It has taken me forever to get caught up with every aspect of my life after getting back from our late summer vacation. From laundry, to cleaning house, to work-everything is finally coming together and the flow is back to normal around the Shelby house. Wahoo. As I mentioned before we left, we decided to take a little late trip to Orange Beach for a few days. Seth and I hadn't been to Orange Beach so we did some research-well Seth did some research :) and we found the perfect little condo, that had everything we needed. After lots of time online and looking at way too many condos that all started to kind of look the same, we finally chose to stay at the Phoenix East, on the ground floor, in a one bedroom that seemed so awesome.
The Drive down: We headed out on Thursday night (well early early Friday morning) around 2am. We were a little hesitant, but had high hopes about the car ride with Elem, which is why we decided to leave in the middle of the night. I figured, the more time he would be sleeping, the better. So, with the jeep packed full, some snacks and goodies to keep Elem busy during the hours he was awake, and with Dora geared up in the DVD player, we were off. The ride was SUPER smooth, Elem and I cat napped in the back and played all morning long with puzzles, play-dough, markers, books, and a few other new toys he had never seen before, oh- and had way too much quality time with Dora. Oh Dora...I could go for the rest of my life without ever seeing another Dora episode. I should only be so lucky! :) A few bathroom stops later-an accident free 9 hours ride for the newly potty trained toddler I might add, we were there!!! Orange Beach.
Day 1: Friday: We arrived around 11 am and checked right into our condo. Everything was perfect, the place was huge for just the 3 of us, and the condo itself was very nice too. We didn't waste any time, and unloaded all of our stuff, and checked out the view from the patio. Ground floor was the best idea we ever had! We wanted to head right to the beach after the long ride, so we threw on our bathing suits and were at the beach within 30 minutes of arriving. Only thing-the weather was slightly less than perfect. It was VERY windy and cloudy, and sprinkling, but we were beach bound and the wind wasn't going to stop us! Elem was right at home, immediately, and wasted no time heading right for the sand and water. First thing he noticed: the sea gulls. Elem LOVED LOVED LOVED the sea gulls. And could not get enough of them.
We settled right in to the free time and the idea of having no where to be and nothing particular to do and just had fun-despite the weather. I love not having any kind of agenda, even though I am a super planner. I like to have a plan and know what the day has in store for me. But that is just what I love about the beach-no need for planning and no need for an agenda. Unless it rains and you cant just "be" on the beach as you had planned.
First steps in the sand. He likes it? But not quite sure what exactly to do first.
He quickly made himself right at home. Running and smiling, and just having fun!
And running, and running, and running, and more running. I don't think little boys ever get tired. He was having some major fun-even in his own little world. One that I could just not get enough of.
Next stop: groceries. We grabbed the essentials-food, drinks, and beach toys for Elem, and then right back to the condo. Around 5pm we started feeling the effects of our night of travel and lack of good sleep, but sucked it up and were right back to the beach to play in the sand and make good use of our sand toys. However, this visit was short lived, and before we knew it, the rain had sent us right back inside to find something else to do! That something else-the indoor pool. Which ended up being our life savor over the course of the week. Nothing like an indoor pool all to yourself, with a couple of hot tubs to relax in. Elem was a swimming machine in the pool and was ready for bed, along with Seth and I, by 8pm. Elem slept in our huge bed that night, while his pack-n-play remained untouched in the corner in the living room. Day one was relaxing and a great start to our family vacation.
Day 2: Saturday: We all slept in until 9am, which was nice, but quickly realized the hopes of a fun filled day at the beach was not meant to be. Rather, it was POURING down rain. And I mean high winds, dark clouds, and non stop raindrops. Not the kind of weather I had anticipated, or packed for! Right off, I was super disappointed. All I could think about was how far we had driven, and how we were not going to be able to find anything for Elem to do if we couldn't head out to the beach. All day in a condo with a 2 year old is not the best idea of relaxation. So we decided to make the best of it and headed out to Gulf Shores to find something fun to do. We checked out a few "beachy" stores, and ended up at the Oyster House for lunch. It was right on the water, the food was good, and turned out to be a great stop for the rainy day. As soon as we saw a break in the rain, we headed straight for Adventure Island to try out some miniature golf. This was Elem's first attempt at put put, and knowing his recent obsession with golf, we knew he would have a blast.
Despite a few drizzles and some wind, we had a great time. The course was fun and pretty and Elem would have thought this was the reason we drove so far if we would have told him that.
