Beach Time-Again

Poor us-we had to make a 16 hour drive down to Gulf Shores for another vacation. I know, sob story. So we took off from Kirksville around 6am last Thursday and got down to the condo around 10pm. The kids did well considering. I think we were all about to go crazy. I had my bag of surprises again and the things they got the most excited about were the glow sticks I brought out at about Mobile (8:45pm). They danced with them (as much as you can dance in strapped into a car seat) and played swords. Well, when Ellie went down for bed that night, she took one with her. About five minutes later she started screaming and I went in to find glow-in-the-dark blue splotches on her, her bed, and the wall and carpet around her. She broke open the glow stick and I think it scared her a little. I wish I had a picture, but it wouldn’t do it justice. We even waited to get her out of bed so Annie could come in and check it out.

We had a great time seeing Andrew’s family and hanging out on the beach. Ellie and Lauren had great fun together. It is neat to see them interact. Jackson entertained himself by entertaining everyone else. He played a combination of Superman and Spiderman with his blanket tied around his neck and “shooting webs” from his wrists. The weather was beautiful. It was actually a little cool a couple mornings when we were first at the beach. Jackson and Ellie picked up where they left off from our Florida vacation. There was a lower part on the beach that held water from high tide and provided a nice little wading pool for the kids. The water seemed a little gross after a couple days, but the kids loved it. Ellie and Lauren acted like they were swimming in it and Jackson spent some time trying to catch fish. Ellie also decided to make some new friends. One day she decided to hang out with three college girls that were laying out beside us. I repeatedly asked them if it was okay, and they said she was fine. They played in the sand with her for 30-45 minutes.

We took one afternoon and took the kids to “The Track” where they had go-karts, kiddie rides and putt-putt. Jackson got to drive his own go-kart and then he got to ride in a big one with Andrew. He had a great time. Jackson and Ellie enjoyed a few rides and then it was off to putt-putt. Oh the memories of the old Ozark vacation days. I thought Jackson and Ellie should have some too. After that we hit the outlet mall for some quick shopping and I mean quick because Andrew was in tow. He hasn’t been shopping in awhile and now he remembers why.

We were going to head home on Wednesday, but Andrew decided to leave late afternoon on Tuesday and see how far we could get. We made it to just north of Jackson, Mississippi. I was desperately tired (I hardly ever sleep well on vacation) but Ellie wouldn’t quit talking and Andrew was snoring away so I took two Unisoms and sat in the bathroom and read until Ellie went to sleep. Then I got in bed and read by the light of Andrew’s blackberry until I finally drifted off to sleep somewhere around 12:30am. 5:00am came too soon and the effect of the sleeping meds had not worn off, so I finally got up around 5:20 and we were on the road by 6:30. I felt drowsy the whole way home, but I was so desperate to get some sleep the night before. But overall, we had a great time and are glad we got to spend some good time with Andrew’s family. THANK YOU to Tom and Mary for having us down!