Jack's First Beach Trip!

Last week Andy & I took Jackman on his very first beach trip!  Come to think of it, it was actually our first family vacation - ever.  So we decided to drive down to Destin and spend 4.5 days in paradise.  Only 2 things made me nervous about this trip - 1.  Bean not understanding why we were suddenly gone. & 2. A 9 hour drive with a toddler.  Both worries were completely overblown b/c 1. Ali house-sat for us and took amazing care of the Bean.  And 2.  Jack apparently is a rock star during long car trips.  Thanks to all the construction on the road and the DVDs he actually did really well.

Do not let this picture fool you.  He slept for maybe 20 minutes the whole time but luckily there was little crankiness.  I think he was just as excited as we were :)

Hello old friend (Whataburger, not the skeezy-looking, child abduction van).  I'm happy to report that I got to eat Whataburger breakfast every morning for 6 days straight.  That alone was worth the drive.  As much as I'd like one to open up in Knoxville, I'm worried I might require a Lipitor drip 24/7.

I know there are two other major coastlines in the US but how can anyone want to go anywhere but the Gulf Coast?  Andy & I were a little in shock that we used to live here for 3 years.

Jack's first time in the ocean!  He loved it.  Absolutely loved it.  And in case you are wondering why my Dad is in the picture - that's an added bonus to our beach trip.  Mom's friend Noel gets a beach house with her family every year in Navarre and invited Mom and Dad down to stay for a few days.  The days just happened to correspond with the time we were going to be there so we couldn't resist joining them for a bit!

My beach boys :)

 My 2nd plug for the Gulf.  Look how amazing the water is?!?!  It was seriously like bath water.  Heaven.

:)

Not sure why the color is weird on this but Jackman and Dad hanging out was a common theme.  Dad even tried to teach Jack how to body surf, sort of.

Other beach activities included lots of seafood and eating out.

Sometime the eating out went well and sometimes it didn't.  It's nice to know a toddler is a toddler wherever you go :)

Walking around with Baba after a nice lunch.

More beach time!  By day three Andy & I got a clue and realized a sit-in floatie is the best way to let Jackman play in the ocean.  Worked like a charm and saved us from having to hold him up the entire time.  You live and learn people.

More eating out.  We were so healthy this trip :)

Andy left some really great friends when we moved away from Florida (one of our few regrets if any about leaving the beach) and we had the chance to stay with some of them - which was SO generous and very much like a vacation in itself!  Dale and Lane have an amazing house and Jack was obsessed with Dale right off the bat.  Perhaps this is because Dale is a lot of fun and has an array of fun stuff to do.  See above - (This is hopefully the ONLY time Jack will be on a motorcycle.)

There's also their pool...on the golf course!

And the golf cart which Jack kept referring to as the Mow mow mow.  Poor Dale was so nice he took Jack out whenever he asked him to.  Even at 6:30 in the morning.

Sometimes we would take him ourselves.  I think this was a consolation prize of sorts for him.  We are a poor man's Dale :)

We also got to visit some more friends of Andys while there.  Andy's friend Dawg (Steve) & his wife Cheryl invited us over to hang out in their pool and they live right down the road from Dale and Lane.  As I said before, Andy met some really wonderful people down here - I'm just glad we have the chance to visit them when we also visit paradise (Yay Gulf Coast!)

There's Cheryl & Dawg!  They also have two very cute puppies named Annie & Sandy.  Jack was determined to befriend one of them.  

Once again, love these guys :)

Sadly on Monday, we took our leave of Florida, friends, Whataburger, and 80 degree weather. :(  Jack, once again to our surprise, did really well on the way back.  He slept for about 20 minutes (again) but kept himself occupied with lots of Blue's Clues and roadside construction.  Andy & I both agreed that we need to come back every year - anyone up for renting a house together? :) Let us know!  

Here's a brief video of Jack's first time in the ocean!