30A

Since January, Andy and I have known that we wanted to do a beach vacation with the kids this summer - Andy invited family to join us and Mimi jumped at the chance for a fun time at the beach.  And since the most beautiful beach in the world ALSO happens to be the place we lived for 3 years before we had children, we went with Destin. (Naturally)  However, we decided to avoid the traffic and crowds that is Destin Proper and retreated a little east on 98 to a tiny little highway called 30A.  30A, located in South Walton, is gorgeous, family-oriented, a bit more expensive in some spots, less touristy, and frankly just awesome.  All along this beach front highway are a series of tiny communities (Grayton Beach, Gulf Place, Seaside, Rosemary Beach, Seagrove - where we stayed).  Most people walk or bike the area to go from place to place - we have small kids so we drove.  Overall, the week was beautiful, fun, exhausting, a teensy bit relaxing in parts, and overall delicious.  never had a bad bite :)  I'm not going to lie - this is not what I call a vacation.  This was parenting with a change of scenery.  But thankfully the scenery was well worth it :)

The most daunting part of the trip is of course the drive.  When we were first married, it took us about 8 hours to make it from Destin to Knoxville.  This took 11 hours.  Ugh.  Jackman, as usual, was awesome.  He did great the last time we went to Destin 2 years ago and he was our trooper - just sitting in the back watching movies and enjoying the random road construction.  Here he is trying to distract Lucy by playing peekaboo.

Lucy was not as much of a trooper.  She isn't a big fan of the car to begin with and this just made things worse.  At one point I was throwing blankets on her head to play hide and seek in the hopes she's stop screaming.

There were many stops made along the way to stretch our legs and help our sanity.

We stopped at a questionably clean Arby's in Andalusia, AL.  Lucy proceeded to eat her lunch and mine before I could get two bites in.

Not that I minded.  While driving through Birmingham I made everyone pull over so I could indulge.  Knoxville, PLEASE, get a Whataburger franchise!  I'm begging you!  I had high hopes that I'd get to pig out every morning with this but sadly 30A (while it has a lot of wonderful things) does not have a Whataburger within 25 miles.  Sigh... oh well.  I'm sure my arteries were not sad about this.


The Lucy distraction continued for 11 hours (we got stuck in construction traffic and beach traffic to boot).  Thankfully, she likes a rolled down window and this worked pretty well for a while.

As we crossed the Midbay Bridge I saw my old nemesis again - stupid Whaling Wall (yes that is the official politically incorrect name for this dumb thing.)  Jack loved the part on it where the sperm whale is attacking the giant squid mostly b/c his favorite Wild Kratts episode is about that very thing.

After a VERY long wait, we finally got to see the ocean!  This is Lucy's first step in the Gulf.

I was the lucky one who got to squeeze b/t two car seats so that we could all go to dinner at night in one car.  Here's a little selfie of the backseat party in action.

We found a really nice place called Great Southern Cafe in Seaside and liked it so much that we ate there twice that week!  Lucy was a fan of the crackers.

Jack of the chocolate milk.  Mimi and I couldn't get enough of the Fried Green Tomatoes.  Mmmmm....
And the best part is that we figured out that if you eat at 5 pm each night, you beat the dinner rush.  We never had to wait for a table.  Finally, a perk of eating out with little ones!  (That perk can quickly diminish when the littlest one doesn't want to sit for 45 minutes and eat dinner but hey - that's when you walk them around the restaurant & do a meet and greet with those waiting on a table.)

After dinner we had some ice cream & peekaboo.

Can't get over how much of a little person Lucy is when I see her in pictures.

Our first day on the beach was awesome.  Jack would stay all day in the water if you let him.  Lucy wanted nothing more than to eat sand.  Andy and I practiced constant vigliance (Mad Eye Moody!) when it came to sunscreen so I can proudly say that neither of my children got burned at the beach.  Woohoo! Lucy in fact developed a nice deep tan while Jack maintained his redheaded pastiness.  Just as God intended.

