We got back from the beach Friday around 3 or 4 in the afternoon after a tiring drive home. We had so much fun this week though, and I'm glad we got to go this year. My doctor wouldn't let me go in May before Charlie was born, which is when we normally go, so this was our only opportunity before the weather turned too cold. Charlie is still a little bit too young and didn't really enjoy anything, especially not the sand, wind, sun, or riding in the car for so long. Poor baby!
Back to where I previously left off in the last post... Carter really wanted to eat some of my oysters on the half shell at Sea 'n Suds (our favorite lunch spot in Gulf Shores) but I was afraid he shouldn't eat raw seafood at his age... So, he enjoyed crab claws instead :)
We decided to forgo the trip to the outlet mall in Foley and the trip to the Naval Aviation museum, and just go straight to our place in Sandestin. That was a good decision since the drive took longer than we thought... On the way over, we had to stop for gas and Alan bought Carter a Little Debbie Zebra cake, which he kept calling his giraffe cake ;)
Our time in Destin was so much fun, and the beach and water there are so beautiful. Our room was great also - it was almost like a condo, complete with a kitchen and separate bedroom so we had different places for both kids to sleep. I think we may have found our new favorite vacation spot! The only issue is that the Marriott is not on the beach :( So, I'm trying to talk Alan into building Hilton points instead - there is a Hilton in Sandestin right on the beach (and also one in Orange Beach). He's not too excited about switching, so please mention it to him next time you see him and maybe he'll listen if enough people do that ;)
I will say this about our hotel though - they saved us a lot of money (more than just the actual stay). They had free breakfast every day (and it was actually good - lots of different things to choose from, including a yogurt parfait bar, oatmeal and cereal bar, hot bar w/ traditional breakfast foods, pastries, etc). They had free dinner one night and snacks a couple of other nights, and free beer/wine/beverages a total of three nights. Carter befriended a cute little Asian lady named Sue who seemed to adore him. She helped him get his drink every morning, and she was sad to see us leave - Carter had to go hug her, and she gave him some candy to take home :)
The first night there, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe since we know they have pretty good food, and we didn't feel like searching too hard for anything. It was next door to a Bass Pro Shops that had a big shark out front. Carter became obsessed with this shark for the entire trip and wanted to go see it every day! Since they were closed that night, we did go back another time to let him see it again and also see the fishies inside the store.
That shopping center was really cool and had lots of fun stores... We decided to go to Build a Bear; he has a turtle from there that he sleeps with every night, given to him by Grandpa, Grandma Sherrie, and Tristan, but we've never actually done it ourselves. He didn't look too enthused about anything and we couldn't get him to find any animal he wanted to make. He finally decided he liked the elephant or alligator, but Daddy said those were banned (my fellow Auburn fans will understand this). And then - like a beacon in the dark - he saw it. The dinosaur! Out of all the cute, soft, cuddly puppy dogs and bears, he had to get the dinosaur. He's such a boy! We had a good time making it and going through the whole process (putting a heart in it, giving him a roar, etc). When we got to the birth certificate station and we needed a name, he decided to name him Chuck. Ha! I don't even know where he's heard that name - we CERTAINLY don't call Charlie by that name and don't condone it at all - that was our main fear when we named him Charles, so we avoid it like the plague and reprimand anyone who uses it ;) However, it seems to fit the dinosaur just fine and we thought it was very funny :)
We ate at Fudpucker's one day for lunch and saw the live alligators (and the fake ones too)...
Carter was talking about shapes during our trip and saw a diamond shape. He said, "Mommy, that's a diamond - just like a kite. I want a kite." Perfect! We were at the beach, and it was plenty windy, so we got a kite to fly! It took a little while, but Daddy and Carter finally got it off the ground, and Carter ended up flying it all by himself!!! Unfortunately, my memory card was full on my camera by the time it was airborne :(
We went out on the beach one night to take family pictures with my "big" camera. I LOVE my big camera, but don't use it as often as I would like to. We set up the tripod and took pictures in a couple of different places - hopefully we will be able to make our own Christmas cards this year instead of purchasing expensive ones from a photographer (five bucks a card really adds up since I'm not earning money anymore)! I think I'm going to take some more photography classes and do a little more with my camera, possibly even take some pictures for money after I get a little better... I've already forgotten everything I learned in the one class I went to (I blame that on being pregnant at the time, and since having a baby and being sleep deprived). Here's a little sneak preview, but I'm not going to show you the one for the card just yet :)
We only went to the beach to swim one day - Alan was a trooper and made three long trips to the car (we were parked in the second parking lot away from the boardwalk), carrying all our stuff, including the big tent. We had to have a tent though, or Charlie wouldn't have been able to go out there at all. I might as well have stayed in the room with Charlie though, because he HATED the beach! It was windy, and that kept taking his breath away! Not to mention all the sand :( Carter, on the other hand, loved it and didn't want to leave. He rode the waves in the ocean with Daddy... He got knocked over by a wave at one point, but still loved it. He REALLY loved playing in the sand and building things with all his sand toys. We managed to stay 1.5-2 hours before we gave in and hauled all the stuff back to the car again :) Alan quickly told me he wasn't doing that again!
