pizza. Joey was momentarily heartbroken and woefully said "night night ocean. i will see you tomorrow." The boys are now tucked into their room (Joe in the pack n' play and Ben in the bed) and watching TV. They think they are hot stuff sharing a room AND getting to watch TV in bed. Joey keeps talking to Ben and I can tell Ben is getting annoyed so we will see how long this lasts. The vacation is off to a great start; so far so good!

Day Two Today was one of the best days EVER. It started bright and early with Joe waking up with the sunrise around 6:00 a.m. We all headed to the grocery store to pick up some breakfast and food for the week. After returning we headed down to the beach and oh my what a difference a year makes in deed. Last year Joe was horrified by the sand and the noise of the ocean. This year he plopped right down and began to dig.

We had SOOO much fun watching the boys play. After the beach we headed to the pool...mind you we were the first family there at the bright and early hour of 9 a.m.!! The boys were elated and Dean and I were amazed that we were actually able to sit side by side in lounge chairs watching the boys play in the kiddie pool for nearly an hour. I looked at Dean and said "are you serious? are our high-maintenance boys actually entertaining themselves? Is this what it is going to be like? We are so done having kids!!" The rest and relaxation for us only lasted so long but that was ok as was we were ready to play. Our social butterfly boys were pumped when other kids arrived to play with too.

The highlight of the morning for Joe was probably the popsicles I brought down for the boys and their friends...Joe thought it was so cool to eat a popsicle outside by the pool.

Joey and I headed down to the beach for a bit and then when we were ready to return to the pools we crossed paths with Dean and Ben who were headed to the beach. We all met up for lunch and enjoyed sandwichs, watermelon (joe's fave), and pretzals/chips.