When the rain started back up again, we headed inside to the arcade and played as many games as we could. Elem loves putting money in games and getting to do whatever it is that the game has to offer, so again, the weather had no effect on his fun here! Adventure Island-check! Great stop. We even had a slight fit on the way out, because Elem did not want to leave, but we made it to the condo, and Elem grabbed a nap, During nap time, I was able to get in some good reading time on the patio (my final book of the Twilight saga) and catch a little sun. We were lucky to find a small break in the rain after Elem woke up, and snagged a little beach time just playing in the sand and watching the waves. Sand castles quickly became a huge favorite of Elem's, but they only lasted a few seconds before they were destroyed. By Elem. And his kicking and pushing, and attacking. Boys will be boys I guess.
Then came the rain, and to find some seafood we went. We stopped in at a place that sold fresh shrimp and crab legs. Seth was super excited about this find and couldn't wait to get back and cook it up. First thing before dinner-to the indoor pool we went. THANK GOODNESS for the indoor pool. It was such a life savor for us, and kept Elem happy and gave him a way to burn off some energy during the hours and hours of pouring down rain. After the pool, a nice bath while daddy cooked. And it was so worth the wait-we had shrimp and pasta, and it was soooooo good. :) Did I ever mention how lucky I am to have a chef for a hubby? Lots of good food, some quality family time, and off to bed we went.
Day 3: Sunday: We woke up to a beautiful SUNNY day! We were on the beach by 8am and didn't look back until noon. We played in the ocean, watched the waves, took long walks in the sand, played with the sea gulls and chased them up and down the beach, dug lots of wholes with the shovels, looked for sea shells, watched for boats and jet skis, ate lots of snacks, played some baseball
and football on the beach, raced in the sand, and soaked up a whole lot of sun-oh :) and relaxed. Finally. The perfect morning, we couldn't have asked for anything else. We are so happy Elem is a water baby and loves everything the beach has to offer.
After nap time, and some more reading, and a little Sunday football, the rain was back at it again. More time at the indoor pool, and then we got cleaned up and headed out for a nice dinner. Only, we couldn't decide where to go and ended up at this place called Live Bait. Which looked to be packed from the outside, but we quickly realized everyone was at the bar in the back and not at the restaurant. But that was after we ordered our food, and were hugely disappointed. Note to self-do not go to Live Bait when in Orange Beach-ever again. Unless going to the bar-which appeared to be quite the place to watch some Sunday night football. Food was so not good. Back to the condo after driving in what can only be referred to as a torrential down pour. More indoor swimming, bath time, Sunday night football, and off to bed.
Day 4: Monday: By this point I was not happy when we woke up to non stop rain. It was getting a little old after taking off work, spending all the money to book the trip, drive all the way down there, all just to search and search for things to do with a 2 year old indoors. Not my idea of the perfect relaxing vacation that I still had high hopes for. After lots and lots of arts and craft projects with mommy:
We piled in the car and made a 30 minute drive to the outlet mall in Gulf Shores. Which was pretty cool, we hit up about 3 stores, got a couple of things, played around on a little playground they had in the middle of the mall area, and then decided to head back when the rain started coming down a little harder. By the time we got back, Elem was super tired to say the least, and had an enormous meltdown at the condo, while Seth went to grab us some yummy lunch from a cafe right down the road. This was so not what I wanted to deal with somewhere else other than the privacy of our own home. Nothing like your child screaming at the top of his lungs for all the world to hear because you keep putting him in time out. I was only hoping no one would come to the door assuming some type of physical altercation was happening. Sheesh. I was seriously sweating by the time he stopped and drifted off to sleep. I shouldn't have tried to make him make it past his normal nap time, and I so paid the consequences of that decision. Happily, the sun came out in time for some more quiet reading time on the patio. I was in serious need of some alone time to get back in the right state of mind! Later that afternoon we swam a little more at the indoor pool and eventually got cleaned up to try for another nice meal out in Gulf Shores. This time we headed to the Crab Shack, which did not disappoint. This was the perfect spot to eat with kiddos. They had a huge covered deck, it was pretty close to the water, and a big gated sand area with a playground! Elem played and played while we relaxed and enjoyed some wonderful food. Crab Shack was a super choice! Highly recommended. When we got back to the condo we headed back down to the beach for some crab hunting!!! We had so much fun, and Elem loved hunting for crabs. Or was it me? hmm...hehe.
We actually all 3 loved hunting for crabs, and we all got really into it. Elem was very into locating the actual crab holes and trying to see if there were crabs inside each and every one. It didn't take us long at all to find lots of crabs with our flashlight, track them down to where we could catch em, scoop them up, and stick them in our bucket. Just long enough to look them over and talk about how cool it was, and then let them free.
I need to mention that I was really really good at finding them running along the sand. But I wont harp on that too much :) We spent the rest of the night relaxing, (I read), and watched a little more football.
