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adventure, beach vacation, family, family vacation, kids, lifestyle, motherhood, Photography, travel, vacation
We made our (6th) annual voyage to the ocean at the beginning of the month, and I’m still dreaming of the salty air and sand on my toes. Every year gets harder and harder to leave and makes me think that it is where I belong. Waking up every day to a beautiful ocean view, spending our days in the sand and water and enjoying the earth that God gave us. It just feels right. It feels like it is what I’m meant to be doing with my babies. I don’t know exactly how to explain it, but I’m sure you catch my drift. 🙂 But since a move isn’t in our near future, you can bet that I soak up these 7 days in the sun with all I have. We all do.
This year we left on Friday evening and started driving towards Gulf Shores, Alabama. We actually went there last year too, and since we had such a great time, we figured why not do it again?! There is so much thought and preparation that comes into play for this roadtrip (you can read about “vacation me” here). So once we finally get in the car and start driving, I feel like I can finally relax a bit. Well, as much as you can relax when you’re hopping in the car for the next 20 hours with two kiddos. 😉
People think we are crazy for driving every year, but I honestly look forward to it. Sure, there are hard times… like when we had to stop at midnight so I could give J a breathing treatment in a gas station in the middle of nowhere… or when Zilla got car sick about 45 minutes before we reached our condo and threw up everywhere… (both our kids were such troopers – we are so lucky) but I like the flexibility that comes with having our own car. I like that we can bring as much stuff as we want. I like that we are in control of when we stop, when we go, etc. But most of all, I like the adventure. Getting off on back roads in the middle of the country in Tennessee to avoid traffic, seeing new places, trying new restaurants. I like it all. Road-tripping is for us.
We arrived at our condo the next morning, and much to our surprise, we were able to get in early. We were all so excited to check it out. We were blown away by how awesome our condo was. The views were unbelievable and the amount of space we had for our family (and my parents and my sister and her family) was just perfect.
As soon as we could see the ocean, Zilla just kept saying over and over again, “I go beach!” and J couldn’t wait for his cousins to get there, who weren’t much further behind. As soon as everyone arrived and got unpacked, we headed straight down to the beach to play.
My poor babes (and myself) all ended up pretty sick on the first few days of vacation, which was a real drag. But I was not about to let that ruin our trip. After some urgent care visits and antibiotics, and lots and lots of rest, we were all feeling much better and ready to enjoy every remaining minute!
I figured maybe it was a blessing in disguise, because typically I wouldn’t nap on vacation. I normally wouldn’t want to miss a minute on the beach, but I knew our bodies needed rest. I actually took two naps while we were there, and it honestly felt SO good. I guess that is what vacation is all about, right?
The rest of the trip was filled with family walks up and down the beach searching for the best shells, coffee on the balcony while the kiddos ran wild, ice cream at our favorite shop from the year before, fun restaurants, sand castles, sunsets and lots and lots of family time. I even got to go for a couple of runs down the shore with my niece, which is something I think I’ll always remember. I love watching my kiddos make such fun memories with their cousins. J always says they are his best friends, so he is always ecstatic that he gets to live with them for week and spend every minute with them.
We found the best treasures on our walks.
And just like that, the sun set on another one of our amazing vacations. We suited up one last time to go say goodbye to the ocean. Not one bone in my body wanted to leave. Not even a little. But the promise of next year’s trip helped get me through. 🙂
I mean, doesn’t this look like a family that belongs on the beach? 😉 One day, I’m telling ya. ❤
I don’t typically don’t offer advice here, but I will say if you are considering a family vacation. Beach or not, road trip or not… just DO it. You won’t regret it. Remember, you have to make the memories you want to have. ❤
Backroads and Baby Steps 