We filled up our camera’s memory card more than once on our trip last week, so prepare yourself for a photo-journey of our adventures in Florida! I heard a radio program once that said we remember vacations best when we fill them with activities and events rather than saying “I sat on the beach for a week.” In an effort to make this trip as memorable as possible, we planned lots of activities (especially with the kids).
In a nutshell, here’s what we did:
Stephen and I spent the first day shopping, hanging at the beach, and picking up shrimp for the feast my MIL cooked up that night.
The next day we headed down to Seaside with Stephen’s sister and family to check out the line of Airstream trailers that served food right on the sidewalk.
It was a gorgeous day and we thoroughly enjoyed our Grilled Cheeses from The Melt Down and sweet treats from Frost Bites (the cutest little trailer on the strip).
Of course we Heards were eyeing the Airstreams and dreaming of what we’ll do one day when we own one.
The food was delicious and our little niece enjoyed her first Coke from a glass bottle (with real sugar!). Doesn’t she look like an old-timey Coke ad from the 50s?
We checked out the cute little post office and then headed out of town, admiring all the gorgeous homes on the way.
That evening Stephen snapped a few adorable photos of his cousins and their kids on the beach. Aren’t they a beautiful family?
The next day, the guys rented kayaks and explored the ocean a bit while Stephen’s sis and I snuck off for some girl time.
When we got back, we took the kids to the Circus, which was in Destin for a couple of days while we were there.
Our nephew and niece got to ride the ponies during the intermission.
I think all four of the kids were wowed by the tigers, acrobats, clowns, elephants, and of course the human cannonball!
It had already been a trip filled with firsts for those kids – first plane ride, first circus, first swim in the ocean – but we weren’t done yet!
The next day was the only stormy day of the trip. We all woke up early and watched the storm rolling in.
The storm washed up all kinds of sea junk and shells that afternoon. Stephen, his mom and I practically walked to Destin and back along the beach, picking up little treasures to share at the house.
That night, we went to dinner at Bayou Bill’s Crab House.
This restaurant is a tradition in Stephen’s family and the steamed bucket of seafood is the dish of choice.
We made a mess and had lots of fun checking out the huge alligator on our way out.
I wanted to get in on the Ocean Kayaking action the next morning, so we rented two of them and took the kids out into the calm deep waters. The water was so clear we could see jellyfish, all kinds of big fishes, and even dolphins – up close and personal.
It must have been the storm from the day before because all kinds of sea creatures were out that day. In the afternoon, we kept spotting blue crabs all over in the shallow waters. Several of us decided to see how many we could catch to cook that night. I think we ended up with 50 or more blue crabs!
They claimed I caught the biggest one. Here I am with my catch. 🙂
The boys cleaned the crabs and my MIL boiled them in some Old Bay seasoning for about 15 minutes. They were delicious!
The storms were definitely gone for good that day and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset out on the deck.
The last day there, Stephen and I took a drive down the beach to Daniel’s Shell Shop. It took about 30 minutes to get there from our house, but it was worth the drive. The shop was solely devoted to ocean finds and we found some beautiful shells to take home with us.
The kids had fun in the pool that last afternoon…
While the parents watched the dolphins play in the deep waters.
That night we gave our camera another workout when Stephen took photos of our immediate family at Grayton Beach.
My sister-in-law and her family…
Stephen’s mom and her two kids…
The kids and their spouses…
And the adorable grandbabies!
We even had our photo taken before the sun went down.
We took so many great photos on this trip that it was hard to choose which ones to share. I suppose if summer has to be over, this was a great way to go. 🙂 I’m excited to share tackle a couple projects with the things we brought home, so stay tuned for that AND some non-beach related fun later in the week!
Did any of our photos jog some memories of your own family vacations? Anybody have fun stories from the beach to share? Do tell!
