Day 144: Back to The Great State

Oh. My. Word. That was the longest drive ever. We were able to get out on time but once in the car it was numerous stops. First 15 minutes in we were stopping for breakfast. Next 15 minutes we were stopping because Skylar had to go to the bathroom. Then Eva was hungry. Then dirty diapers. And on and on it went. Longest. Drive. Ever. Of course we completely forget that it's also coming up on Memorial Day weekend so that added to our misery. It's crazy how fast we blow through those smaller states but once you get into Louisiana...sheesh, it takes forever. Aside from the million stops we made, the kids did pretty good considering.

We were never so happy to see the "Welcome to Texas" sign until we hit traffic. Good ole Texas traffic. At one point, we had all 3 kids crying and I could tell Matthew was spiraling into insanity. Luckily he had just purchased in audiobook on his phone so he was able to tune them out. Kinda. But when all was said and done, we finally made it home safe and sound. And even though Destin is quite beautiful and we will miss it greatly, there truly is no place like home and it's great to be back!!

Day 143: Our Last Day in Paradise

Today was a bittersweet day. For starters, Nana and Papa left early this morning and surprisingly the kids took it quite well. They were pretty occupied by the pool and the promise of ice cream after lunch so maybe that had a bit to do with it. However, after Nana and Papa left and they went back to swimming, Bryce came in and said "nana?" "Papa?" I felt so bad for him. I guess he may of thought they were just going for a short while and coming back but when they didn't, he was a tad upset. Skylar paid no mind so long as we weren't leaving behind them. She's told us numerous times she wants to live here and I don't blame her. It has been such an amazing vacation. All of us really enjoyed our last day together...swimming, going for a drive, then watching movies. None of us really want to leave tomorrow - especially daddy since we are not stopping in New Orleans on the way back which means a very long 10-12 hour drive. But no sense thinking about that now...instead we enjoyed today!

Day 142: Play-day!

So today was a pretty fun day. Of course there was time spent in the pool. Skylar would not let us get away with that! The girl would live out there if we let her...but since this was Nana and Papa's last day here, I was happy to see them out there swimming with Papa. Of course Eva was with Nana, her new BFF.

Today we decided to out for dinner and Nana was told that "Dewy's" was the place to go. Matthew confirmed it by looking up 'best seafood restaurants in Destin' and Dewy's made the number 1. So we started there and it was pretty good. We also enjoyed a few cocktails and I was surprised to see that even Nana ordered a beer. Bryce LOVES crab. And not even the fried crab...he tore up the grilled crab which actually tasted fishy to me but he loved it. He's his fathers-son no doubt about it. Matthew loves seafood. I like it only on occasion and tonight was one of those occasions. We all had a lovely time and the kids did great - once again. ;-)

Once we left, Papa insisted on taking the kids to a little kid area he saw earlier. It had go-karts, rides, games, and more. Matthew and I weren't really feeling up to it but we went along with it and we were so glad we did because the kids had a blast. A favorite was the go karts. They were able to ride in the two-passenger ones with one of us driving. I loved seeing my dad out there having fun with my kids. He has a horrible back but you'd never know it when it comes to them. He'll toss them over his shoulder, carry them around all day, and even ride go-karts. He's amazing. Truly. Some fun pics...

After we all played our little hearts out, it was time to get back home and ready for bed. We are greatly going to miss this time with Nana and Papa as they've made it such an enjoyable vacation. Matthew and I laughed that now that they're leaving, it's back to reality. And it's true. They've spoiled us so much this past week that "thank you" just doesn't seem sufficient. It's been such a great vacation. WE love you, Nana and Papa!!

Day 141: Running; its an addiction!

