Alabama Vacay: Beach Walk (the best day)

This is the hardest part of our trip to put into words - the pictures barely do it justice.  We decided to take a long, long walk up the beach before sunset today.  We wanted to walk as far as we could with the kids, heading east along the beach where the nature preserve was.  No hotels, no houses, just nature everywhere you turn.  It was the best walk, the highlight of our entire trip if I was forced to pick just one thing to recommend.  We set out from our hotel and had an adventure together:

The sand dunes as we hit the beach - Greg took an amazing picture but its easy when its just so perfectly beautiful here.

Our little beach walkers were off to a running start

Before we started our walk, we did stop to play by our umbrella and splash in the water.  Rather, daddy splashed.  He started a little game called Daddy vs. the Jellyfish.  He found a net at the beach house and would take it out to catch jellies and dump them on the shore.  He thought he was clearing the water for the kids, I hated to point out there were still hundreds floating around.  He was entertained and the kids were too.

Our mighty Jellyfish hunter

Our beach walk started with crabs - the water is so clear that you can see everything and tonight we found little crabs walking around.  This little guy got close before scampering off.  Daddy caught some in his net but released them after the kids got a close look.

This is a BABY SHARK!  One of our vacation friends who's umbrella sat next to us on the beach loved to fish in the ocean.  Before we left for our long walk, he called over to us to show us what ate his bait: a BABY SHARK!  It was a fierce little guy, he didn't stand for being caught and fought the whole time but I managed a quick picture before he was released back into his ocean.  How neat is that?  AJ thought it was the coolest.

After sharks and crabs, not to mention jellies, we decided to walk up and down the sand bars at the start of our big adventure to see what else we might find in nature.  Of course, AJ decided he has already had enough walking and nature, so Mommy carried him and held KK close.

Love my babies

KK searching for sea shells and playing in the water

The difference between boys and girls: AJ throwing sticks and shells back into the ocean... hehe. 

As we were walking and exploring, I decided to take some pictures of the kids as they played.  The lighting was just right and I wanted to capture the carefree play as I knew as I watched, these moments are the kind you want to replay in your heart long after the day is over.  I didn't want to forget the joy on their faces, the sound of their laughter and the feeling of my heart just full full full.  Thank you Lord for moments like this!

This crane was with us the entire trip - so it was fitting that it came up the beach to us and was fishing as we frolicked on the sand.

Two sets of sweet little toes covered in sand - who doesn't want to remember those little feet...

The boys coming back from exploring up a little further!

Our sweet KK was just sitting in the sand playing with shells when I captured these pictures - a natural beauty (I am not biased at all).

She posed by herself with this one - I just snapped the shot with the sunset behind her.  This is my favorite shot of her during our trip. I love my KK!

Our beach walk wasn't just pictures - nature followed us (or else we ended up on top of it). On our way home we saw sting rays swimming right along the beach between the sand bars!

Here was our view as we returned home.  The kids chattered away about all the sea life we witnessed as our pockets were filled with shells and sand.  They were not keen on walking in the water as the jellies still scared them, and they both got tired and had to be carried several times, but it was the best adventure regardless.  Memories that we won't forget.  After this, we are definitely coming back for another vacation here again.  This.place.is.awesome.