Alabama Vacay: Dolphin Cruise

We decided to surprise the kids with a cruise at sunset to find some dolphins ~ it turned out to be the best.night.ever. Our morning (which will be blogged about in detail later with the title "The Great Outdoors NOT" at a later date), started out very rough, but this ending made up for it in spades. The kids 1st time in a boat and the 1st time to see dolphins up close and personal. So we packed a cooler of snacks and headed out for an adventure. Some nice people in line took a family picture of us:



As I am the official picture taker, my hubby made sure to catch a shot of me with the kids. I loved it as it was one in which we were actually sand free :-)



Below: KK and AJ posing by the pretend dolphin. KK made sure I was clear this was not the real thing. Also shown: our boat and the sign of the cruise we took.



After roll call (yes they did yell out last names to ensure all were there), we boarded our ship. Much to AJ's dismay, all kids under 7 are required to wear a life vest per state law. I think the picture here shows you exactly how he felt about this rule. He kept saying "its not my vest". I think he wanted his lion floatie...



Don't panic... the tears lasted only a moment as the boat left the marina and we were off for an adventure. Nothing stops tears like getting to be on a real big boat in the bay, headed off for Florida waters to find some real dolphins!



Aren't they cute little sailors! They loved standing up and riding the waves on the boat ~ there were smiles and giggles for the first five minutes straight.

Before we knew it, the dolphin's were spotted and the captain got the waves going behind the boat. Apparently, these fun-loving creatures love when the boats make certain waves. They jump and frolic in the waves as they chase the boat. And they did not disappoint!

The captain jumped down from above and announced that all little kids should go to the back of the boat to watch up close. KK and AJ jumped up and made a beeline for the bench, they wanted a front row to this action. Here they are, looking for signs of dolphins:



And within moments, they saw this (go Daddy for taking some amazing shots while the kids and I got the up close view):



KK and AJ both started giggling, jumping up and down and screaming all at the same time. They were so happy! It was more fun to watch them at one point. Every time the dolphin's jumped, they both looked at each other and started laughing all over again. AJ would scream "Jump Dolphin Jump" as if he was in charge of the show. I wish I could explain how awesome it was, seeing the bliss on their faces. I had several people approach me after to say they had more fun watching KK and AJ be so happy than watch the actual dolphins. :-) Maybe I should have charged them $15 a person? Teasing!

Below: my babies showing their joy



Daddy got some great shots!


I did take a quick video to show the dolphins and you can clearly hear the kids giggling and laughing. So fun!
Come back later for this -- our wifi at the house isn't strong enough to handle my videos apparently. It will be fixed once we are home!


Below: me and KK right after the dolphin's were done playing.


After the first half of the cruise, we had some time to have a snack and enjoy more "boat" time.



We got to see some more dolphin's jumping before headed back to the marina. It was a wonderful cruise. We got to watch the sunset over the water as we returned home. KK and I were all about the wind on our faces and looking out over the boat (not quite like "I'm the king of the world from Titanic but you get my drift). AJ, despite being on a boat, sat down and decided to take a break from all the excitement by playing with his cars. Typical boy, on a boat, playing cars.



And here I leave you with our sunset...


Oh, wait! And we did totally spoil the kids, as you are supposed to on vacay, by getting ice cream. Did I mention? Best.Night.Ever.



Sweet dreams from 'Bama!

Alabama Vacay: The Great Outdoors NOT

So every vacation has a snag or two... whether its family drama, rain on your beach vacay, losing your wallet. Those things happen. It is when several things happen in a span of a day that make you question it all. Will I keep my eye on the silver lining? Or should I just give in to a huge pity party and cry and pack my bags?

So what, pray tell, happened to us? Well after two days (three if you count the day we arrived), we settled into a great routine of cooking and spending time at the beach, going to the pool, naps. We were having a great time... then Wednesday rolled into town. And I think it almost ran us over.

I walk downstairs to make breakfast for us while Greg and the kids wake up and start to get ready for the beach. I open up the pantry, and decide suddenly: lets eat on the beach. I will grab some cereal bars and some fruit. I reach for the box only to see crumbs all over the shelves... and then I see little brown drops on the floor. Then I look around and see more around the kitchen on the counters... and on the dining room table... and in the living room. I will spell it out for you: a MOUSE joined our beach house. I freaked a little. I also thanked God out loud because I cleaned and put all our stuff upstairs before bed the night before. We pull the kids out of the house and head to the beach to let them play while we wait for the front office to open.

Now while we are waiting... first, I should mention that the beach is beautiful. White soft sand, blue clear waters... We play in the sand and build castles, we take walks, we splash in the water... water with jellyfish. And other marine life I prefer not to think about when I am in the water. We have lived peacefully though with these jellies thus far. The kids scream when they see one on the beach, we walk around it, life moves on. So we are on the beach, taking in the view and trying so hard to make sure that what we just discovered at home isn't going to ruin anything for us and our week. For some reason I cannot fathom at this very moment, I decide to wade out to other side of the sand bar. I am there for point two seconds.. and then I feel it. My leg is stinging. DARN JELLYFISH! I rush back to the beach to wallow for a moment with Greg. He just looks at me and we start laughing. I mean really? Really? It hurt dude.

