Florida Part 2

On Thursday, we were suppose to take a pontoon out to Shell Island, but a storm came in so we decided to reschedule for Friday. It basically rained all day Thursday. But we celebrated Matthew's birthday with some cake! I can't believe this little guy turned 12. Last year, we celebrate his birthday in Cabo San Lucas.

Friday turned out to be the perfect day to be out in the waters! We drove out to Panama City Beach after lunch and got into our rented double decker pontoon with double waterslides. We had an amazing time and the weather couldn't be better.

M has never driven a boat before so it was great that Tucker had some experience. We drove out into the bay between the mainland and Shell Island.

We stopped halfway to Shell Island and let the boys use the slides and jump off the second deck of the boat. I'm not gonna lie - I was not a fan of the idea, but I was overruled when the "adult" boys started doing it.

We stayed and played for a little bit and then it was off to Shell Island! Tucker let Michael take the wheel. He was a natural.

Putting our anchor down on Shell Island.

We explored, found little critters, swam, went down the slides some more and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Michael and Jayce tried to catch some fish - no luck. But Michael went snorkeling and found sea urchins and scallops. We also found some hermit crabs.

Matthew, Sydney and Mark decided to build an a arena for them to challenge each other.

Michael brought us a sea urchin.

We each took turns holding it.

These boys got along so well on this trip.

Michael did such a great job taking care of the little ones and sharing what he found.

He also brought me a scallop. Be still my heart....

We were so sad to leave, but it was the perfect ending to a fun vacation with friends. On our way back, Mark fell asleep like this. Such a sweet face!

The next day, we got up early, packed up the car and drove to Baton Rouge for our pit stop. Since I missed the Mississippi sign on the way to Florida, I made sure to snap one going back to Texas.

When we got to Baton Rouge, we checked into our hotel-which was very unique. It used to be a bank vault and they kept some of the original architectural details. We rested a bit and then went to dinner.

Mark was not happy about something. I forgot what it was about.

He was probably hangry and cheered up a bit later.

The next morning, we grabbed breakfast at a cool coffee shop next to LSU and we were on our way back home. What a great trip, but it's always nice to get back home!

Florida Part 1

After driving another 8 hours through Mississippi and Alabama, we were finally in Florida

We arrived in Rosemary Beach a little after 2pm. The house we were renting for the week was not ready yet so we drove around and explored for a little bit. This area is so beautiful. I was really surprised at how nice the beaches are. The beaches were similar to those in Cancun - soft white sand with beautiful turquoise waters. We were off to a good start!

We drove by the house and to the beach to see how far our walk to the beach would be. We were happy that it looked like a short walk. Then we parked the car and did a test run. The walk was so easy. When we got to the beach, the boys were excited so I let them go in the water with their clothes.

My friend and her family met us at the beach a couple of hours later and then we all headed up to the house when we got a a text saying it was ready for us.

We settled in, unpacked and then drove to The Hub for dinner. This place was so nice. It was like a fancy food court with a central area with tables and chairs - except it was much better. The boys decided to have pizza and I had a sausage sandwich from a BBQ place. I loved the atmosphere of the whole place.

There was also a lawn area with a stage and lots of chairs to sit in and enjoy live music.

The next day, Michael and Tucker went down to the beach early and snagged us our favorite beach spot. After breakfast, the kids went out in the front of the house and played in then courtyard for a little bit until it was time to head on out to check out the Farmers' Market.

This washed these two cuties got around.

These two loved checking out samples.

After the Farmers' Market, it was time to hit the beach!

Michael always seems to find some sort of creature anywhere we are. This time, it was a hermit crab.

All the kiddos playing together. Love it.

After the beach, the kids got changed and went to play out in the courtyard while we made dinner. They made new friends. Mark learned to play kickball and got really good at it.

That's pretty much how we spent the rest of our vacation - hang out at the house until lunch, beach, courtyard, repeat.

On Wednesday night, the big boys babysat the little kiddos so we can squeeze in an adults only dinner at Paradis which was a 3-minute walk from the house. This is one of the things I loved about Rosemary Beach--nothing was more then a 10-minute walk away.