30A Beach Trip

On the road again!  On July 16th we packed up everything and headed out to Seagrove Beach on 30A!  I was in the back seat again with my travel buddy Jack.  Andy and I were a little trepidatious about this beach trip.  When you factor in traffic and bathroom breaks, we are looking at around 11 hours in the car.  It was going to be rough.  A 10 month old, a 3 year old, and a 6 year old.  This is the stuff nightmares are made of....

And I'm happy to report we all survived.  It was tense at moments but thanks to frequent bathroom breaks, a happier than normal Charlie (how does this kid do it?), and leaving at the crack of dawn, we survived.

It's been 17 years since I last lived in Alabama but I will always think of it as this.  

Also. This.  The closest Whataburger is in Birmingham.  It was...blissful.  Just amazing.  My mouth is watering.  I need to move on to the next picture otherwise this might turn into a Fast Food Soliloquy.

By hour 9.5 we hit this!  Woohoo!!!

And then this.  I found a fantastic condo on vrbo.com - fourth floor right on the beach.  Literally right on the beach.  This is worth the cost.  Flat out.  There is something so relaxing about being able to walk out on your deck and hear the ocean.  See the ocean.  It's like an instant mood enhancing drug.  And the funny part is that the condo came with a few issues - they gave us the wrong access code for the beach gate, the A/C froze up the second night, the transformer blew up in the complex and we were without power for 7 hours and then the elevator was out until the next day, the parking situation wasn't ideal b/c we only got one space for the entire unit - but see - even with those issues (some of them avoidable, some of them not) it was still a pretty kickass condo.  Because no matter what - this was our view.

The condo had a loft area on the second floor where Jack and Lucy slept.  At first I was worried that they would hear us downstairs (since it was basically open to the main living space) but the beach did a number on my kids every day and by 9 pm they were passed out.

The downstairs area.  I forgot to get any pictures of the rest of the condo but this should do as a visual for my memory.  Please note the Charlieman contained in the packnplay.  This was our last day and the exersaucer we rented had already been picked up.

First night on the beach!  I love the belly, the smiles, the white sand, everything.

Lucy Goose was intent on finding shells - even tiny ones.  Side note on her hair.  Lately I've given up on Lucy's hair.  Every once in a blue moon she will let me "style it" aka braid or put it in a nicely combed pony tail.  But even that takes too much effort and fighting so for the most part we have been doing the "messy bun."  I grab her hair, wrap a hair tie around it a couple times, and successfully avoid her getting snot or food stuck it in for the rest of the day.  Most days it gives her this lovely homeless appearance (especially when other little girls walk by with french braids and elaborate bows) but sometimes it looks cute.  And I love seeing her without her hair in her face.  She so wants to be Rapunzel and is intent on the long hair thing but on the days I get to see her face, I soak it up.

We told Jack and Lucy that evening on our first night there that we were gonna say hi to the ocean and then come back upstairs for bedtime.  But don't get wet.

That quickly failed.  Oh well :)

This might be my favorite picture from the entire trip.  Baba and Charles Kersey Brimer.  This was the first beach trip I've had with my parents since I was in grad school.  And I'm just gonna say it.  I love vacationing with my parents.  I do.  My parents are hardcore when it comes to playing with my kids, soaking this time up with them, being present and in the moment, making memories with them.  I have an amazing family.  I just do.  And I actually find vacations with them relaxing.  I am lucky because I know from talking to friends and coworkers that being around family - especially when vacationing - can be crazy stressful.  Anytime you are in close quarters with people, especially those that share some DNA with you, it can get tense.  But thankfully, we don't have that problem.  I told Andy later after we got back, that was the most relaxing vacation we've had since Jack was born.  A lot of that comes from the fact that we know what we are doing - we have tricks up our sleeves -  we've adjusted our expectations (it's no longer vacation but parenting with a change of scenery).  All of that made for a pretty awesome time.

