Vacation, Day 3

This morning, we were slow getting around. We all got up around 9:30 and I cooked scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. Hailey and I enjoyed eating our breakfast out on the balcony and watching all the people. We headed down to the beach with alot less "garb" today. The purple and yellow flags were displayed which meant dangerous marine life...aka jellyfish! A man we passed on the way out on the boardwalk said they were bad. We get out there and tried to get the kids to wait and see if the tide went back out but they couldn't stand to not get in that water. Hailey got stung first and she wasn't as OK with it today as she was yesterday. She didn't cry or anything but she didn't want to get back in. Hayden just went along crashing into those waves again like always. He got stung once or twice but we didn't even know until he came out and we saw the marks on his back. Of course, as his story goes...he got stung 5 times by jellyfish! Typical male, huh? Well, Brian took Hayden out (carrying him) to see a jellyfish. Then Hailey went out. It was hilarious, because she was riding piggy back and had those feet curled up as tight as she could get them so they wouldn't be in the water. At one point, she slipped off and it was like a cat coming out of water! She flew back up him so fast, I don't think Brian even touched her! They both got to laughing at that one. We decided to head to the pool since the jellyfish were taking over. We tried out the clubhouse pool this time. You have to buy a membership to use the facilities at the clubhouse pool (pool, pool snack bar, tiki bar, gym, indoor pool, etc). It is very plush. We stayed there all day until time to go eat dinner. The neatest thing is that we saw some friends of ours from years ago that we used to be in Sunday School class with. They moved back to their home state of AL before Hayden was even born. They were staying with their old neighbors from Conway. Small world, huh? They have a little girl, Claire that is 7. Hailey and her used to be in the nursery together! They hit it off big time! They were asking us to have sleepovers or let the other one come play. Claire even asked if we could move to Alabama! She is really sweet and very outgoing so that is good for Hailey. Hayden just starts playing with any group of little boys he can find. Today, he started playing with 2 boys and I bet they jumped in and out of that pull over and over again 100 times at least! We are going to go out with our friends a couple of times this week so that should be fun. We thought there was a karaoke night (found out it is not in summer months) and Brian and Ted were already planning their songs! He is alot like Brian so that would have been comical! I'm sure we will find something else fun to do. After about 4:00 we decided the kids were getting too much sun and we headed back to the room for some R&R. Hayden fell asleep and so did Brian. We went to dinner at the same place we went the first night, here at our condo and then headed back to the clubhouse pool. It ended up being an extended stay. Brian had gone to our room to put our beach stuff up from earlier and lost our key. It would not have been a big deal, except we rented from Meyer Real Estate which is in downton Gulf Shores. They said it would be 45 minutes to 1 hour before they were there. So, we didn't get back to our room until about 9:30! We just got the kids to bed and, again, Hayden didn't make a peep. Another great day at the beach. Oh, and the survivor night, ended up being a dud. When we got there it was just two groups of kids competing against each other. Not at all what we had in mind, so the kids just swam. Hayden can now do a flip underwater! He is pretty proud of that one! Again, not as many pictures of Hailey because she won't stay still. Oh, and just a short little video clip of the kids walking down to the water. Hayden was pointing at the tide, how far the water kept coming up onto the shore.

The clubhouse and clubhouse pool. This is where we spent most of our day today.

A view from the clubhouse pool looking out towards the ocean.

Hayden pooped out this afternoon after an all day beach/pool trip. Notice the icing from a Krispy Kreme donut for snack RIGHT before time to go get dinner...it is definitely vacation!

Our second trip to the pool, after dinner.

Look at those handsome boys!

Vacation, Day 2

We had another great day here at Gulf Shores. We woke up and got around and then headed into town to go get everyone's boogey boards and go to Wal-Mart. We bought food for back at the condo for breakfast and lunches and snacks and then headed back to the resort. After lunch, we packed up for the beach, and boy do I mean packed up! We were loaded down! The kids were so excited to try out there new boogey boards (all three of them :)! Hailey, of course, picked it up right away. She was riding those waves all the way into the shore and then running out just as fast as she could to catch another wave! Hayden did pretty good on his, too, but would rather just ram into the waves. That boy has got to be exhausted because that is all he wanted to do all day. He would run right into them and jump over them and go under them. I kept having to walk down the shore because before long he would be way farther down than our chairs. Hailey got stung by a jellyfish twice ...once on the arm and on the bottom! Brian got stung once, too. I couldn't believe Hailey wasn't even upset! She just ran over and told me, started rubbing sand on it, and took off again with her boogey board! It wasn't going to slow her down any!! After awhile we started building a sand castle then headed up to one of the pools for the rest of the afternoon. Hayden is doing much better on his swimming now. I guess he is finally getting used to it again. He swam some under water and is not wanting his vest very much! We headed up to our room about 6:00 to get showered. After getting cleaned up, we decided we would go to Lulu's to eat. It is Jimmy Buffett's sister's restaurant. We have been there before and it is very neat. It was a 2 hour wait!!!! So, we headed up the beach to hunt for something else. We came upon "The Hangout". It was super fun! It is all open air and two levels right on the beach. Off to the side, there is a huge sand pit for the kids to play in and a band and dance area. They played and Hayden and I danced to "Sweet Home Alabama". After our hour wait, we finally got seated. Of course, as soon as our food came, the dancing started, where you can get up and join along. You know I couldn't pass up dancing! Hailey wouldn't dance at first, and then she couldn't stand it either. She learned the electric slide and then we did The Cha-Cha Slide. She LOVED it!! Our food was good and we didn't leave until 10:15! The kids didn't make a peep when we put them to bed! They better rest up for a big day tomorrow! We will be out in the water all day and then go to the Clubhouse for activity night...it is Survivor night and is a family competition! Can't wait!!!!

