[destin]ation florida

Here are the bare minimum details:


My family loves vacations. And for whatever reason, we end up doing the same one every time. It sounds something like this: Let's keep it simple. We could go to Salt Lake for the day. Jackson Hole? Yellowstone? Island Park? How about camping in Zion's National Park, or St. George? What about Lake Powell? We could get a house boat? Or we could visit the Redwood National Forrest. Or Oregon, California... things typically escalate quickly and it's not long before we all conclude that at this rate we might as well just go to Florida. 

So we do.

I use to live in Florida, and since we left, we try to go back to visit my Dad's family and where he grew up. Not to mention it's a solid vacation spot. We'd go back every other year, just about. So we figured it was time. And boy am I glad we did. 

flying.
June 15, 2016.

This trip, Eden would go on her ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth airplane. She was a pro. So why am I mentioning this? Because for the first time in ever, she wasn't. This little lass wouldn't not fall asleep the night before. And we had to leave at 4:30am for the airport the next morning. She cried all night long, we tried for hours to get her to fall asleep. We still had to pack. Once midnight hit, my parents plopped her in the car seat and sent for a little drive. She was out before they got down the drive way. So Kevin and I packed for the next hour, hoping we wouldn't forget anything. 

4:30am hit, and we were gone. But then nap time came, twice. Usually she sleeps like a gem, the plane is just bumpy enough and the noise is soothing. Not this time. She cried the entire flight. We were that family. The one with the crying baby that no one would stop staring at. Yeah, that one. The cycle continued for the next flight, and finally we pulled in just in time for bed time. 

Moral of the story: I'm sorry to the passengers who lost sleep that flight, or became restless, anxious, or annoyed. I really am sorry. Just know, a mom, a dad, an aunt, an uncle, a grandpa and a grandma were trying their best to calm her... so if six people couldn't do it, then I'm sure it was impossible. But, I give an even bigger thank you to the families that smiled, the flight attendants that tried to entertain her, and the little 11 month old girl behind us that was the only person Eden would actually smile at. Thank you. Maybe next time we fly, I'll sit behind a struggling family and offer snacks, smiles and maybe a hand. Because it made a huge difference for us. So thank you.

 

destin west. 

Each year we come, we discuss possible condos we could stay at. I don't know why, we always choose the same one. Destin West Beach & Bay Resort. It's a wonderful place. Really. Half is on the bay with a cute dock out to the harbor, and the other half is on the beach, with the warm clear water, white sand, and a nifty bridge that connect them both together.

But that's not why we come here, year after year after year.
We come for the pool.
Seriously.

Why do we fly across the entire country, to go swim at a pool? Because it's just that wonderful.
Don't believe, see for yourself.
And this doesn't even do it justice...

Here is where we spend our free time, and don't worry, we go to the beach too, it's just the pool is sooo nice. Am I ashamed? Somewhat. We spent day in and day out here, with some other activities shoved in between. My favorite is when we play tag in the lazy river. It really is so much fun, even as adults. But this time, I think my favorite part was connecting all nine or so tubes together in a big blob, blocking the way, and just talking, teasing, laughing, and enjoying each others company. Maybe because we forced each other to stay by holding their handles so they couldn't escape. 

Eden had spent time in pools before, but not like this. She was rather timid of the whole idea, and hated getting splashed. I don't know why this girl is so proper, but I tell ya, if she doesn't because the next president because of it, I'm throwing her in the pool. 

the beach.

Kevin had to go to the beach. Every. Day. If we didn't he would die. This man has the strangest obsession with the ocean. But the more and more we go, the more I understand him. 

The water is warm-ish, and the somewhat clear... or it would be if we didn't go right after a storm passed through. The sand is white and all of these pictures DO NOT do it justice. Seriously. It looked nothing like this (pictured below), at least not as vibrant as it should look--bummer.

However, I think Eden got her Daddy's genes. She loved the beach! 

Like. LOVED.

Her favorite part was the sand. So here are a few moments from one day that will give you an idea how the eight days went:

She would eat the sand. I have so many pictures of her face covered, her mouth filled, but not a single one of her diapers. You can only imagine what those looked like.

But you can't blame her, it did look like sugar.

fudpucker's.
June 18, 2016.

Another family tradition is to go to Fudpucker's and feed the alligators. You read that right. Alligators. This time, we even let Eden hold one. 
Poor little guy, didn't see it coming. She kept trying to rip his eyeballs out. 

bass pro shop. 
June 18, 2016. 

We've come here every time to get a picture with the giant shark, but the store was being remodeled, so we though this would suffice:

goofy golf.
June 18, 2016.

My Dad grew up playing here. The games are about a buck each and then we have a 50 cent slush afterward. It's as good as it gets. 

I did get a few hole-in-ones, can't speak for much else of my party. 

family pictures. 
June 19, 2016. 

On Sunday we went down to the beach and took some family pictures. So glad we did. 

And in case you love my family as much as I do, here are some photos:

[JOHN & ROBERTA: THE PADRES]

[SPENCER]

[JORDAN, KRISTEN & MARIA]

[BELOVED BRITTANY]

[LA FAMILIA]

 

because our family can't do candids

[KEVIN, SHAYLEE & EDEN]

[THE VIEW]

sea blaster. 
June 20, 2016. 

This was so much fun. We woke up one morning and took a chartered boat out snorkeling and to watch dolphins. Easily one of the funnest parts of our trip. The crew made it all that more fun. They had the coolest accents, squirted everyone with water, supplied drinks, and their dialogue between each other made for some amusing entertainment.

They invited all the kids on deck to come up for a turn to steer the boat. And up hops my 16 year old brother next to all the five and six years olds. 

I think Eden was jealous she wasn't considered a kid but Spencer was...

They dropped us off by the jetties to snorkel. I'm super glad everyone claimed there weren't any jellies in the water, because if I had known how many were in there, I wouldn't have gotten off the boat... I hate those things.

Eden was a trooper! She didn't like the life jacket, for obvious reasons. So I had to swim with her back to the boat, which is super hard when your used to fins, and then don't use them. But she was so cute. You can tell it was her nap time.

Then we went to watch the dolphins. 

There were sooo many. And babies with their mamas. 

It was so neat being able to see them in their habitat instead of in captivity. You could see all their scars, and they just looked so different. But so beautiful.

crab island.
June 21, 2016. 

This has since become one of my favorite memories. It was the last day, and my dad has this crazy idea: let's rent a pontoon boat for the day, and see where life takes us. It was rather exciting. However, we didn't know then but regulations wouldn't let us take  it too far. So we hung out around the harbor hunting for dolphins. We didn't find any.

[our captain]

[and the motley crew]

We did, however, find a not-so-hidden-popular-tourist-attraction called crab island. The water was perfectly clear; so warm that you didn't flinch to get in. It was waist deep and the perfect spot to anchor our boat, along with one hundred other boats. It was an exciting environment. There were floating shacks that you could swim up to and order food, there were even bounce houses, slides, and I can't forget the little man in a tiny boat selling fried peanuts.

 

bitter sweet...

This trip was so much fun, but hard too. We didn't have John, Mary & their family with us. It was nearly as fun as it could have been, but we made the most of it. It was so enjoyable being able to show Kevin around and introduce Eden to the beloved state of "southern Alabama." It was a wonderful trip that will be added to a list of many. 

Wouldn't trade it for anything. Thanks Mom and Dad for making it happen. 

It was well worth it.