Now I know most people would probably take this vacation time as a means to kick back and not do the things you feel you have to do, like work out for example. But as I've mentioned in posts past - I have to run. Have to. It clears my head and really calms my moods a lot of times which right now is all over the place. I'm not getting much sleep, I have a terrible cough, Eva has some kind of cold and the kids are up and down with their moods as well from being so tired. SO- this morning, I strapped on my shoes, whipped out my jogging stroller and off we went. We, being lil man and I. Funny that as I started out I was thinking things like - I'll do 5 today. And - I wish I had my double so I could bring Skylar too. Hahahaha! So the humidity was fierce and the elevation gain - madness! I thought I was dying. Seriously. The views though were spectacular and hearing the waves crashing against the shore was so relaxing...at times. One thing I did notice though is that the runners there are not nearly as friendly as the runners here in Texas. Here, there's this camaraderie amongst runners and we all say hello or good morning. And I've often heard - good job mom! Being a great roll model for your kids! It's comforting and makes you press on. But here, in Destin, people look at you like your on drugs if you say good morning. And because my kids are also from Texas and raised right, Bryce would also throw his hand out and wave or say "good-job!" And for the 20 runners we passed, we maybe had 5 that returned our hellos. Sad. I told my mom that I want to move them here so we can teach 'em some manners. Here's our run..not too shabby considering I felt like poo.

Once we got done, I was beat but there was no time to relax. No sir. Had to quickly get them dressed for the beach and protected from the sun. Once they were ready to go, I sent them off while I quickly fed chunksters and then headed down to the beach with my crew. Of course Nana stayed behind...again. But she wouldn't be getting out of it for long since we have pictures tonight! Whoop! We had some more fun in the sand and waves and this time Papa hung out a bit longer. Skylar wanted us to build a "shark-castle" so we started digging up some sand. Problem was my "one-man wrecking crew" as Papa calls him. The kid just could not help himself. Each time we'd get a section done, here'd come Godzilla stamping it back into the ground. When it was no longer funny, Bryce got the message and kind of just hung out with Papa. It took us a while and our shark didn't really look ferocious but Skylar seemed pleased so we gave ourselves a quick pat on the back then motioned for Bryce to get on with it. He wasted no time either...smashing, kicking and even roaring as our shark became rubble again. Thankfully I snapped a quick pic beforehand.

We didn't want to tire the kids out too much since we had pics this evening so we let them play and run but no pool time when we got back. Nope..it was a quick lunch and straight to bed. Thank the Lord, they went to bed relatively easy. Nana and Papa decided to use this time to go shopping and Matthew and I decided it would be good for us to catch a quick nap too! Didn't take us long either. The beach certainly takes it out of you. Once we got up, everyone had a quick shower and we all started getting dressed. I was so pleased with how well their outfits came together and even more pleased at how well they behaved. Even the photographer couldn't get over it. Of course Bryce, in all his boy-ways, couldn't help but throw sand, go walking off into the bushes, or try to run straight for the water, but for the most part - it was a great night. Papa got these pics...

 And this was our sneak from the photographer...try and contain yourself, they're quite stunning!

Day 140: Seaweed is yucky!

This was echoed at least 100 times today while at the beach with the kiddos. I guess the problem with crystal clear waters is that you see everything and in this case, it was seaweed. Both Skylar and Bryce were not a fan of it and stayed close to the shore to keep from getting tangled up in it. Finally Bryce was Brave enough to go out with Daddy which of course meant Skylar wanted to go too. They had a lot of fun..so long as there was no seaweed touching them, waves crashing over them, or us letting go of them to get our footing. The beaches were not like anything I've ever seen before. I really think it was prettier then even Cancun. The water was a perfect. The wind had a cool breeze which always seem to come just at the right time and when it would blow cold, the sun would prick your skin again making you feel toasty. It truly was paradise. Papa spent time lounging around and then helping Skylar collect seashells. Matthew and I took turns entertaining them by either letting the waves crash into us on shore, or body surfing, or building sand-castles. Again, not one of Skylar's favorites because the poor thing hates getting dirty!

Eva and Nana spent time back at the condo since Nana is not big on the ocean and little Ebes has a bad cough. It worked out great because it meant I could focus my time on our other 2 kiddos without the distraction of a hungry, teething, coughing, baby. We played for a couple of hours and once it was apparent that our crew was sinking fast, we high-tailed it back home. Amazing how the hike home seems much longer then the trek there. Cranky kids covered in sand will do it. Once we got back to the condo, we all did our best to rinse off the sand then prepared the kids for the pool. That's right, the minute we got back that's where they wanted to be so off they went. Little fishy's.

