Beach Bacation!!

We just returned from our week long vacation to Gulf Shores this weekend. We had an awesome time on our first family vacation and road trip. We left at 11pm last Friday night, we found to be the BEST time to travel with kids. I don't think we could have packed another single thing in our van or Mom and Jake's car. It was actually comical to look back and see Claire and Owen, as well as my sister Nicole and Neil piled into the van. The trip down there and back went fairly well, THANK GOD for portable DVD players!! When Owen woke up about 2am, he was more than thrilled with Shrek!! We were worried about big O, but he was a trooper and only cried when we were at a stand still in traffic just arriving in Gulf Shores (that was some great birth control for Nicole! =)). Claire was so excited about getting to go to the beach, she was a great passenger! We rented a beach house in Fort Morgan (about 20 minutes outside of Gulf Shores) and it was wonderful!! The house was away from all of the public beaches and "Party Kids" (I can't believe I am old enough to say that now), and was on a private beach full of other families just like us. We spent almost everyday just laying out on the beach, my kind of vacation!! It was great because I didn't realize how much the beach would act as a babysitter for the kids, they just played for hours at the shore in the water or in the sand. Of course, no vacation of ours would be without drama...

We were parked in the parking lot of the Real Estate Check In Location, Jake went in and we all sat in the cars, waiting....when we hear....CRRRUUUNNCH! Now keep in mind, we have been in a car for over 14 hours by now. The IDIOT that pulled in next to us in his big truck, took out my back left tail light, in my company car. By the time it was all said and done, we actually were laughing hysterically about it (remember, over 14 hours).

So...fast forward 4 days, we went parasailing (I still cannot believe I did and I will NEVER do it again=)). Shane and I, along with Nicole and Neil, went on the first boat out and left the kids with Mom, Jake, Tara and Jace. It was really hot, so our thoughts were to go first and then take the kids to the car while the others went so they could cool off (us too =)). So we parasail (woohoo) and then take the sandy, hot, sticky, miserable kids to the car. Shane knew we were low on gas, but we were okay, so we thought. 5 minutes later, we are out of the car, out of gas and hot again!! FUN FUN, again, we laughed about it later...

Below are some, I mean, TONS of pictures!! Sorry, they were just WAY to many to choose a few!! I am not even exaggerating when I tell you that Tara, alone, took 600 pictures!! I would never post that many, but it is so hard to pick the best ones!!! Enjoy!!!

This is right before we left, sleepy Owen..

The packed van...

Finally at the beach!!

I love these next few pictures...they are not the most fabulous of me, but they are my memories of Claire and Owen's first moments on the beach. Neither one was sure about the water, so they wanted to sit with their mama, priceless!!

Going to dinner, love this pic, everyone, including Claire, doing the "Caire girl" head tilt =)

Claire's dream come true, A REAL TATTOO, well sort of...she got a henna tattoo outside of The Oyster House

The tattoo the next day!

The most fun we had was at night on the beach, chasing crabs!! Picture this, a bunch of adults in the dark with flashlights, chasing crabs up and down the shore, with kids in tote, laughing their heads off...I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in my life!!

Tara and Jake were the "scoopers"

Neil was responsible for "the bucket"

We were the "lighters"

I think this is the cutest picture from the whole trip, Claire and Jace!

We got dressed up one night and took pictures as families...
I am so sad it is all over and cannot wait to go back next year!! As a child, we were not able to take a trip to the beach and I always dreamed of doing it for my kids...this was one of the greatest experiences in my life!!

Now I can relax...finally finished this monster post!!!

Fireworks and ear plugs!

Before I get to the mountain of pictures from our vacation, I want to first include the 4th of July shots. We were preparing to leave late that night for Gulf Shores, but we did have a mini celebration before we left (there were 4th of July outfits that needed to worn and pictures taken =)). Fortunately, there was a huge fireworks display in the neighborhood next to us to watch, as well I believe that all of our surrounding neighbors spent thousands of dollars on fireworks!! We just sat in our culdesac and it sounded as if we were in a war zone. Poor Claire, she had no fingernails left by the end of the night from her nervousness. Here some cute pictures!

Most of the pictures, neither child is smiling, VERY uneasy about all of the popping and booming surrounding them =), but they look adorable in their Red, White and Blue!!
Now we are happy, Daddy saved the day and found some ear plugs!!!

...and Owen is out!

Beach "Bacation" Teaser

Who are these sweet babies on the beach?? =)

These pics were taken the first day we were here, the first time for Claire and Owen to ever see the ocean and the beach!! We are packing up this morning and going to hit the looooong road (12 hours) to home. I cannot even begin tell you how great of a time we have had this week!! MANY MANY MANY more pictures to come...stay tuned...