Orange Beach 2014

Pretty sure this is the most pictures I have ever blogged in one entry and that's because I had so many great ones!  We had a great family vacation to Orange Beach. The boys, Shelby and I were there for the week.  Daddy had to leave us for a couple of days to go pay respects at a visitation for a very tragic death but he certainly made up for lost time when he got back.

Wednesday: Head to the beach!  Groceries, unloading and even some beach time.  Mommy cooked some delicious fresh salmon and we ate in the condo.

Thursday:  ALL DAY BEACH DAY!  No naps for boys, turkey sandwiches by the pool and lots of fun in the sun and surf.  Even got John Cole out of the boogie board!  Preston was LOVING his boogie board this year.  Hours and hours people.  That night we got together with the Halls and The Wests and had a delicious dinner at Fishers.  They were hosting a celebrity chef and the food was divine.  It was complete with wine pairings...right up my alley.  The Wests even took us out for a little pre-dinner cruise on their family "boat..."  Super fun night!

Friday:  6am beach pictures!!  I hope to place my order today so I can blog them soon.  They are so good.  Seriously.  I am never going to be able to decide.  SunShots ROCKS!  We had a little waffle house afterwards....
A little cloudy in the morning but we made the most of it on the beach.  I cooked some delicious fresh shrimp for lunch then we all took a NAP!  Afterwards, we headed out to what is always one of our fav attractions: the Cold Mil Fleet Dolphin Cruise.  Always see tons. Preston spotted a REAL Coast Guard boat while we were cruising and we were happy to find it docked near us afterward.  The guys were so sweet to let the boys tour the boat and they thought it was something else!  That night we grabbed a quick, casual dinner as we were wet from the rain...

Saturday:  Daddy left with The Halls and we took the boys to Airplanes Fire and Rescue.  Of course they loved it.  Then had a yummy lunch at Cosmos.  I had never been there but it was good.  It had been raining ALL morning but by the time we got back the sun was out!  Crazy.  So we got beach time in.  Miss Shelby met up with some friends for dinner so the boys and I had a delicious pizza for dinner and turned in early...

Sunday:  Kinda strange weather Sunday.  It was perfect in the morning.  There was a random shower.  Then all of the sudden the wind whipped up and seriously I had never seen anything like it.  Shelby was with JC in the condo and I was out with P and God whispered in my ear to get him out of the ocean.  That's the only way I can describe it.  It was audible and real to me that he needed to get out...so we just chilled in the hot tub until it was time to go to dinner.

Some people don't but I acutally enjoy The Hangout.  The kids LOVE it too.  I got the cutest video of John Cole getting down on the big blue chair before dinner.  And of course the foam party is a hit.  Afterwards, we went to get "Hot Dots" and then we were all super tired and headed home to bed.

Monday: Daddy is back!  I know he had to be tired but he rallied.  We of course spent the morning on the beach, grabbed a quick lunch in town then headed off the the Pirate Adventure.  Seriously, this was a top notch deal that I wasn't expecting that much from.  We hunted for treasure, we got our pirate gear, we ambushed another ship, we swabbed the deck and we even had a little friendly water balloon fight.  So fun.  That night Mommy and Daddy went on a quick date to The Gulf then came back to hunt crabs with P.  Preston is Soooooooooooo good at catching living things.  He caught at least 30 crabs very quickly.  Three of them were HUGE.  They were entertainment all day on...

Tuesday:  ALL BEACH ALL DAY.  Peanut butter sandwiches and watermelon by the pool.  Lots of sun and lots of fun.  Perfect.  We all cleaned up and went to The Wharf and had a wonderful meal at Villagio Grill.  Then we hit the ropes course.  Preston wasn't tall enough to go alone so Jeff and I both did it with him.  Shelby supervised John Cole on the "baby" ropes course.  (Sooooo cute!) Anywhoo, I think Jeff and I both thought P would be scared when he got up but he ROCKED it.  I was so proud of him.  We were all hot and tired when we got done :)

Wednesday: Straight home with a quick donut stop.  John Cole loved his Fruit Loop donut. Only on vacation would this be allowed :)

Lots of sandy hugs and kisses from my boys this week.  Wouldn't trade this time with them for anything in the entire world.  Please pray for the family of Annie Smith Carrier...she will be missed!