Nana and I used this opportunity to go grocery shopping so we could stock up of the necessities and hopefully keep from eating out too much. Ha! You would've thought we were staying for a month with all the food we bought. It was nuts. Mom had a cart and I had a cart. Of course my cart housed precious cargo that got tons of attention. We couldn't get down one aisle without someone stopping and saying - oh, isn't she precious?! How old is she? She's so good! Or my favorite - well now, what aisle did you find her on?? ;-) We've become used to the attention and almost on cue, Eva will give her biggest most flashy kinda grin, making them smile even more. So because of this, and Nana buying up the whole store, it took us a while to get out of there but we finally did. Once we made it home, we saw that daddy and papa were able to get the kiddos to sleep so we all did our share in helping unload and unpack the umpteen number of grocery bags. It really did work out well though because with my hungry crew, there wasn't much food leftover. I've never seen Skylar and Bryce eat so well but with all of the swimming and running around they're doing, its no wonder.

The original plan was to go out to dinner but after this long "first day of vacation" we were all beat so Nana made yummy tacos instead! Daddy and I got a chance to hang out with Nana and Papa....well, after Nana was done bathing and dressing the kids and Papa was done cleaning the dishes and sweeping the floors. This really does feel like vacation! Complete with maid service, food service, child care and more! I never EVER wanna leave!! ;-)

Day 139: Well hello there, beautiful!

Lordy, what a looooong drive! But I'll tell you what, coming over the bridge into Destin and seeing the white sand and crystal clear water made all of the stress from that long drive just melt away. We were just in awe. We opened the sunroof, rolled down the windows, put-on some beachy music and just took it all in. We are in paradise. Finally.

Little did we know that we would sit the next 40 minutes in bumper-to-bumper traffic just to get to our rental house but still - we made it. Once we got inside, we quickly through on our swimsuits and went straight for the pool. We needed it and it felt so good to get out of the car. After soaking up the sun a little while, we decided to head inside and unpack and also get ready for Nana and Papa to show up. They left a bit later and would be arriving sometime that evening. There wasn't much else we did today because we were all just so beat. The house is gorgeous and like a goob, I didn't take any photos of it. But it's beautiful. And the walk to the beach was so short which was something I was worried about. Today was a fun but exhausting day. Time to rest up before our fun filled vacation takes off starting tomorrow.

Day 138: First day of Vacation!

YESSSS!!! After months of planning and preparing and waaaaaaiting, it's finally here. Today we left for New Orleans to go visit Granny on our way to Destin, Florida. After getting the car loaded up, Roxy dropped off, and a quick jog in, we headed out for the fun 6 hour drive. Surprisingly the kids did very well for being in the car so long but with 3, there's still multiple stops and repeated questions like "are we there yet?" I couldn't help but laugh when that came out because it just felt like - here goes, we have now entered that stage of our lives where vacations mean things like hearing "are we there yet" a hundred times in 15 minutes. Or "I gotta go potty." Or the ever-famous "he hit me." Poor Daddy was already losing his mind 1 hour into the trip. Thank God for Granny though because I do not think we would've made it all the way to Florida with our crew. Everyone was loosing their patience and beginning to get stir crazy. And what better place to relax then in the "big easy." So Granny technically lives in Gretna but because it's literally just a short ferry-ride over, its easier to tell people she lives in New Orleans. Once we got there, we were greeted my Granny and kissed by Diamond; granny's new german shepherd. She's so pretty and such a sweet girl. I was tempted to try and sneak her in the car with me when we left but she and Granny are already such good companions. We kicked back for a short while and then decided to go for a walk to see the levee and the big bridge. Skylar and Bryce were so happy to be out, stretching their legs in a new place. And I was so happy to see Matthew get a chance to visit with his mama since he doesn't get to very often.

The kids had fun walking around exploring. They stayed on the hunt for gators and ducks but thankfully all we saw were ducks. Granny's house is so nice and we are looking forward to going on the ferry next time. Once we got back, Granny started in on dinner and I decided to give the kids and myself a quick bath since we were pretty stinky. Skylar was moving as fast as she could so she could get back in to help Granny cook. Sweet Granny let each of the kiddos take turns in the kitchen, helping with the shrimp.

Eva on the other hand had fun nursing and telling jokes with mama....hahaha....

It was a great night and the kids and I really enjoyed hanging out with Granny and Diamond. I know Daddy really needed that time with her too. Now it's off to Destin...