Gulf Shores, Day 1

Yikes!  I'm about a month behind on posts.  It's been a busy month, too!  (Which is why there haven't been many posts.)  I'll go back and share what we missed, but before I do that I'm going to share our latest vacation pictures.

I had been saying to Michael for a few months that we needed to plan a vacation for either September or October.  We aren't going anywhere for the holidays, and it's been months since our last trip.  I just needed something to look forward to.  To take a break for our every day grind.  Even if it meant something simple like another Texas city.  Well, my dad recently retired by the Gulf Shores of Alabama.  It had been a while since we've seen him and Judy, so we made a sort of impromptu trip.

The trip was full of FIRSTS for our kiddos!

The drive down took a little longer than we were anticipating.  It's suppose to be around 10 hours (stops not included), and it ended up taking us about 13.  We just don't have fast kids when it comes to eating and stopping.  Last time Logan puked an hour into the trip, and this time Olivia puked 2 hours in.  We will not be making any more road trips without the purchase of sea bands or SOMETHING for motion sickness.  They get it from me.  But when I was a kid there were no car seats.  So I just laid down on the seat in the mini van whenever I started feeling icky.  Poor kids.

So we got there late Thursday night.  They were pretty excited!  It was their first time in Alabama, their first time staying at Grandpa's house, and their first time sleeping on a couch that turned into a bed.  They didn't even know that existed, and could not wait to see how that would even work. :)

The kids could not wait to get to the beach.  We headed there Friday morning as soon as we could get there.

This was their FIRST time to the ocean!

They were looking forward to it for weeks.  It was so fun to see them experience it.

Logan's favorite was building in the sand.  He was also pretty fearless when it came to the water.  He loved the waves knocking into him.

Olivia ran into the ocean right away.  The waves were pretty strong that first day, and she got knocked down pretty quickly.  She was much more reserved in the water for a while.  We had to force her to go out with Michael.  She wouldn't let go until she saw Logan insisting on doing it himself.  That gave her the courage she needed to go independently.  By the end of the trip she was swimming all over.  Her favorite was finding shells.

So excited!

I wish they would have left their hats and sunglasses on!

My dad, Michael, and Logan swimming

We went to a state park, so the crowds were minimal.  Which was perfect for our first time.

Cutie!

We stayed about 3 hours, which was the perfect amount for us.  We headed to a late lunch, and then home to get cleaned up.  We had a low key afternoon, and then went to LuLu's for dinner.  We were all in bed early--including Michael and I.  The beach will do that to you.