Day 5: Tuesday: We had planned to go home, but of course we woke up bright and early to the most beautiful sunny day since we arrived. It only took a few minutes for us to decide we were not ready to go home, and this was the sunny day we had been longing for. So we booked the room for another night, packed up and headed to the beach for the day. It was the best day ever! We swam and played on the beach all morning long. Well for as long as we could at a time. The heat really seemed to get to Elem after about an hour or so, so we had to make a couple of mini trips back to the condo for a few minutes of cooling off or a dip in the pool. Luckily, we were able to spend the majority of the day on the beach and in the sun, relaxing and taking advantage of every single second on our extra day! It was so worth it too!!!! We could not have imagined a better day on the beach. We packed lunch for the beach and had sandwiches and lots of yummy treats while chilling in the sand, and by the time we headed back for nap, Elem could barely keep his eyes open. It was super hard for me to realize that this vacation was not just about me, or just about me and Seth, but that the schedule really did have to revolve around Elem in order for it to be a good day. Until this year, and a little bit last year, I would have staid on the beach all day, reading and laying out, listening to the waves, and enjoying a nice margarita. This year, more trips back and forth to the condo to get things I forgot, tons of time spent putting sunscreen on Elem, and lots of running up and down the beach to find all sorts of fun things-just to keep the day interesting. As if the beach itself is not interesting enough! Right?! Well for this 2 year old, the heat seemed to overtake the beauty. So nap time meant heading back to the condo, and letting the little guy get his much needed rest. During his nap, I just about finished my book, got lots of god sun, and spent some quality time with my hubby. Which was more needed than I even realized. I cant even remember the last time, other than after Elem has drifted off to sleep at home, that Seth and I even get to have a normal conversation about just us. Or just things that are going on.
We had so much fun relaxing and just talking on the patio and drinking wine during nap time. :) That is what I call a vacation! AFter nap time was over, we went back to the beach for just a little while and took a dip in the pool to rinse off.
My sweet boys. Just lovin nature and holdin on tight. So breathtaking-even more so than the waves and the view around me. :)
Then we cleaned up and headed out for a great meal to bring an end to our fabulous little family vacation. We ended up going to LuLu's which was our most favorite place to eat of the whole trip. It was sooo good.
The wait was about 45 minutes, but the place was so big, there was all kinds of sand areas for the kids to play, tons of buckets and shovels everywhere, baggos set up, a volleyball net, a fabu gift shop, all surrounded by the beach!!!!! And that was just the waiting area! Once we got our seats, there was some super chilled acoustic music going on, that was right up our alley. Seth and I had been seriously deprived of hearing some good music on this vacation, and we were in the perfect spot to catch some good tunes. After a great night of good music and good food, we headed back tired and ready to take on the ride home the following morning.
Day 6: Wednesday: We headed home around 9am or so. Not too excited about the ride itself, but excited to get on home to our bed and just to be in our own house. The ride was okay, but took a little longer than we expected. Riding at night was definitely the way to go. I believe we stopped about 7 or 8 times for potty breaks. hehe. And we stopped for a little play time at a park we saw on the side of the road and grabbed some ice cream. 8 hours in the car is a little much for Elem, and I believe he was about at his breaking point until we stopped at the park. He needed to get out, stretch his little legs, run and play! After that he was pretty much good to go and we FINALLY made it home about 7pm or so. And boy were we happy to be home!
Overall the trip was great! If you would have asked me how much fun we were having about 3 days in, I might not have given a positive response, but after the last day, I could not have been happier. It was seriously so much fun, and the final day was just worth the whole vacation. Seeing Elem on the beach, running around and just having fun in the sand. Chasing and talking to the sea gulls, knocking over the sand castles and finding crabs with his flashlight were all so sweet and amazing to watch. It is really cool to see your child loving the little things that are new to their world. I couldnt be more thankful for this vacation to Orange Beach and we are sure we want to go back next year. After Labor Day is the time to go, we got about 1/2 price on our room each night, and the area was not busy at all. It was very low key, no one was partying or being annoying, and overall it was very family friendly, and relaxing. Which is exactly what we were looking for. I am thankful for my family. SO so thankful for my family. Just watching Seth and Elem on the beach refreshed me and made me feel happy, and gave me an overwhelming sense of calmness. I am so looking forward to many more vacations and quality time filled with new experiences with my boys. Better weather yes-better company-never! Nothing like a week with your feet in the sand.
Perfection:
2 comments:
So glad you had such a good time. You are sooo tan!
I does me good to see how much you all enjoyed yourselves. I am so glad you stayed the extra day.
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