After lunch it was naptime for Joe and Dean and Ben headed down to the beach. I got to read a book on our balcony (bliss) and then after an hour Dean and I switched and I took Ben down to swim in the "big" pool while Dean had a break. Dean and Joe joined us once Bug woke up and we all swam a bit longer and then headed back to the condo for showers and then to dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise. The boys thought the cheeseburgers were okay but the music was the real highlight. They loved Buffet and Marley and all the "beachy" music. On the way home Ben was hoping for "guzzert" (dessert) while Joey demanded "ass cream" (ice cream). We actually passed tonight with the promise of a sweet treat tomorrow...you can tell Dean was driving, I would have never turned down ice cream ;) Day Three The day started early again, however, we were dismayed to see that it was crabby Joe that was spending the morning with us. boooo. Joe was pretty fiesty all morning. Dean said, correctly, that the hardest part of the day is from 6-9 a.m.; keeping Joe quiet, entertained, and away from the pool/beach....and his brother. We finally headed down to the beach and enjoyed a walk along the ocean and some time spent just lounging. When it was time to hit the pool, unfortunately Joe was a bit of a grouch there as well. The good times officially began when other kids arrived. The boys LOVED having friends to play with. One of my favorite parts about this resort is how friendly all the families are. Everyone, adults and kids, becomes quick friends. We even ended up sitting next to a family we met last year down here! In fact, the grandpa was the one I blogged about last year who fell in love with Joe and loved watching him toddle around the pool area so he and Joe were happy to reunite! We enjoyed hot dogs grilled by the pool with all our new friends for lunch. It was great fun and Joe was more than ready for a nap after several hours of fun in the sun. Unfortunately despite our best efforts to keep the sunscreen flowing, Benny got a bit of a sunburn on this shoulders and back so he and Dean headed out to buy him a swimshirt. Ben and I went swimming upon their return in the FREEZING water. Most of the pools are not heated here and since it was a cloudy afternoon the water felt like ice. For some odd reason this only seemed to be a bother to the adults as Ben quickly found a group of boys to play football with and proceeded to play in the water with them for over 2 hours!! There was also a really sweet little red-head girl named Ella who loved her some Benny Boo! She followed him all over the pool, trying desparately to get his attention. So cute! Joe played in the kiddie pool playarea for a bit after nap time and then we cleaned up for dinner and went to Benny's favorite: FudPuckers. They have live alligators that you can feed and hold..we were all content to simply look at them! Ben became very concerned when Dean told him that alligators eat fish and dogs. He said "I don't want an alligator to eat Jack!" We assured him that Jack was safe and sound at home with Uncle Craig and Abby. Happily we did stop for ice cream after dinner tonight. Joey and I split a hot fudge sundae and Benny enjoyed essentially a cookie dough blizzard. Poor lactose-intolerant Daddy had 2 sips of a rootbeer float and was done! Bedtime went smooth as can be with Benny passing out as his head hit the pillow and Joey giving in shortly thereafter. Day Four Well, they aren't all going to be great days, right? The day was definitely not a total wash and 3/4 of our family actually had a really good day. As you might guess, the Joe Bug was the problem child and the one who was "off" all day. Joe awoke around 6 am once again and was in a great mood. We all played in the condo and had breakfast and made our way down to the beach shortly after 9 am. Joe was in a mood from the minute our toes hit the sand. He did not want to be at the beach and kept saying "I want to go swimmin." We finally went inside and got our suits on and were at the pool by about 9:45. Joe was a bear and refused to do anything. When a little girl tried to see one of his toys he had a meltdown and we all decided to head back to the room. Even Ben wasn't really feeling the pool this morning so both boys took their toys into their room, watched a movie, and played for a bit. They did really well and emerged from their room for lunch in much better moods. We had sandwichs outside on our balcony and decided to go on a little field trip. We headed to the Air Force Armament Museum which was just about 10 miles from our condo and FREE entertainment. The boys were so excited when we pulled up and saw all the planes and helicopters. They did really well as we toured the small museum and thought the guns were boring (thank goodness) but the planes were cool. They really liked the hollowed out cockpits that kids could climb in and pretend they were pilots. We left the museum just in time as both boys moods were starting to turn and Joe passed out before we even left the parking lot. Joey took a great nap while I read a book and Dean and Ben went swimming. Unfortunately, Joe didn't wake up in a great mood from his nap. We headed down to meet Dean and Ben at the pool and Joe pretty much just walked around with a scowl on his face, despite the best efforts of a little girl named Claire who was desparate to play with him...or at least share his goldfish, which amazingly Joe was willing to do. We made our way to dinner that evening at a really cool restaurant on the beach called The Crab Trap. We sat outside on a balcony overlooking the gulf and, unfortunately, a really neat playground in the sand. Joe was absolutely intent on getting to that playground. His behavior was less than desirable during dinner. We decided to allow the boys to play at the playground after dinner, mostly because we didn't really think Joe would understand that his bad behavior was what led to his punishment of not being able to play after dinner and simply think his parents evil and also Ben was excellent during dinner so we wanted to allow him to play. After the playground we headed home where the boys anxiously put on their matching tiger jammies (thanks nana) and crawled in bed for a movie...and I anxiously sipped the yummy strawberry daquiri my sweet husband started blending for me immediatelyn upon entering our condo. I think Dean knew my nerves were shot and I was done with this day! At some point Joey put himself to bed in his pack n' play and they were both passed out by 8:30 p.m.! Not a terrible day, to be sure, but I certainly hope sweet Joe makes a return tomorrow. A friend once said that going on vacation with kids is simply "taking the circus on the road." You have all the same drama minus the tools and amenities of home to get you through the rough patches. Today was one of those circus days to be sure, but it was still awesome being all together with no added stressors of work, housekeeping, chores, etc. I can't even quantify how much I am loving being with all my boys. Vacation is the best; I just have to remember to keep my expectations low when traveling with little ones! Day Five Today was a GREAT day. We were a bit nervous when the boys woke up super early again, about 5:20 a.m. this time. I lay in bed and watched a movie with them until about 6:30 when we decided to get daddy up. We headed to an awesome little cafe in Destin called The Donut Hole for breakfast. It was such a special treat and the boys loved their pancakes and chocolate milk and were thrilled to take home a dozen donut holes for snacks later on. After breakfast we headed to a playground to run off some early morning energy. We actually ended up hitting up 3 playgrounds as the first stop was a bit age inappropriate for Joe and made Dean nervous! The last 2 parks were right next to each other so of course we had to check them both out. We returned to the condo and headed down to the pool for the duration of the morning. The boys had fun and were in, thankfully, terrific moods. We had lunch in the condo and then Joe took a nap while I read a book and Dean and Ben headed down to swim. I love our afternoon routine! This is the most relaxed I have been in weeks. We decided to try something new and fun after Joe's nap. We went bowling! Dean, Ben, and I had a blast, but unfortunately Joe was less than impressed. We did discover that a bowling alley is the perfect place to be with a fit-throwing toddler; it's nice and loud so no one is bothered by the screaming! We went to an outdoor mall and walked around for a bit after bowling and sweet Joe was back, which we all appreciated. We had Johnny Rockets for dinner and the boys LOVED the milkshakes and the diner atmosphere. Dean and I think we have gained about 10 pounds each with all the junk we have eaten this week, but it has been well worth it and we are going to work on whittling off the weight once we get home! After dinner the boys and I boarded a little train for a ride around the mall. Joe was so thrilled to see the train but then FREAKED OUT temporarily. He settled down after a few minutes and we all enjoyed the ride. We then found yet another playground and the boys ran around for nearly an hour, quickly making friends and joining in on a game of tag. It was great fun watching them. We made it back to the condo just in time for sunset and drove to the roof of our parking garage, which actually has a beautiful view of the beach, to watch the gorgeous site. Joe loves sunset because it means that the moon is coming out and he LOVES the moon! We headed inside and the boys had a bath and then settled into their bed for their movie. Today was one of my favorite days in a long time. It is going to be so hard to go home to reality in a few days. I will miss spending so much time playing and relaxing with my boys.