Even though we were in Seagrove which is a less populated area than say Seaside, PCB, or Destin, there are people.  So each morning around 6:15 we sent the men out to set up the tent and claim our spot.  If we didn't then the beach service boys claimed everything good out there.  This wasn't too hard to do considering my children wake up around 5:30-6 am anyway.

We also made a few trips to Publix to stock up on food while there.  We did b'fast and lunch at the condo each day and mostly ate out at night.  I have to say, I love a sandwich at the beach.  Everything tastes better at the beach.  Especially beer....

The first night out we went to Baytowne in Sandestin and ate at Acme Oyster House.  Mom and Dad ordered oysters and I got to partake.  Yum...  How cute are my parents?  Seriously?

While there we hit up the carousel.

I'd just like to point out this was the 3rd carousel Lucy had been on in one week (Dollywood, the Zoo, and this.)  My kids don't realize how unbelievable their childhoods actually are.

Another lovely 6:13 am shot of the men putting up the tent.  I have to give props to Dad and Andy here.  Most men would assume that vacation means sleeping in.  But for them it meant being woken up at the crack of dawn to race 19 year old college students setting up beach service chairs out to the sand.  And they never once complained.  They are awesome.  One morning they brought Jack out there with them to supervise ;)

We brought back the pool for Charlie.  In the two weeks since we had been to Hilton Head, he had become more mobile and antsy so he didn't last crazy long in it this time.  Therefore we needed to change the scenery and throw Lucy in there to entertain him every once in a while.

Gaga and Lucy did a good job keeping Charlie happy :)

For the most part, Jack, Lucy, Andy, and Dad were in the water.  Dad was body surfing and playing with Jack and Lucy or Andy was throwing his kids around in the water and giving them a super fun time.  We were usually on the beach from 8:30 - 12:30 each day and then maybe would come out in the afternoon for a couple hours.  I'm forever grateful that my kids actually like the beach.  They love the water and thank god.  It's like a playground that is constantly changing.

Gaga and Goose :)

One thing Melissa recommended to me that I'm forever thankful for was baby gear rental.  We rented a high chair and an exersaucer since space in the van was limited.  It was a godsend.  And really - Charlie lucked out here too.  What other baby gets this kind of view?  I mean, seriously.

Monday night we went to eat at Great Southern Cafe (same place we went with Mimi two years ago and was a huge hit.)  We walked around the tiny village streets afterwards chasing squirrels...

And swinging through the streets.

Sand people.

Another early morning shot.  notice that each time I post one there are fewer and fewer people around.  This shows how we kept adjusting our game each day.

On Tuesday, Mom and Dad watched the kids while Andy and I celebrated 9 years of marriage with a nice night out!

And Andy had the great idea to get reservations at the Ocean Club - same place we had our rehearsal dinner nine years before!  It was still delicious as ever.

They even sat us next to the aquarium which had a very busy hermit crab walking back and forth and a Dory to entertain us.

Another perfect beach day.  We did what most tourists do and bought an overpriced inflatable at Publix for the kids to use for the 6 days we were in the water.  Worth it.

Proof I was there too!  Lucy loved being out there with me with no distractions.  On the beach there are no chores, no phones (except to take pictures :) no nothing.  Just time with my girl and her brothers.  She ate it up.  As did I :)

This was all so exciting that sometimes Lucy had to rest from all the craziness.

Beach bums :) I'm grateful that 9 years with this guy has brought us to here.  I'm pretty damn lucky.

I tried to get the kids to bury Andy in the sand but they didn't want to come out of the ocean.  Instead, Andy buried me and even made me a mermaid tail.  We are weird I realize that.

The condo also had a pretty sweet pool that we took advantage of each day after playing in the ocean.  My kids are happy to move from one body of water to the next.  I was happy that the pool rinsed off the salt and sand from the ocean so that I didn't need to shower them the second we went back up to the condo.

At one point we attempted sand castles.

It was not crazy impressive.

