Beach trip 2/10/12-2/12/12

I had been thinking of places to go for our last family of 3 vacation for quite some time.  Because of my pains/pressure, I knew I couldn't handle much walking.  I really wanted to take Preslei to the Atlanta Zoo (I could have scored free tickets for us by renting a particular movie from our local library) but I knew I couldn't walk that much.  Then someone suggested taking her to the Wild Animal Safari in Pine Mountain, GA but that is easily a day trip and I wanted to go away somewhere.  So, I thought to myself, "Where would Preslei LOVE to go?"....BINGO...the beach.  That kid LOVES the beach. 

I knew where I wanted to stay but I had to find a really good deal before going.  I've been wanting to stay at Splash Resort for about 2 years now and I literally spent HOURS online trying to find a nice 2 bedroom/2 bath condo at a reasonable price.  Keith and I decided that since we wanted the weekend to revolve around her and include things that Preslei loves, we decide to ask my parents if they wanted to come.  Of course, they wanted to and then my Mom mentioned inviting my nephew because Preslei and Caden would have an absolute BLAST together so he came too!  I booked our room with vrbo.com and the owner of our condo was the sweetest!!! It was only $139/nt with a $75 cleaning fee which I thought was VERY reasonable, especially since there were two families going!  Here is the link to where we stayed.

We left a little after lunch on Friday, the 10th, and got there around 3pm and got unpacked and rested and then decided we'd go eat at Golden Corral (yeah, definitely not a top pick but hey, you have a preggo, a 3 yr old and a 2 yr old) and it was good.  It was the one on 23rd Street and it was really clean but also really busy.  Caden CRACKED us up because I swear, he is like a bottomless pit.  He ate his entire plate plus his and Preslei's bowls of ice cream!!! He probably could have eaten another bowl!!

Saturday morning, my parents and Keith took the kids down to the beach to let them play in the sand and chase seagulls.  I wanted to go SO bad but I was hurting just from the ride down there and like I told Keith, it worried me that if I walked on that sand that it would hurt me and I wouldn't have been able to do much walking later that day.  I watched them from the balcony and couldn't help but get teary-eyed just watching my sweet girl run and play. 

After they got back to the condo, we got ready and headed out for our little Saturday adventure.  First stop, Schooners (or however you spell it).  That restaurant has the best view.  We sat on the back deck that overlooks the beach.  There are palm trees planted along the back side of the restaurant so it makes you feel like you are on a tropical island or something.  The food was good but kinda pricey.  They didn't offer a lunch menu so your only choices were huge (and expensive) dinner portions.  Keith ordered some beef wrapped seared tuna and I got a cheeseburger that fed both me and Keith and Preslei got a cheeseburger and our bill was $50!  After that we headed to Destin for a little shopping.  Of course, the men wanted to go to Bass Pro Shop (I swear, that store is the DEVIL.  I HATE it.  Ugh!) so we stopped there after I did some FAST shopping at the outlet mall.  I had one objective:  To find Preslei a dress for the Father/Daughter dance.  I told Keith to drive around to let me see what stores were there and I could "window shop" to see if I thought I could see anything and I saw the CUTEST dress in the window at The Children's Place so he let me, my Mom and the kids out and we went in, tried it on, bought it and left. 

(Preslei didn't want to go any where near that shark, LOL)
Oh, and let me just say, I give mad props to all you out there with 2 or more kids under the age of 4 who don't use a stroller.  I was worn out just after one store.  I couldn't help but laugh all weekend because the running joke of the weekend was the fact I'm sure people looked at me and saw Preslei and Caden and then me pregnant and them thinking Caden was mine.  LOL.....I started rethinking my desire of a large family that weekend. 

We left Destin and couldn't for the life of us decide what we wanted to eat for dinner so we headed back to Panama City and ate at Boondocks.  It was DELISH!!! My mom and I kept saying it felt like all we did was eat and eat and eat all weekend!

 These kids LOVE each other!!! It seriously melts my heart.

The next morning, we decided we didn't need an "agenda" for coming home.  We took our time and got up, ate breakfast and packed.  We stopped by Sam's on the way out and picked up some Krystal.  (Keith and I NEVER pass up Krystals.  Even if we had just eaten a huge lunch or something, we HAVE to get a Krystal burger.  It's kind of a little ritual since the closet one is an hour away.)  Keith led the way so he decided he wanted to drive the coast home.  Keith had been wanting raw oysters all weekend but every where we went, they didn't serve them.  Somewhere along the way, he thought of stopping in Appalachicola at a place called Boss Oyster Bar so we had a late lunch there.  Keith ate like, I swear, 2 1/2 dozen raw oysters!!! I ate a grouper sandwich and couldn't eat it all.  I was just tired of eating at that point.  We got home somewhere around 6 or so that evening.

I texted my Mom and told her what an awesome weekend it was and that "my cup runneth over" and it was.  I couldn't have asked for a more perfect weekend.  Preslei had an absolute blast just being at the beach and having Caden with us.  I feel like I bonded with my nephew on a whole new level that weekend and I needed that.  Even though he lives across the road from us, we don't see them that often.  I hate how busy our lives get that we forget to make time for others.  Caden is usually a rambunctious little boy and just watching him wears me out, but he was absolutely PERFECT that weekend.  I mean, kids will be kids, I know and they definitely acted wild at times, but Caden and Preslei both were just little angels. 

I am beyond blessed to have such an amazing family. 

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