Destin Beach Vacation

 One of the perks of living where we do is that our stay-cations will nearly always beat another family's stay-cation.

 Last week, Eric's family flew in and accommodated us by having the family vacation in Destin.  We had to drive across a bridge.  We all stayed in an incredible house with a private pool.  And a balcony.  I loved the balcony.  If stores and other houses took my advice, I'd make the nursing room a balcony.  Preferably overlooking a pool.  Maybe with a fridge or coffee maker.  Or butler.  Bonus, when you no longer are in need of a nursing area, it could just be a cozy place to read a book or take a nap or drink something cold from the fridge or a nice cup of coffee or tea.

 You all can thank Grandma for the vast majority of these pictures.  Eric took a couple as well.  I don't think I ever picked up the camera.  I generally had a 20 pound baby in my arms...(see below picture)

 That being said, having the private pool was awesome.  Our family spent hours there.  I went a tad overboard purchasing inflatable objects for the pool (they were all on clearance).  But, I certainly enjoyed floating around on the raft, even if I was almost always accompanied by a child.  (And bumper rafts was a short, but big hit!) John loved the water and a bonus to this was he did not feel nearly as heavy.

 When we were not hanging out by the pool or eating or hanging out at the pool AND eating, we were playing cards or checkers.

 I overheard the Dom, Will, Eric and Scuba organize a checker tournament.  Naturally, I wanted in, but I was too late that particular day (my eldest told me this with the most sympathy one could muster).  Dom, being the tournament loving kid he is, jumped at the chance to organize a bigger tournament.  Will offered to watch John while I played (and lost) my game.

 Between the days off from Labor Day and then the vacation in Destin, Eric got to spend some quality time with his newest son.  But, he was willing to give him up for some one-on-one time with Grandpa.

 One of my favorite aspects of beach vacations is how laid back they are.  You have nowhere to be.  Since it was post Labor Day, we didn't even have to worry about beating the tourist crowds for a spot on the beach. 

 A part of the beach house rental were two golf carts we could use to drive back and forth to the beach.  Everyone loved that.  Actually,  I realized on the last morning that really my kids just need a pool and golf carts to make them think they are having the best vacation ever.  It probably helps that they have super fun a family to hang out with also.

Ok, so this was the one picture I took: (I quit on a high note, don't you think?  I like that Eric and Brian are in the background)

 On Sunday morning, we all got up and dressed for beach pictures.  My three eldest were not pleased that they had to dress up...again!  Molly plaintively cried that she didn't want to wear church clothes again.  But, despite their minor mutiny, we got some lovely shots.  All with our camera and the special feature of "get lucky" on Picasa.  I was pretty pleased with the results!

 And here we have John playing with his younger cousin who we are looking forward to meeting in November! 

We all had such a wonderful time and Eric went back to work actually relaxed.  We realized this was the first time in 9 years that he'd had that much time off and there was not a mega roadtrip involved.  The difference is incredible. That being said, I still have at least three bags to un-pack.  Some things do stay the same.