Vacation

Our family vacation was an interesting ride. We took a 2 year-old and an almost 1 year-old on vacation.

To the to the beach. A 12-hour drive. Uphill both ways.

Ok, maybe not the uphill both ways part, but everything else.

We left on a Thursday night after dinner and bath time and drove through the night. We got in the car and Isaac had a small meltdown once we hopped onto I-65 South. He cried and whined. He didn't want to watch Curious George or anything else. He kept it up until the Edinburgh exit. He only wanted his big, green trash truck...which was packed in the suitcase. So we pulled into a gas station and I dug around in the trunk area and wrenched out the suitcase and got the trash truck. After that, it was smooth sailing. Isaac fell asleep and Brooke did as well.

We made it to Panama City Beach safe and sound, all in one piece and with most of our sanity. :)

As soon as we got to our hotel, we took Isaac and Brooke down to stand on the beach. They seemed to love the sand. We unpacked, got swim trunks and bathing suits on and headed back down.

Our days started EARLY. Earlier than they do at home, that's for sure. We often headed to the beach right away before the sun got too hot for the kids. Then we would either head to the pool or up to the room to rest, play, color or watch cartoons. It really depended on Isaac and Brooke's moods. There were days when Isaac said, "All done. Up-tairs to Mommy, Daddy house." So that's what we did.

Then lunch and afternoon naps. They may have gotten up early, but they took epic naps in the afternoons. 2-3 hours every day. After naptime, we would sometimes go down to the pool. Isaac got a floatie that has a chest pad too and he is now quite the swimmin' fool.

We would have dinner around 6 p.m. or so and then, you guessed it, head back down to the beach to play in the sand until dark or until Isaac got tired. Brooke's favorite game at the beach was to see how much sand she could sneak into her mouth. I have no idea why she enjoyed that so much.

One evening, Isaac played putt-putt and turned out to be quite the pro. It's amazing. Par for the whole 18 holes was 36 and he managed to score a solid 30. I can't imagine how he pulled that off.I suppose it could be because this is the way he began every hole. With the golf ball about three inches away from the hole. Isaac would then sort of scoop the ball into the hole. It was too funny.

Some mornings, Grandma Ruth would come down and get Isaac and they would go to the beach together and play in the sand and the water. It was so cute and sweet to see them together. It reminded me of the times when Grandma would take me and my sister places. Just the three of us. We would go for doughnuts or maybe shopping. Those were great times.

Eric and I finally wised up and bought an umbrella for the kids so we could take them to the beach during the late morning. The whole thing worked well...until they got tired of course. :)

Overall, we had a wonderful time. Brooke turned one at the beach! We celebrated our sweet girl and of course spent time in the sand.

We're home now and getting back in the swing of the everyday. But we have some beautiful pictures and wonderful memories!