First Family Vacation: Day Four

Our third day in Destin was just as perfect as our first two. We had a surprise the night before when we received a phone call from Mammy and Uncle Clare, who called to say that they were on the road to Destin. What?! We were all so surprised! They had decided spur of the moment to make a quick trip to Destin. We made plans to meet them on the beach and to eat dinner with them the next night. Once again, Eli and I were up early and saw another beautiful sunrise. God did a great job this week :)


I relented and let Eli enjoy some freedom on the balcony that morning, but once he started climbing the bars, back inside we went. Mommy is going to have to start highlighting her hair to cover up the gray hairs he's giving me :)

Sitting still and enjoying the sunrise

He got tired of just sitting and decided to check out the railing on the balcony.
We went in shortly after this picture. The balcony made me way too nervous.

Since Eli got up so early, he was asleep about 45 minutes after he had his bottle. Josh was still sleeping, so I laid Eli down, and let Josh know that Sue and I were going to take a walk on the beach. Being on the beach in the early morning is probably my most favorite time ever. When I was little and my family took vacations to the Carolina beaches, my grandmother and I would always get up before everyone else and walk along the beach in the mornings looking for seashells. It's so peaceful and quiet in the mornings and I love hearing the sound of the waves as they break on the shore. Sue and I took a long walk and enjoyed the beautiful beach one last time. On a side note, can anyone tell me why there are hardly any seashells on Destin beaches? I looked and looked but never found one bigger than the size of my fingernail. Why is that?

Iconic sand picture

We got back to the room and the two boys were up playing. Eli was in a great mood and after his breakfast, we all started getting ready for our last day on the beach. Mammy and Uncle Clare met us at our condo and we loaded up all our stuff on the tram and made our way to the beach.

Snuggling with Daddy

We had a great time playing in the water, jumping waves, relaxing under the umbrella, and enjoying each other's company. Eli went out into the water again for just a little bit, but mostly enjoyed playing in his pool under the umbrella. While Josh, Uncle Clare, and I played in the ocean jumping waves and doing flips, Mammy and Zue-Zue played with Eli.

Watching Daddy and Uncle Clare

I came and got Eli and we sat in the sand and let the waves wash over us again and again. I don't think he liked the feeling of the sand being pulled out from under him though because he kept standing up every time the waves would recede.

Pointing to Daddy and Uncle Clare

I took him back to his pool and after a few more minutes of playing, it was time for him to go back to the condo for a bottle and a nap. He and Zue-Zue left and the rest of us stayed at the beach for a little longer to soak up some more sun.

"But, Mommy, I don't want to go now!!"

Every year I went to the beach with my family, my dad would always help the kids build a gigantic sandcastle that was usually the envy of all of our beach neighbors. I only hope that when Eli gets old enough to enjoy that sort of thing, I can replicate some of my dad's awesome creations. I did enjoy some time playing in the sand, but I didn't build a sandcastle; I decided to give Josh some new shoes. I know they're not the best and I think with more time I could have done so much better, but I thought they were fun :) I especially like the seaweed shoelaces.

Daddy's got a new pair of shoes

One last view of the prettiest beach ever...

We all went back to our rooms and got ready for dinner that night. We were going to try Fudpucker's again, but we had a new plan this time. Mammy and Clare were going to go first and put our name down and then when the wait time was around 15-20 minutes they were going to call us so we could leave and meet them. They did just that and it worked out perfectly! Eli ate a bottle and took a little snooze on the way there; in fact, he was still sleeping when we got to the restaurant, so he and I stayed in the car until he woke up. He was in such a great mood after his little nap and we all had a great time at dinner that night.

Great manners, babe :)
Let's hope Eli wasn't watching this...

Zue-Zue and Mammy

"Hooray for food!"

Mammy and her little baby boy

While we were there, Eli had his first taste of lemon. Is this a rite of passage for children? I think everyone I know that has had a child has done this at one point with their child. We can't wait to see how they are going to react when they taste a lemon for the first time. Eli didn't react as fast as we thought he would. He tasted a little bit of the lemon and kept going back for more. It wasn't until the third taste that he finally gave us the picture perfect sour face pucker :)

1st taste

2nd taste

3rd taste
There's the face we wanted!