But they had a good time :)

I have to point this out for the sake of my childhood.  As we were unpacking beach towels, I noticed mom and dad had this in their stash.  A Soap Net beach towel.  It then occurred to me that this is not normal for most people but it is for us.  You see, growing up the daughter of a cable guy, we got "swag" each time dad went to a conference or a rep visited his office.  and the most frequent swag we got was in the form of beach towels.  I cannot remember a time in my life while living at home when my beach towel didn't have Mtv, VH1, E!, Lifetime, Cartoon Network, etc on it.  I just assumed everyone had towels like this.  Apparently not.  In fact, I didn't have to buy an actual beach towel from a store until I married Andy.  Most people may not find this odd but I guess I do.

We made another stop at Whataburger in PCB while the menfolk played golf one morning.  Yes.  It was again glorious.  Lucy agreed wholeheartedly.

And at one point we ran in to the PCB Walmart to get a snorkel for Jack.  It was then that I saw the AirBrush section of the store.  I have always had this weird desire to get something cheesy airbrushed.  I don't know why.  Call it a strange bucket list for rednecks.  And I knew that I had not found Andy an anniversary gift yet.  Sooooo....

For our 9th anniversary, I gave him the gift of airbrush.  And it was pretty glorious.  I'm not sure how I will top this for next year.  We've hit a ceiling here.  I mean, how does one top matching personalized tshirts?  Seriously?  Andy was slightly touched and mildly thrilled for this gift. :)  Deep down though I know he thought, "Yes! Finally!"  Nothing says love like painted silhouettes in the bright orange sunset.

One afternoon Mom and I took Charlie out shopping in Rosemary Beach and had a nice "snack" of wine and fried green tomatoes.  My only wish as a mother to Lucy is that she will want to hang out with me as much as I want to hang out with my mom.  And I hope Charlie and Jack marry women that will want to hang out with us too :)

We enjoyed many an evening outside eating dinner on the deck.  Andy made fried shrimp po boys and fried oyster po boys and they were fantastic.

My beautiful little girl :)

We took the kids crabbing one night to see what we could find and came up with a few good catches!

This is something I vividly remember from beach trips to Gulf Shore as a kid.  We went out every night looking for crabs with buckets and flashlights.  We got a few good ones and saw many a baby crab (all were released of course.)  I just relish the fact that my kids will have parallel memories to my childhood.

Proud Oceanic Hunters.

Another beach day, another beach baby.

Daddy is always more fun because he can actually throw Jack into the waves.

Jack and Baba doing shoulder jumps.

Tiny baby toes in the sand.  I just love this little man.  He was a bit of a nightmare to plan around and keep from ingesting buckets of sand BUT he was also courteous to no end.  He never pooped on the beach.  Sorry.  I know that's gross.  But this kid did not make me have to clean up a poopy non-absorbent swim diaper in the middle of sand.  He is my hero.

Lucy became obsessed on that last day with collecting as much icky seaweed as possible.  She is definitely not a girly girl when it comes to stuff like this.

She wanted to pose with her seaweed at one point. Yuck.

Contrary to popular belief, we had some pretty awesome waves while there.  But they weren't so intense that I had to constantly police Jack and Lucy to make sure they didn't drown in the surf.  During the morning hours the Gulf can be like a kiddie pool on steroids.

Sandcastle building continued on the last day with heavy competition.  I made the initial "castle" but then Andy bet he could do better, pretty soon we began a battle between castles that game of thrones would be proud of.

Dad got it in his head that he wanted to make the pyramids.  So he did.  Complete with a sphinx.

On Saturday, we woke up bright and early to make the drive back.

I'm so sad that this vacation was over.  And that's a rarity.  I've been on vacations (with my own family at times) when I was ready to get back home and be in my own bed, etc. But I didn't want this one to end.  This was truly an awesome trip and we relish the time we had on the Gulf.  Hopefully we will be back next year!