Carter and Daddy went swimming in the hotel pool a few times, and the water was FREEZING!!! But, you can't keep Carter out of water... He had so much fun on his ride-on lobster!
We walked around the Baytowne Wharf area one night - it's a cute little area in Sandestin full of shops and restaurants. They have live bands and all kinds of fun things to do, including a trampoline bungee thingie (not sure what it's called). It looked so cute when we saw a little boy doing it - he wasn't going high at all, and it didn't look dangerous. Carter wanted to try it, so we let him. Apparently the boy before him was scared and that's why he didn't go high. Carter, however, went extremely high, despite my desperate pleas to the man in charge. He kept wanting to go higher and higher, and went to the very top of the whole contraption! My knees were so weak and I couldn't figure out if I was going to pass out or throw up. Luckily, I did neither. However, I'm not going to be there for that ever again.
We went to The Track one night as well, and Carter got to ride go-carts with Daddy, bumper boats with Mommy (he even got to drive and squirt water for us), and lots of other fun kiddie rides!
We ate at Harry T's one night - a long-lost tradition for Alan. When we first met, he had almost all their t-shirt designs. We also ate there the one other time we've been to Destin together. Carter got a t-shirt this time instead of Daddy. The torch has now been passed! The view was beautiful, right on the ocean. We saw a few "pirate ships" (aka sailboats) and lots of dolphins doing tricks for the boats. It was a great night.
On the way home, our windshield was hit by a rock and cracked. I don't think Alan has been so happy in quite a while - now he doesn't have to spend hours trying to get the rest of the bug remnants off :)
Some of the funny things I can remember Carter saying on the trip or recently...
Charlie was crying in the car, and Carter said (just like Mommy would say), "I know, Charlie - we are almost home, and Mommy will feed you."
During the entire trip, he kept calling the elevator the "alligator."
"I sure do," or "I sure don't!" He says this for everything now... "I sure do need to go to the potty. Yep, I sure do!" Or... "I sure don't want to go to bed. Nope, I sure don't." Maybe he's turning into a real cowboy... Anytime you ask him a question involving "why," his answer is always, "because to." I can't seem to convince him that this isn't a real answer :)
I was also remembering some of the funny things he used to say when he was a baby. All of his baby words are almost gone now :( He still says, "yet's" instead of let's, and "lellow" instead of yellow, but even Twinkle Twinkle Little Star sounds like a grown up singing it (no more "wittle star"). When he was a baby, he would say instead of "ready, set, go," "wehwy, wehwy, go!" Sometimes the "wehwies" would be even more - like 5 times ;) I'll try to remember more of these and sprinkle them in sometimes, just so we don't forget!
Waiting for our food at the Crab Trap (another great view in an open air restaurant right on the beach):
Charlie wearing one of Carter's old 9-month outfits. He's busting out of 6 month clothing, and even some 9 month ones as well!
As far as our weekend - after we got back Friday, we had to run some errands and got back home at 9:00. We found out Thursday during our trip that we would be hosting our large Sunday School party on Saturday, so we spent the rest of that night and some of the next morning cleaning up the house (I still haven't done our 9 million loads of laundry from our trip though!). Saturday, Carter went to stay with Papa and Gigi and spent the night (the party was only for parents). We had a lot of fun and it's always great to fellowship with friends like that. Today we met my parents to pick up Carter after church, and then we went to see the movie Fireproof (our church offered childcare so all the married couples with children could go see it). It was a moving experience - definitely go see it (as you'll see, I'm dedicating an entire post to it just in case people didn't read this part).
I guess that's enough for now :) Your eyes are probably bleeding from all the details, but I assure you I cut out a lot!
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