We have been fortunate enough to travel to the beach every summer and we have always gone to Gulf Shores. We love it there, but when we saw the tv commercials for Vision Airlines promoting a direct flight to Destin---I was all over that! ONE HOUR & TWENTY MINUTES and you arrive with happy kiddos in Florida--Worth every penny! The picture above was taken just after going through security screening; Coop even got the full screening and just rolled with it like "no big deal".
This is the best family picture I took (hahahahaha--sans me, of course). I didn't even bring my fancy camera, just my phone--I really made an effort to just enjoy the moment. Plus it is near impossible with these three kids right now to consider keeping sand and water away:) Brad's mom, Topper, drove in from Baton Rouge and we had a great time--BONUS: she cooked us some fresh snapper also--she is a fantastic cook! And best of all, the children really enjoyed their special time with Nonna; Camille even said Nonna clear as day!
Our first outing on the beach--it stormed off and on the first day so we just went out briefly. The kids didn't mind--no sunscreen required that day! *********************************
The tide was very high and the waves were big also and the flags remained red while we were there. We even got to witness lifeguards rescue two swimmers. While we were on the beach just playing in the sand--not a cloud in the sky, but unbeknownst to us, rip currents were in the water. There were probably 3 different lifeguards driving rangers around, another lifeguard on a jet ski, another on a surfboard....just stalking the beach in front of our hotel. It was kinda getting on our nerves b/c they were driving so fast and getting right in the middle of everything....well, I guess ignorance is bliss...we didn't realize until later that the lifeguards can test the water and indicate where a rip current is located, so they were "stalking" our area for a good reason! And being proactive, they pulled two different people back to the shoreline.
Miss Priss LOVED the sand so much she even ate quite a bit! Didn't mind that at all! However, on her inaugural flight she did mind the changes in ear pressure and let everyone on the plane know about it during take-off and landing--fun times!
Brady boo digging his way to China! That boy just rolls with it--got knocked down, flipped over, mouthfuls of ocean water and just kept going!
Coop-de-Ville! He was the surfing expert on the boogie board! He also lost a tooth the last night we were there. Literally lost it -- couldn't find it--so we left a note for the tooth fairy and luckily she found us and left some money! He was terribly sad to leave the beach this year:( He said, "A year is a very long time to wait and come back" Sniff, Sniff.
