Vacation at the Beach

My mom has been hinting for a few years that she would love for the family to go down to the beach together. So, last Monday when she said that she and dad were leaving the next day to go to Gulf Shores I thought to myself "Well, should I just pack us up and go on down as well?" As any land-locked crazy stay-at-home mother of two would tell you - of course you should! So, after a slightly busy Monday afternoon and evening, my parents loaded us up for a trip to the beautiful Gulf Coast - leaving Matt to fend for himself with his new job, but a nice bachelor week none the less.

Traveling was about what I expected. Mostly good times, with a few "get me out of this car seat" meltdowns that would last for a little while, but generally subside with some Little Einsteins, food, or a little lullaby. If that didn't work, then I would let my mind drift to a happy place.... All in all, they both did really well.

The beach was beautiful, and similar to what I remembered from 3 years ago traveling with Matt's family. There are still areas that are being worked on from past hurricanes, but generally it was a paradise only 8 hours away from home. Since we are the slightly stir crazy type (and easily sun-burned), we did some sightseeing as well. We took a quick trip up to Pensacola, and took a trip over the big bridge across the bay and ate at yummy Landry's. We also went to the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, and Meredith was very excited because she got to feed goats, deer, a llama, and ducks. Of course, she loved to throw the food at the animals feet, where as the animals would have just preferred to eat out of her hand, or even just take the plastic cup away from her. If you are ever down there, its a pretty small zoo; but a nice change of pace from the beach scene.

Probably the biggest hit for Meredith was the city park. Lots of swings, slides, rings, and monkey bars made our little toddler a happy camper. I was trilled to get the kids down for a good afternoon nap one day, and finish reading my Between Sundays book on the condo balcony overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. It's the small things that make this mom smile.

We also were fortunate to meet up with one of my dad's college friends on our way back to Arkansas. Lee and his wife Rhoda hosted a wonderful dinner for us, and we enjoyed getting to know them - and Meredith enjoyed going through all their little trinkets.

So, all in all - it was a wonderful vacation. I'll have to snag my parents camera to see if there are any other interesting pictures.