Goose and her daddy.

This was my typical view of Jack.  We had a float to put Jack in and he just rode the waves with Andy again and again.  They seriously could've stayed out there for hours.  Especially with goggles.

One thing I was not prepared for, even though I was warned multiple times about it, was the sand.  For some reason, it gets EVERYWHERE with little kids.  I had no problem getting it off of myself but there must be some strange secretion in a child's skin that turns sand into rubber cement on their bodies.  I spent most of my time wiping it out of Lucy's face, off her snotty nose, out of her mouth (she ate about a cup a day I'm convinced) and changing a sandy diaper is pretty pointless in my opinion.  This is when people who say it doesn't get easier should be smacked.  Jack vs Lucy on the beach - light years easier. For a while there I honestly considered early potty training.  Oh well.

Burying Jack.

The first couple of days were cloudy and a little windy, but to be honest it was so nice.  Not at all hot and sticky.  Plus, I didn't have to worry about them frying out there in the sand.

Lucy in a hole.  I'm pretty sure we left half our tiny beach toys on the beach at the end of the day each day.

Another perk of coastal living - raw oysters :) We seriously never had a bad meal while we were there.  We never had a cheap meal either but hey, you're on vacation.

True to form, vacationing with children is not technically a vacation.  B/c when I think of vacation I think of relaxing and sleeping in.  Uh...no.  Thanks to the time change, Lucy and Jack woke up anywhere from 4:45 to 5:30 every morning.  So in an attempt to allow Andy & Mimi a little early morning peace, we took a beach walk each morning.  It was fun, beautiful, and even a week later I am thinking about how glad I am that we had this private little routine every morning - just the 3 of us.  But I will tell you, I wouldn't have been too sad if these walks took place at 7:30 and not 6 am.  Just saying.

Our condo complex had two pools which we took full advantage of.  I think Jack is part fish.

More beach fun with sandcastles.  Andy did a great job building, Jack did a great job getting distracted and wandering off to find random stuff to throw in the ocean, and Lucy did a great job acting like Godzilla and destroying all the handiwork :)  I did a great job hovering and taking pictures apparently.  We know who the fun one is...

One night we ventured into Destin to meet up with Andy's old friends Dale & Lane and Cheryl & Dawg.  These were the guys that Andy used to play golf with all the time and are some of the nicest people in the world.  Seriously.  I wish I had gotten more pictures but one of the keys to a well-behaved 4 year old at dinner is Anger Birds on my phone.

This was also the first time they all met The Goose!  i was pregnant with her the last time we were in Destin so it's surreal/fun that she is here for real now.

Jack's footprint next to mine. :)

At first I thought this was so cute - my footprints next to Jack's.

Then I tried to include Goose's  She was not as cooperative but they were precious nonetheless :)

Early morning beach walks must include belly pics.  Jack is emerging from the water.  No matter how much I tried to explain that the early morning walks are not play in the water walks, I always forgot I'm talking to a 4 yr old. If this hadn't been 6:30 am I would have just brought their suits and started our day at the beach.  Thankfully the condo was a short walk from the beach.

One afternoon - to mix it up - we stopped by the splash pad in Alys Beach.

Jack was trying to swim in it I think.

for a while there we had this all to ourselves.  It was awesome.  Then after a quick clothes change, we went down to Rosemary Beach for dinner.

Rosemary Beach is gorgeous - beautiful buildings, shops, cool restaurants, and very pedestrian friendly.  Jackman thoroughly enjoyed his pre-dinner ice cream.

And we enjoyed a pre-dinner drink.  Check it out - we were on vacation too!

Another early beach walk.  Although it's hard to tell Jack is running towards this crane he spotted on the beach.

One of first really sunny days that week - beautiful but hot by 7 am.

At one point, Jack saw this picture and said, "Why am I wearing my pjs to the beach?"  I just looked at him and shook my head.

