When we found out that our dear friends, the Buelow family, from Hawaii were going to be in Destin over the 4th we decided to take a mini-vacation and head to Florida to meet them there. We left on Wednesday, July 1st and spent the night in Gulfport, Mississippi to break the trip up. We drove about 7 hours on Wednesday and then a little over 3 on Thursday. The drive on Wednesday was super easy since we didn't leave home until around 4:00 so the kids slept from about 7:30 on-makes it so much nicer. Crazy enough Ella actually threw up in her car seat about 20 minutes before we arrived at the hotel-she was sound asleep and all of a sudden got sick. I happened to be in the back seat because about ten minutes prior to it happening Joseph was starting to wake up so I climbed back there to get him back to sleep and as soon as he fell back to sleep she got sick. This may sound awful but I wiped her down as best as I could with wipes and we just kept driving-she actually fell back to sleep and we just didn't want to stop knowing that we were so close to our hotel. We checked into the hotel and Joseph climbed right into the bed and fell asleep while we bathed and cleaned up Ella and her carseat and got things situated. Sweet girl was all smiles and seemed totally fine. Not sure if she got carsick or something with dinner didn't sit well. She fell asleep next to me in the bed (Daddy and Joseph were in the other bed) and just about fifteen minutes after she fell asleep, Rich and I awoke to a loud bang and a cry as she fell out of the bed!!!! Poor girl. We even had pillows surrounding her on the side of the bed so not sure how it happened but it did. Thankfully she was fine (just a small bump on her forehead that we noticed the next morning) but of course I was nervous having her go back to sleep right away but she was ok and everyone slept well after the busy night we had!
After a big breakfast and checking out of the hotel, we finished off the drive with a quick 3 hour drive and when we arrived to Destin we stopped for lunch before checking into our condo. We ate at Fuddpuckers where we had fried gator for appetizers and got to feed the alligators after lunch. Pretty exciting stop to start off our trip!
Excited to try the gator!
He wasn't really a fan
However, she was!
And here are some of the alligators outside of the restaurant-there were SO many more in the water. The kids were super excited about them.
After lunch, we headed to check into our condo and come to find out we were in the exact same building that we stayed in two years ago! We went through a different property management company and I didn't recognize the name of the building when I was booking it but knew that the location was similar to where we were before which we loved so it all worked out great! We were right across the street from the beach and woke up to blue water and palm trees every morning!
That afternoon, Ella and Daddy took a great nap together, so Joseph and I headed down to the pool for a few hours. We had the pool to ourselves and it was nice to have some 1 on 1 time with him. That evening we met up with the Buelows and their family for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. It was SO great to see them and to catch up!
On Friday morning we were up early and ready to hit the beach. Daddy was teaching Joseph how to "jab jab jab punch" while waiting to go.
We met up with the Buelow crew at the state park. It was a perfect beach day!! It just feels right to be at the beach on the 4th of July and thankfully we have been able to do so for three out of the past four 4ths while living in Texas.
Daddy and the kiddos out in the boat-they all loved it!
Now, just the boys. Gavin, Dylan and Joseph
Gavin and Joseph playing at the shore's edge. All the boys got along really well and Joseph had such a great time with them.
It was so wonderful to be back at the beach with Steph! We spent countless days in Hawaii together at the beach and it really seemed like no time had gone by since our last beach day together, which is truly special how this happens with good friends.
Ella took a pretty good beach nap! She has gotten good at these this summer.
Had to include this picture of Joseph from 2 years ago-they are the same age, both asleep on the beach in Destin. Too cute!
After a full day at the beach we headed back to our condo to get ready for the night's festivities. We walked over to dinner at Pompano Joe's and enjoyed the view, company and the food.
We ate at this restaurant (basically at the same table) and I found these pictures from dinner two years ago.
Typical guy-Joseph wouldn't take his eyes off of the beach volleyball players so couldn't get a picture of him that night!
We went out for frozen yogurt after dinner before meeting up with the Buelows for fireworks. This girl wasn't up for sharing out of my bowl-needed her own bowl and spoon!
Couldn't even get a smile out of him as he was too interested in the fro yo!
And, then we headed back to the beach for the 4th festivities!
Everyone bought fireworks to set off ourselves and it was a lot of fun! All of the boys held the sparklers-Joseph liked them at first but then I think got a little scared of them and wasn't interested anymore.
I think all of the dads had more fun than the kids! We even had people applauding our fireworks display!
Joseph, Dylan and Henry
Waiting for the big fireworks to begin
Yay! We love fireworks!
Horse rides from Gavin!
Daddy and Ella headed back to the condo before it got real dark but Joseph and I hung for awhile longer with everyone and it was such a neat 4th seeing so many different "shows." The boys had a great time together-I think they were looking for treasure here!
On Saturday, after a morning family walk, we walked across the street and set up camp at the beach for the day. It was another gorgeous day and we had a relaxing day!
Ella took another beach nap!
And then Joseph put a show on for us!
Late that afternoon we decided to go to the pier and check out the Harbor Walk which consisted of shops, rides, restaurants. Joseph and Ella had fun feeding the fish-see them all in the water!!
And then pretended that they were fish!
After roaming around the boardwalk, we headed over to Mark's mom's home for dinner with the Buelow crowd.
We surprised Steph with an early birthday celebration. Happy birthday Steph! So glad that we were able to celebrate with you. Shelley, on the left, is Steph's sister-in-law.
Steph and I-good friends since 2002!
Marks' mom and stepdad have a fabulous house wtih a great backyard that the kids had so much fun playing in.
A little game of Portuguese horseshoes. Ella is holding on to the dog's blanket which she tried to carry around everywhere!
Wrestling with Uncle Mark.
Getting ready to check out the leftover fireworks from the night before. Looks like they were bothering Joseph's ears!
Ella had to get in on the hammock fun...and loved it, of course!
Tough getting a great picture of both of our families but not too bad...we had such a great visit with the Buelow family. Definitely made us miss them a lot but so thankful for their friendship despite the miles.
On Sunday morning we had to get a few pictures before we began the 10 plus hour car ride home. We hit some traffic driving home so it took closer to 12 hours-definitely a long day but overall the kids did so well! I did sit in the middle of them for awhile (thank goodness we took the big truck so I was able to climb from the front to back quite easily considering I am 32 weeks pregnant!)
We love the beach!! Such a great trip!
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