Momma & The Kids at beach

Momma & Daddy

Hailey and her new boogey board

A lesson in boogey boarding from daddy

Waiting on that wave

Wheee!!!

Wipe Out!

Try, try, again!

Hayden's turn

Catchin A Wave

This is fun!!!!

Building a Sandcastle Together

Hailey & Hayden in the sand pit and tunnel at The Hangout

Our Crew at The Hangout

The kids playing in the sandpit as we wait out our hour long wait for a table!

Hailey & Momma listening to the band.

Dancing to "Sweet Home Alabama"

Hailey learning the electric slide

Momma doing the electric slide

WE'RE HERE!!! Gulf Shores Vacation, Day 1

Momma & kiddos on our balcony
View of ocean from our balcony. It is sooo pretty!
View of our pool from our balcony.
Looking back at our unit from the beach

Shells, shells!
Hi, Momma!
Big muscles!!!
Hayden's shell collection, Day 1

Hayden all covered up!
Laying in the waves

Hailey waiting on that wave!
Heading back out

Hayden finding shells (aka shayells...2 syllables)
Hayden chasing seagulls

Brian & the kids
Daddy & Hailey chasing waves
Hailey all covered up
Hailey shell hunting
Hailey running from waves

OK, just get ready for some major picture taking! The kids are going to be so tired of having a camera in their face. We arrived today in Gulf Shores. We ended up leaving yesterday (Friday) about 5:00 to head down and drop Frosty off at Nana's. We got in some traffic along the way and didn't get to our hotel in Clinton, Mississippi until about 11:30 p.m. The kids dosed off about 30 minutes before we got there. Brian and I got delirious and jammed and danced to old school rap! It was hilarious! Our hotel was nice and we all crashed. We got up and around this morning and headed out about 10:30 because we couldn't check into our resort until 3:00. We, again, came into some traffic so we didn't get to our resort until about 4:30. The kids were soooo excited to see the resort and beach. They keep saying, "This is the best vacation ever!" and "Can we come here every year?". It is cute and makes it all worthwhile. We got here and got our stuff up to our room. It is really nice. We have a 1 bedroom unit with crew bunks in the hallway. Hailey wants to know why "their room" is so small :) ! The mom in me got everything put in drawers and closets and all of our food put up in the kitchen while the kids checked out everything and watched people from our balcony. Then, we headed down to the beach. It is so beautiful and peaceful here. This is a private resort and beach, and although there are 4 towers it does not seem crowded at all! They loved the beach. You probably noticed not many pictures of Hailey and that is because I couldn't keep her out of the waves long enough to get pictures of her. She is in heaven body surfing in those waves! A family we met from Lousiana called her Bo Derek! She is begging for a boogie board (so is Brian :)), so we will head to town tomorrow to get some. Anyway, they collected many, many shells and played in the waves before we headed to check out the pool. By now it is about 7:00, but we decided that their are no rules while we are on vacation (well, as far as having to go to bed on time and stuff like that). We may be regretting that one by tomorrow! The pool was great and we let them swim for a short while before we headed to one of the cafe/grill restaurants here on our resort. It was awesome. We had chicken strips with fries and a pizza and just share everything. We all thought it was wonderful and then went to the ice cream parlor next door for ice cream. It is so nice because our resort has everything. You don't even have to leave at all if you do not want to. It even has a small grocery store. After heading back to our condo, we all got showered and headed to bed. That is everyone but Momma who is staying up late to type this! I figured I would try to keep up and write everyday so I wouldn't forget anything. I don't want to forget how much fun we are all having together as a family, especially after we're back. The kids are being so sweet and enjoying it so much. We are looking forward to a special week together full of fun and relaxation! Miss you guys and wish you were here with us!