Day Six

Awesome, terrific, wonderful, fantastic day. Dean says he hates my long blog posts, which this is obviously going to be, so I will just touch on the highlights of today. Pool time. Lots and lots of pool time. Plus, in big news, Joe Bug is one heck of a swimmer!!! We borrowed some strawberry shortcake floaties from our new friend Hailey and Joe was swimming virtually unassisted the duration of the afternoon. It was seriously ridiculous how awesome he did in the water. Ben was clearly a bit jealous of all the attention Joe was receiving so after dinner tonight (at Anglers, one of our favorite spots last year and also a fave this year) we stopped and bought some floaties for Benny too so he can give it a whirl tomorrow. Our last day :( I imagine we are going to be spending every moment of daylight in the pool tomorrow. Can't wait!

Joe also had a big day with the ladies again!! He made a new friend, Tegan, who he played with all morning in the kiddie pool and then we ran into them again on the beach this afternoon and Joe plopped right down in the sand with her to build castles and bury Tegan's little toy dinosaurs. One of Joey's favorite things is the sand-washer-offer spiggots leading from the beach to the pools. He LOVES playing in the water! Ben and Daddy had some quality time this afternoon as they went putt-putting and out for ice cream just the two of them. Ben was elated.

We had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants from last year, Anglers.

Day Seven

We had such beautiful weather for our last day at the beach. Ben was in rare weirdo form as he donned his swim goggles, a baseball bat, and claimed he was a superhero:

We hit up the beach first thing for some sand castle building.

We then went to the pool so Ben could try out his new floaties; he was so impressed with his brothers swimming skills the day before he had to give it a try. He did a wonderful job and was swimming like a champ all day. We paused for lunch on the beautiful patio overlooking the "warm" pool and then went out for some ice cream at our favorite shop, Sundaes.

The boys got a bit pouty in the late afternoon...clearly not ready for the week to end!

We had dinner in this really cute little Harborwalk area at the Lucky Snapper. It was a bittersweet evening as the food, company, and view were terrific, but we were all sad to see the week come to an end. This is the first vacation Dean and I can ever remember taking when we were not ready to go home at the end of the trip. We are having way too much fun!

The ride home was rather uneventful. It didn't go quite as smoothly as the trip down, but aside from some Joe meltdowns (due in large part, no doubt, to the fact that he was soaked through his diaper and shorts when we got home...oops) we made it home and that is all that matters! Though we were not ready to leave, it is sure good to be home and we have managed to dig ourselves out of the mounds of laundry and are slowly settling back into reality...and planning our next trip to Destin!