Eli with Mammy and Uncle Clare
(He's eating a wagon wheel now, no more lemons)

The whole gang at Fudpucker's

We left the restaurant and stopped by Destin Commons, the outlet mall, to enjoy some homemade Italian gelato. Yummy, yummy to my tummy! Josh had strawberry, I had pistachio, and Sue had some strawberry sorbet. It was so delicious! I got mine in a small sugar cone, but even now, as I'm typing this, I'm wishing I had gotten a waffle cone. It was so good! Eli had a few tastes of Sue's sorbet before I remembered that he didn't need to have strawberries. Oops! He wasn't too happy when I offered him a Gerber apple-cinnamon wagon wheel in it's place, but figured since it was that or nothing, he might as well eat it :) It was a great day and we were sad to go back to the our condo to begin the packing process for our departure the next day. Our Destin vacation had come and gone so quickly, but we'd had such a wonderful time. It was a great first family vacation!!

First Family Vacation: Day Three

Our second day in Destin was just as beautiful as the first. Eli and I woke up a little bit earlier Tuesday morning and watched the entire sunrise. It was quite breathtaking sitting on the balcony, the only sounds in the background being made from the ocean yards away. I really enjoy sleeping late, but, if I have to get up, seeing something like this and being able to cuddle with my little boy definitely make it worth it!

Monday night after we had eaten at Joe's Crab Shack, we had to make a stop at the grocery store for some groceries. We stopped at a Publix and I fell in love with it. It was so clean and organized and they had such a variety of fruits and veggies there. It was great! I could have stayed there for at least an hour just wandering down each aisle. I did happen to wander down the baby aisle and I found two new baby foods that we don't have in our town for Eli to try-papaya and guava. I also happened upon a mesh feeder. My blog friend, Audra, had mentioned that they used one of these with their son when he first started eating on his own. I decided to get it and try it with Eli. Tuesday morning after everyone woke up, I put a couple of pieces of watermelon in the mesh feeder for Eli and then gave it to him. He LOVED it! He sucked on the mesh feeder like it was a popsicle and gobbled the watermelon until it was gone. I took it away from him to put a couple more pieces in it and he pitched a royal fit because he thought he wasn't going to get it back. So funny!!

Eating yummy watermelon

Do you think he liked it?

After breakfast, Josh and I went down to the beach to take a walk and when we got back we called Sue to see if she and Eli wanted to come down to the pool with us. They did, so we met them at the pool by our condo for an early morning swim. Eli has been swimming a lot this summer and loves the water, but on this particular day he decided he wanted to explore his surroundings more than swim.

I'm trying to get him to "jump" to me. Normally, he'll just fall into your arms, but on this particular day...

He decided he'd rather get out of the pool and check out the concrete instead!

Listening to me as I try to coax him back into the water

"I'll swim, Mommy, but no more jumping!"

Swimming around like a motorboat with Daddy

Smiling at Zue-Zue

The sky turned dark and it started to rain, so we loaded up our stuff and went back to the condo for some lunch and then a nap. It was so nice to cuddle up and listen to the rain while sitting on our balcony. The rain didn't ruin our fun at all! In fact, the rain only lasted about an hour and then it was sunny once again. Josh went to work out, I went to the pool to read for a little bit, and Eli and Zue-Zue took a stroller ride around the resort. When we got back we were all a little tired and decided to just order Papa John's for dinner that night (Josh's favorite pizza because of the garlic butter dipping sauce). While we were waiting on the pizza, Josh and I took Eli on another stroller ride, this time to the beach. Since it was late in the day there weren't very many people down there and it wasn't quite as hot either. Eli got to step in the water again and even oohed and ahhed a couple of times. He was so interested in looking at the seagulls flying by, the sun shining, and the kites that several people were flying. It was so hard to get him to look at a camera let alone smile at one, but we did get a few cute pics of us with our little boogerhead, as Josh calls him.

After our pizza, and after Eli had his dinner, we gave him some more watermelon in his mesh feeder. Once again, he didn't waste any time and immediately started eating the watermelon. Check out the video I posted to see how Eli amused us after dinner. He's such a crazy nut :) He makes me laugh so much! What a great way to end the day :)

First Family Vacation: Day Two

Monday morning dawned bright and clear in Destin. Eli and I were up at the crack of dawn...literally! I don't think he woke up later than 6:30 all week long, but it was okay. Those mornings were a special time for us to cuddle while we watched the sunrise on the balcony. Zue-Zue wasn't too far behind us each morning and the three of us would play, drink coffee (the grown-ups, not Eli), and get ready for the day while we waited for Josh to wake up. He normally doesn't sleep in, so I'm glad he was able to get some extra zzz's on vacation.

