Last Saturday, we woke up super early, packed up the car, and we were on the road towards Destin before 6 am. We stoppped from 8:15-9 for breakfast and let the girls stretch their legs a little. Then we were back on the road until we stopped form lunch from about 12-1:30, and we had to make one more stop to feed Payton and let Rylee go potty around 4. With all the stops, we made it to Destin around 5:45, and we immediately headed to the beach. Rylee LOVED playing in the waves and cried when it was time to go in and begin getting settled into the condo. I could not believe how goo the girls were the whole way to Destin. Stops and all, ti took us about 12 hours to get down there, and neither one of them cried at all. Payton woudl ebgin to whimper when she was hungry, but that's it. No tears! I was in shock that traveling with a 3-year-old and 8-month-old could be so easy!
Our first day at the beach was a blast! It was the only day the whole trip that the water was calm enough for Rylee to get in deep in her puddle jumper and swim. I was proud of her for being brave enough to swim on her own in the ocean. After we headed in to the condo and had lunch, we headed to the pool. Payton and Rylee both loved the pool. Payton liked to sit on the ledge and splash, and Rylee swam and swam and swam. She is such a water bug! While we were at the pool, the men headed to Walmart and got some crab legs that Brandon cooked us for dinner. We all enjoyed a nice dinner together in the condo then we headed back out to the beach and the kids played a little more until it was dark. It was the perfect way to spend our first day at the beach!
Monday was Memorial Day, so that morning at the beach the girls wore matching swimsuits, Payton's in red and Rylee's in blue. The water was rougher Tuesday than on Monday, so Rylee stayed on the shore, but she had a blast playing in the sand, but once she started to get hot, we headed to the pool so she could swim and Payton could try out her new floatie in the pool. After swimming for about an hour, we headed in for lunch and after a quick bath, the girls went down for a nap. Ryan and I got ready and relaxed for a little bit while they napped, then we headed to Fudpucker's to have dinner with Nonna, Granddaddy, Aunt Mel, Uncle Josh, and Austin. They were in Destin at the same time as us and staying in condos that were not far from ours, so we had to get together! After a delicious dinner at Fudpucker's, we headed to The Track, and Rylee had the time of her life riding go carts with daddy and riding all the little rides. She is such a little daredevil. She loved all of the rides, even things I was worried she would be afraid of. The scariest one, "the monkey ride," was her favorite and she smiled and laughed the entire time she rode it!
Tuesday, Ryan went deep sea fishing with Josh and I took the girls down to the beach. IT was a little overwhelming trying to get both of them down there and get everything set up. Then of course, Payton decided that was the day she did not want to be put down at all (later we realized she was running fever, but I didn't realize it at the time, so I was a little frustrated), but luckily Rylee had a blast playing in the waves and her Aunt Mary and Aunt Liz were super helpful about watching out for her while I was tending to sweet baby Payton. After fun at the beach, we headed in for lunch. Then the 3 kids headed down to the pool with Brandon and Chuck and Brantley while "the girls" got ready and Payton napped. Then we went down and watched the kids swim while they got ready. When everyone was ready, and Ryan was finally back from fishing, we headed to Harry T's for a very rushed dinner, and ran to the Southern Star for a dolphin cruise. Rylee loved the cruise for bout the first hour, but since she hadn't napped and Payton wasn't feeling well, we ended the cruise with 2 sleeping girls. When we got home from the cruise we realized Payton had a 102 temp. We were thankful we had brought some infant tylenol and motrin, and we hoped it was just exhaustion, but we kept an eye on her.
Wednesday, we all went down to the beach, Payton was still running fever, but at this point we figured she had caught whatever Rylee had the week before, and we were just trying to keep her comfortable. She was as happy as can be when she had medicine, so we decided that if it got really high we would take her to an Urgent Care, but otherwise we just rolled with it. The kids played in the sand and Payton napped on daddy while Liz, Mary, and I played in the rough water. It was fun to jump the big waves. After a fun morning at the beach, we headed in and had lunch. Then "the girls" headed to the pool with the kids and the men went to Walmart to get burger and hotdogs to grill out for dinner! When the men got back, the kids were ready to go in, so they played and watched a movie while we got ready for family pictures on the beach. After pictures, the men grilled out, and we played cards with Brantley while the kids played toys in the condo. Dinner was delicious.
Thursday we woke up to rain. We took the kids to Fort Walton to go bowling. It was their first time bowling and they had a blast. Then we separated into our own little families and Ryan and I took the girls to Fat Daddy's Pizza and Arcade for lunch and then some fun. Rylee had a blast playing all the games and won enough tickets to get several little toys. After Fat Daddy's, we headed to the condo, and Rylee watched Frozen while Payton and I napped. After naptime, we headed to AJ's for dinner and did a little shopping at the harbor, and then we played mini-golf at the track. Rylee was so funny playing mini-golf, and she had an absolute blast. She ended the night with a hole-in-one on the 18th hole.
Friday, the sky was cloudy and the water was rough, but it was our last day, so we stayed at the beach until after 1 o'clock! Mary, Chuck, Brantley, and Bailey headed home Friday, so they left the beach around 10:30 or so, but it was very difficult convincing Rylee and Kaden to leave the ocean. They fell in love with it on Friday. (Why do kids always have to wait to the last minute to really enjoy something?) They were laying down in the waves pretending to be seals, and jumping and splashing in the waves, and even baby Payton (who was finally fever free at the point!) decided she liked the ocean, too. She would watch the waves come in and get the biggest grin when the water would touch her little feet. We thoroughly enjoyed the beach on our last day, and it was so much fun watching the kids have a blast. After fun at the beach, we headed in for a small lunch and showers, then we headed out to the harbor.
We walked the harbor and did a little shopping, then we had dinner at Margaritaville. It was the best dinner of the week! It was our first time eating there, and both the food and the view was absolutely amazing. After dinner, Rylee wanted to go try out a few of the fun things they have to do on the harbor. She had a blast in the water balls. I thought she'd get scared because it was really loud when he filled it up with air, but she had the biggest smile the entire time. After she got out of the ball, she wanted to jump with the bungees on the trampoline thing. She jumped super high and was smiling and laughing the entire time. I cannot believe how brave she is. She had a blast, though! As soon as Rylee got done jumping, it started to pour. We were sad because we were heading back to the condo and we had wanted to spend our last night sitting on the beach, but the rain changed our plans. So we spent our last night in the condo eating junk food, playing with the kids,, and talking and laughing.
The ride home was smooth sailing. We left the condo around 8:30, stopped for lunch a little after 12, and only stopped once more-a quick stop for gas around 3- and we were home by 6:30. Again, the girls amazed me at how good they were on the trip. I really thought the way home would be awful and filled with whining and crying, but nope. They were both just as good as they were on the way down! Getting home was bittersweet, it was good to be in our home, but sad to be away from the beach. We had such a wonderful time together!
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