Gulf Shores

I was in denial about the trip coming up. Don't get me wrong, I was excited about seeing family and getting away but not so much the part of being in the car with 3 children ages 6 and younger for 2 days and a total of 12-13 hours.

So we decided to pack up a lot of movies coloring books, and toys, and make the best of it. Nolan was set with his reading material and glasses for our road trip.

We drove a big chunk at night which seemed to be good for Landry. She is the easiest baby ever…except the car. Suddenly my sweet angelic baby becomes possessed with something evil and shrieks so loud you're pretty sure that glass could break.

Day 1 of the trip went smoothly and we even made a pit stop in Vicksburg, Mississippi to the Civil War battlefield. I had never been to Mississippi and I gotta say that I was pleasantly surprised with how pretty it was. And the boys loved the battlefield.

We finally arrived in Gulf Shores after another full day of traveling. 

I remember taking each of my children to the beach as babies, and every time I took them, I remember thinking, I'm not taking a baby to the beach again! It's so much work. They want to eat the sand, there is sand EVERYWHERE and swim diapers…need I say more?

But here I find myself just three years after our last beach trip with Campbell taking sweet Landry Kate. She did pretty good, minus when she got wiped out by a wave while trying to take a picture.

She even fell asleep! I call that somewhat of a relaxing day at the beach!

My sweet niece broke her arm just a few weeks before our beach trip and had to wear a lobster- looking hand while we were at the beach but she was the best sport about it.

Every day our children slept HARD. That beach wore them out!

Probably my favorite part of the entire trip was that the cousins got to spend so much time playing with each other. It makes me wish that we didn't live over 900 miles away. But I love that they just pick right up where they left off. 

 

While we were in Gulf Shores, we were only about 30 minutes from Florida and I have never been, so we made a day of it and went to the children's museum in Pensacola. Now I added three more states to my list after this trip! Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida were all new ones. 

Our oldest niece, Dory, is seriously the best babsitter ever at the ripe old age of 8. It was so wonderful to have someone offer to play with her so I could actually chew my food and help in the kitchen or even take a shower! I can't wait for her to be old enough to come down to Texas to visit. 

 

You could say that Landry got spoiled. After nine months, I started weaning Landry. There were too many teeth involved and honestly, she was just over it and it was like wrestling an alligator just to nurse her. So it was glorious to have a break from feeding her for the first time ever. 

We were at the beach a few weeks before Campbell's 4th birthday and so we celebrated early with the family.  

 

One of the days that we were there we rented kayaks. I took Campbell out once…talk about an arm workout! 

 

And it wouldn't be a family vacation without a little forced family photo shoots on the beach! My in-laws celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary while we were in Gulf Shores.

And this is the best family shot we could get with Campbell. Guess he thought that the photo needed a little attitude.

Even though I swore that I would never take a baby to the beach, I'm glad I did. I'll treasure these beach memories forever. Even all the work that they took.