We headed out for our summer vacation on Saturday. We didn’t
head out too early because I knew there was no need to get to the hotel too
early. It was nice to not have to rush out. I was able to get a couple loads of
laundry done and run the dishwasher while I packed up the car. I packed the
inside of the car while Andrew did the top and put the bikes on the back. We
headed out around 10:30 with the rain just starting and we drove almost the
whole way through Missouri in rain. I was very grateful Andrew was driving and
I wasn’t because the rain makes me so nervous.
To distract myself, I reconciled bank accounts for the
office and designed Lincoln’s birthday invitation for part of the time. The
kids did pretty well. We have definitely turned a corner in that department and
things are a little easier with all of them. We didn’t stop until Sikeston
where we had hoped to go the Lambert’s for a very early dinner at 3:45 but it
was packed with a 2 hour wait. So we ended up just down the street at a Mexican
restaurant that had good reviews. We were a little sad at first that we didn’t
get Lambert’s but they all loved their food. And then thankfully the rest of
our trip to Tupelo was pretty uneventful. We got to our hotel around 8 and I
think we lucked out with a newer Hampton Inn. The kids were very impressed with
our room-they said it was like a mansion. I was going to get two rooms but
decided to get just one suite that had two beds and a sleeper sofa and put the
twins on the floor in sleeping bags. Thankfully it was a pretty good sized room
and we all fit pretty comfortably. But the kids were wound up so we headed out
to get ice cream at a Baskin Robbins. I don’t think the kids had ever been to
one and they liked it. I introduced them to my old favorite from our Lake of
the Ozark vacation days as a kid-pink bubble gum and daiquiri ice J.
The next morning, I got up early and went to the Wal-Mart
near our hotel and got all of our cold stuff and perishable food items I wasn’t
able to get earlier. I got a bag of ice and put in ziplock bags in our cooler
just hoping it would all stay cold until we got into our house eight hours
later. Back at the hotel we ate breakfast and got on the road. The rest of our
drive was pretty good. The traffic got busier as we got closer to Gulf Shores
but we got to our house right at four which is the earliest we could get in it.
We were the first ones there and once we figured out how to get in, the kids
were so excited to explore. It was a beautiful, spacious house. I quickly went
to work putting away all of our cold stuff and the rest of the groceries. Once
the rest of the family showed up, they divided up the rooms and we started
putting stuff away. We just ordered pizza that evening and let the kids go to
the beach.
We had a great week at the beach with wonderful weather. It
was pretty warm and humid-the heat index would be at 100 by nine in the
morning-but we did have a decent breeze down at the beach. The warm weather
meant getting out early to bike or run. Andrew biked several days and I ran a
few and biked a couple days. When we headed out for our second ride of the
week, we got rained on just about 3.5 miles down the road. It started pouring
so we pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store (the Sassy Bass to be
correct J)
and waited under the eaves until it slowed down a bit. Andrew looked at the
radar and saw there was more coming so we headed back to the house. It was fun
to have the different views while riding though…the ocean, beach houses and
even a crab on the side of the road.
We celebrated Fourth of July our second day down there. We
spent all day at the beach and then I made dinner. I made and froze chicken
taquitos and taco filling before we came. I had to make some rice for a side
dish and it took me a while to figure out the gas stove. I had never cooked on
gas and it took forever to boil a small pot of water. Since we were having
Mexican on the 4th, I got some 4th of July plates and
napkins. And after dinner we went down to the beach to do sparklers and watch
the fireworks. The wind was blowing so the sparklers didn’t work and we had to
be content with glow sticks. A resort down the beach from us had a fun
fireworks display that we had a great view of sitting on the beach.
The kids had so much fun at the beach and the pool all week.
Sometimes it took some prodding, but then they got creative. They built dams
and mountains, the beach was their big sandbox. They loved boogie boarding and
jumping the waves. The twins and Savannah became so brave and had so much fun
jumping the waves together. There were games of bocce ball and football, swim
races, lots of collecting seashells (Ellie’s favorite activity-she actually
found two sand dollars and both of them broke before we could get them home)
and fishing out the occasional jellyfish. And, of course, we went through lots
of snacks and 80 juice boxes. And Andrew even took the kids up in the afternoon
when they were done with the beach and I got to sit under the umbrella (we had
to bring our own this year and I was thankful our house was so close to the
beach J)
and read. I could have stayed down there for hours-late afternoons/evening at
the beach are the best.
The house Andrew’s parents rented for us was beautiful with
lots of space for us to spread out. So the kids had fun with that too. The
played all over the house acting like dogs and cats, going on adventures with
lava,etc. Mary got the girls some neat coloring books that they spent some time
working on out on one of the balconies and she painted their nails for them.
We
all took turns making dinner in the evenings and made the trek into town to eat
at Lamberts for lunch one day. Andrew’s parents got to sit at one table with
the nine oldest kids and they all had fun catching their rolls. Then his
parents gave us money to buy the kids some clothes for school so we did a
little shopping. Ellie was super excited while it was Andrew and Jackson’s
worst nightmare J.
I’m not a big shopper either, but it was very nice of Tom and Mary to do that
for us, so Ellie and I got some quick shopping time in while most the boys
waited in the car. Lincoln did want to come with us though and was excited to
pick up a Star Wars wallet.
The morning our bike ride got rained out, it cleared up so
we decided to do a quick tour of Fort Morgan. There was a guided tour going on
when we got there, so we skirted around it and just went looking around on our
own. I think the kids had fun exploring it all. But it was steamy so we didn’t
stick around too long.
We spent some evenings walking along the beach, there was a
bit of crab hunting and we finally got a night for the sparklers. It still took
a while to light them, so Andrew would try to do several at once and they were
quickly gone.
We also did some family pictures the night before Annie and
Brad had to leave. They left a couple days earlier than the rest of us since
Brad had to get back for church.
Our second to last night there, our little family went over
to the Beach Club to check out their new Village Lawn. They had food trucks set
up along with various yard games. We fed the kids before we went since I knew
they wouldn’t be too crazy about the food at the food trucks and Andrew and I
enjoyed some panini sandwiches. The kids got to play in the bounce house and
try out a few of the games including an oversized checker board. We got some
ice cream and then the real party started. Instead of the live music like they
usually have, they had a DJ and did a foam party. The twins both wanted to try
it out at different times but then they both ended up scared and didn’t like it
at all. It was a fun little outing though.
But soon it was time to pack up and head home. We were so grateful to Andrew’s parents for
getting the house for us for the week. The kids weren’t quite ready to head
home except they were missing Buddy. Zach watched him while we were gone and
I’m sure he was wondering where the heck we were. We left around 5:30 Sunday
morning and had a few more stops than we were hoping but still made the trip in
less than 15 hours and got home around 8:30. Andrew was the first to get to
Buddy and he was excited to see everyone. The Vincents came down soon after we
got home and Leah let us know that they had a bit of trouble. They were going
to take him with them to a cabin outside of Edina for a few days while they
went fishing. But I guess Buddy really didn’t like Leah’s dad and would not get
in the car or cage for them. After trying for a while, Leah asked the LaBeths
if they were going to be around so they watched him for a couple days too.
Tiffany said she has found a new friend in Buddy J.
We visited for a bit and then we got the car unloaded.
Andrew did baths while I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. Then I
stayed up late starting the unpacking process and was very ready for bed.
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