Beautiful sunrise

Eli wondering why I'm outside and he's inside

"Come on, Mommy! Are you gonna leave me inside all day?"

View from the front door
(I know what you're thinking...That IS the best looking parking lot...EVER!) =)

Once we had all gotten up and eaten breakfast, we slathered on sunscreen, donned our bathing suits, and loaded up all the gear to take to the beach. Luckily for us our resort had a tram service that would pick you up and take you to the beach. It would have been hard to get down there with all our gear without this great service!

We got to the beach and set up our little area. Eli immediately found the sand quite intriguing and proceeded to eat it. Don't worry, he only managed to get a few grains on sand in his mouth before Mommy intervened and wiped his hands off. We didn't know how Eli would react to the sights and sounds of the ocean, so we took it really slowly with him. He and Josh sat by the shore for a little bit to let him get used to the water. He was unsure at first, but when he started to walk towards the ocean, we knew he enjoyed it! Josh and I took turns walking him along the shore, jumping waves with him and letting him swim in the ocean. Eli had a blast! It was so hard to pick which pictures to post because, when I print this blog out one day, I want to remember it all, so I tried to select the ones I felt were a true depiction of all the fun we had.

Overall, I think Eli's beach experience was great. As a first time mom, this is one of the things I love seeing-my child getting to have new experiences. I know Eli is way too young and he will never remember this vacation, but I will. I will remember watching his Daddy hold his hands as they walked along the shore. I will remember the look of pure joy on his face as he jumped waves with his Daddy. I will remember all of his squeals of delight every time a wave would splash in his face. I will remember when he first tasted sand. I will remember the way he looked in his swimsuit and how his trunks looked like capri pants. I will remember the happiness and the gratefulness I felt being able to have this special time with my family. He may not remember, but I will. =)

Gorgeous Destin beach

View from our section of beach

"Who turned on the light? It's really bright out here!"

Noticing the sand for the first time

"That's kinda cold!"

Getting braver...

After Eli's fun in the ocean, he spent the rest of his beach time in his little pool under the umbrella with his Zue-Zue. Several people told us to purchase an infant pool for him to use while we were at the beach and that's exactly what we did. Eli loved it. He had shade, a cool breeze coming off the ocean, and lots of fun toys to play with in his pool. Zue-Zue took lots of pictures while Mommy and Daddy swam in the ocean. It wasn't too long before Eli got tired, so he and Zue-Zue left to go back to the condo for a bath, bottle, and a much needed nap.

Zue-Zue fetching water for Eli's pool

Josh and I stayed on the beach for a little bit and then spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon at the pool. We went back to the condo after lunch to check on Eli and Sue. They were having a blast. We knew we wanted to go to dinner early that night, so we had a couple hours left of pool time before we needed to get ready. Josh offered to stay in the condo with Eli so Sue and I could go read and tan by the pool. Have I mentioned how much I love vacation? Reading by a pool is so relaxing!



After a day full of fun in the sun, we were all pretty hungry. We tried to go to Fudpucker's but their wait time for a table was 45 minutes. 45 minutes with a baby?? I don't think so! We ended up at Joe's Crab Shack and it turned out to be a great choice for Eli. About every 15-20 minutes, the lights would dim and the music would rise and several of the waiters would get into the aisles and dance. Eli LOVED it! He was in his Praise Baby trance every time they would start dancing. I filmed all three dances, but only put the last one on here. Our waiter that night happened to be the best dancer there. He would add his own little moves to each song; it was a lot of fun to watch. Before we left, we took a picture of Eli and our waiter. Notice his t-shirt? Zue-Zue bought him his first little souvenier from our trip. Eli really enjoyed watching our waiter dance; he didn't really enjoy being held by him, as you can see from the look on his face.

Mesmerized by the dancing waiters

"Who are you and why are you holding me?"

It was a great day and a great night. We made it back to the condo and we all crashed. The beach really tires you out! The next day was going to be just as fun!