I can't believe we used to live here.  Seriously.  It is absolutely unreal sometimes. But I can now say, after being gone for 4 years, that I'm so glad we had the experience.  Emphasis on HAD.  I love raising my kids in TN and looking forward to places like this as a vacation.  It just works better :)

Andy soaking up the sun.  Could we have brought more stuff to the beach?  Every morning on the walk down there I felt like we were taking half the condo with us.  And each morning I stupidly brought beach chairs.  Behold, Andy is demonstrating briefly what we did not get to do most of the trip.  Sit down.  Beach chairs are more like decorations when you have small children.

Lucy loved her baby tent and for the most part loved destroying everything we set up for her.  She is like a tiny wrecking ball.

I mean gorgeous.  Just gorgeous. Man I love the Gulf.

We took Mimi up on her babysitting offer on Thursday night and went on a date!  (Most people who heard that my mother in law was coming with us immediately assumed "Oh good!  You'll have a built in babysitter!" and I quickly corrected them.  We don't invite people to vacation with us to take advantage of them.)  Andy and I were adamant that this was her vacation too and that she needed to have fun and do the stuff she wanted to do.  Mostly she just wanted to hang out with her grandkids which was great fun for everyone. :)  But after much insistence on her part, we finally agreed to a night out which was fantastic.  Absolutely fantastic.  We had a delicious meal, had a real conversation with each other, and I didn't have to take anyone to the bathroom.

The last part of our trip I will not refer to as our vacation but as a Faycation!!  That is because I finally got to see my friend Katie Fay who is living in Panama City - just 40 minutes away!  We drove to her house on Thursday morning for a playdate and a swim in the pool.  It was SOOOOO good seeing her.  And sadly the only picture I have of her is the one below which doesn't even include her head :(

There's Katie - or at least the bottom half of her.

This was my first time to meet James (who will be 2 in August) and her first time to meet Lucy.  I find it so surreal that both of us have had children who are now toddlers since we last saw each other.  I wish she lived closer.  I really do :(

Lucy was nuts over Katie's dog Quince.  She kept following the poor baby around saying "puppy?" and then snuggling his back.  :)

This will be in their wedding reception slide show some day.

Jack and Natalie had so much fun playing together.  She has turned into such a little person since I saw her last.  I love it :)

After we returned home from Panama City, we took a dip in the pool.  Lucy was nuts about the pool and kept trying to dunk her face in there.  To the point where grandmothers standing by kept trying to tell me my baby's face is in the water - watch out.  Thank you random woman.  I'm technically holding her and well aware of the situation.  Can I help it if she's trying to grow gills here??

One of our last days.  Lucy loved saying hi to everyone that walked by.

Rare brother/sister love.

This makes me so happy.  It really does.

Mimi and the kids!

These are a bit out of order but there was a alligator in the lake next to the condo and Jack kept walking over there with Andy to check it out.  Reason #14 I'm glad we aren't in FL anymore.

Last day at the beach!  Katie brought the kids and her mom down to join us for one last jaunt in the ocean & then we ate a nice lunch on the beach at Bud and Alleys.

My only picture that I managed to get of all four of them.  Look how gorgeous the water is.  Unreal.  Katie and I both agreed though that this part must get easier.  We only stayed out there an hour and a half before going up to the showers and rinsing off.  but that 90 minutes was enough to make me want a beer at lunch.  Whew!

Lucy noshing on some pizza at lunch.

Jack & Natalie sharing a pizza together before we all left.  Once again, I wish Katie lived closer.  Seeing her is just so fun & I love that we are experiencing the adventures of motherhood together.

This was the last time Katie and I had a beer on the beach.  This was also 6 years ago in Bali.  Since I never got a picture of the two of us together that week, I'm putting this one in instead.  Plus we look much more well-rested, don't you think? :)  Miss you Katie!

Our beach pic :)  Or the best we could do.  This week was so fun.  Exhausting, exciting, a bit like running a marathon, but still a ton of fun.  Watching them experience the beach only makes me look forward to the future and all the fun family vacations that we have in store.