The front office opens and we immediately decide to move to a house across the street. We tell the kids its time to get our stuff and head back to the car. It is then that we discover another Alabama pest that has picked that moment to attack: the mosquito. Halfway down the boardwalk, we are all running and swatting at our arms and legs. They got us (except for AJ, we still aren't sure how he managed that). SERIOUSLY?

We make it back to the golf cart and we give each other a long look. We can either cry now, or we can make the best of it. And that is why I love my hubby and my kids. We start laughing. We crack jokes about it. What else can you do? Obviously the great outdoors hates us in Alabama.

It wasn't easy packing up and moving everything, but so worth it. We are now in a house that is even nicer than the one we had. We also have bug spray and started bringing a net to the beach to catch those mean jellyfish and we throw them far away. So do your best great outdoors, we can handle it!

In all seriousness, this was just a crazy story to share. No harm done to our vacay. Though we did wait for a few minutes to see if storm clouds would develop and follow us around. So far, its sunny and clear.

Sweet dreams from Alabama... currently rodent, jellyfish and pest free :-)

Alabama Vacay: Day 3

Day 3 of our awesome vacation started out with some great views - sun, sand, blue waters.  We started our day at the beach playing in the sand and walking up and down the shore enjoying the beautiful day.  My view from our beach chairs and umbrella:

There were some visitors that showed up over night.  We didn't notice them right away, but once we did, the kids pretty much avoided the water.  (Jellyfish, see below).  Apparently they came in on the tide or in waves.  They got worse before they left us on the last day, but the beach was still fun.  You just had to be a tad more careful.  Sadly, the kids lost their fearlessness of the water and had to be held a lot, but I don't blame them (I wanted to be held too a few times hehe).

They didn't stop us from building some cool sand towers with moats and enjoy the morning!

After the beach, we did hit the pool and hot tub for a few minutes before going home for some lunch and naps.  Once we were rested, we decided to go into town and do some shopping.  KK and I had a blast and spent some dollars.  Shopping and the beach, great vacay so far!

Daddy took us out to dinner at Lambert's Cafe, home of the throwed rolls.  The kids LOVED it.  I'm not sure they ate any of their ordered food, but getting to stand up in their chairs and catch hot rolls was the best.thing.ever.

AJ impressed the waiters with his catches - and the rolls were quite tasty too!

KK loved hers too - we ate way too much food but it was delicious and there were lots of laughs as the rolls kept getting tossed our way.

After such a filling meal, and since we were in some cute clothes, we decided to say goodnight to our beach with a quick walk and some pictures.  Daddy and KK looked so sweet with that awesome orange sunset behind them.

Me and my sweet hubby at sunset - life doesn't get much better!

Goodnight Gulf Shores - see you in the morning!

Alabama Vacay: Day 2

So here we are, Day 2 of our vacation (yes I am writing this post-trip, but let's focus and pretend that its really Day 2).  First I want to share my favorite photo op.  Before our evening stroll on the beach, we found the perfect place to pose together for a family picture.  And we didn't even need assistance.  Thanks to some McGuyver like work by moi, and a little help from the timer on the camera, we got this shot in four attempts.  I love it!

So we started our first full day on the beach by arriving early and picking a place to park our gear for the week.  The beauty of coming after school starts and to Gulf Shores is how alone we were.  There were probably five families on the beach the same time we were all week.  We picked a spot and it was ours the rest of the week.  Here is Kaitlyn announcing that this is the spot for us.  AJ is more interested in pushing cars around in his new huge sandbox.

On the right is a picture of CAMP FRIEDMAN.  It was a happy place, with shade and toys and snacks. 

Once a spot was picked, we did what any beach lover does.  We stuff our toes in the water and appreciated the beautiful view of the ocean.  Then, after a moment of relaxation, we got busy!  It was time to build some sand castles and use these new toys we brought.  First lesson, Daddy taught us how we need water and sand to make the sand stick together.

After some hard work by Daddy (Mommy called herself "management" and read a book while supervising he-he), and some assistance from KK and AJ, our first sand castle was built.  We opted for more of a spread out compound versus a tall tower.  Ariel and Ken were very happy to romp around and destroy the place after we took pics.

Another glorious thing about vacay: naps! And with a morning at the beach, we were even able to convince KK to take one.  Ahhh - it was wonderful!  We ended our day with yet another trip to the beach.  It was my favorite time of day.  The sun setting over the water.. we took a nice long walk along the beach until dark.

Here are the kids ~ stopping for a quick pic before racing for the beach.

Now the picture person that I am, I couldn't resist trying to get a few family shots before it got darker and before we started playing.  I laugh so hard at this one, I am not sure what little man was doing but it cracks me up.

The "real" shot :-)

Below: just a perfect view that we got to walk by every day.

Here are some shots from our walk that night -- notice KK in the water here smiling without holding on to anyone?  Remember that.. by day 4 (thanks to some jellyfish) that won't happen again on the trip without effort.  Below: me and KK dancing in the water.

 Daddy caught a picture of us walking along the sandbar - I love that shot.

Daddy and AJ (AJ is holding a car, one accompanied us at all times because you never know when you will happen upon a place that requires a racecar).

Sunset at Gulf Shores - its a beautiful thing to experience.  G'night, sweet dreams!