We got home from our trip to Gulf Shores on Sunday evening which gave me just enough time to unpack, do our laundry, and pile it on the living room chairs. Needless to say I was very unprepared for the work week, but it was totally worth it to spend an entire WEEK at the beach. How do you even summarize a week of amazing into one post?!
Have you ever had one of those vacations that was your saving grace from complete breakdown? That was this vacation for me! I tend to be a list maker and put way too much on my plate. On top of working full-time, being a parent to a toddler, and being 6.5 months pregnant I have also gotten sick so many times this pregnancy. I'm sure it is from the combination of everything, but this trip saved my mind and body from a potential collapse. Seriously.
Not to mention that we live for the water, and when we were in Louisiana we spent as many weekends as possible on the boat or at the beach. Now, it rarely happens, but it is something that gets us back in touch with the world. We got to Gulf Shores on Saturday night, along with a couple of our friends' families. Think 4 children under 4. It actually went along well without too many meltdowns which in our books is a win!
28 weeks pregnant with our girl! Only day I was brave enough for a bikini...
Sunday through Wednesday went a little something like this: Our day started around 7:30 with the ritual of the morning mad-dash to the beach; coffee, breakfast for all, changing into our suits and lathering up, packing the beach bags with snacks and other supplies, and then making our way down. I don't think we ever got there before 11 am even with all of our efforts, but we got really good at preparing to stay all day. We set up two canopies for shade for the kids...and the pregnant lady. We also got a blow up pool and filled it with a very small amount of water so they could stay cool playing with toys without us worrying about waves, etc. Under our tents, food was never sparse and there was a continuous flow of our version of beach tunes playing. We basically set up camp and I pretty much stayed parked in my beach chair, feet buried in the sand, for the majority of the week.
Abram is a certified beach baby. We went on the trip worried; remembering last year when he was terrified of all water, even baths. I put him in the sand and he instantly dove in and rolled around. He rarely had anything else but a handful of sand in his hands. He looked around and took in every morsel of the beach; the birds, the waves crashing on the shore, and he literally ate almost every grain of sand. After filling up his pail and dumping it out about 20 times he would inevitably crawl into my lap {covered in sand} for some kisses and gold fish. By the time the tenth gold fish was dipped in the sand and eaten I decided it was time for an ocean break to clean both of us off. He never even gave one look of fear with the water. He was at complete peace in our arms and enjoyed the rocking waves. By the end of the day, or by the time we were sick of feeling like sand paper, we would head to the pool. Again our little fish was fearless and would jump to us from the side over and over. Last year's swim lessons paid off ;).
There are some days that I know God made this kid JUST for me...it's like he gets me ;)
Thursday it rained so we made it into a shopping day, also known as, walking around to lots of boutiques and then realizing that cute summer clothes aren't in the cards for me this year... so we got ice cream instead.
Friday was our last day. We met some Louisiana friends to ride around the bay on their pontoon boat. We were dodging rain pockets all day, but there was plenty of places to stop for food and drinks while we waited them out. It was Abram's first boat ride and it took a few minutes for him to get his sea legs. Once we started he was in awe; he just kept saying "whoa". He absolutely loved it and when he got tired, the boat's vibrations and white noise would put him right to sleep.
Captain Sina and Abram for his first ride. Both sporting the LSU attire... we did it just for Sina :)
We did make it out to eat one night of the week. Lulu's is a must for any family visiting Gulf Shores. They have good drinks and a live band, and for the young kids they have sand and water to play in. A change of clothes is a good idea; within 5 minutes they were soaked!
Saturday we headed to Lafayette to stay the night. We made a pit stop at an antique shop in Alabama first, and then one more stop to visit Aunt Layla, in New Orleans. I used to visit New Orleans a few times a year, but we hadn't been since before I got pregnant the first time. It was a quick visit. Just enough to see the horses pulling the carriages, look at some beautiful art, listen to the brass bands, and enjoy a Cajun/Creole dinner. When your waiter asks, "what would you like dawlin'?" you know you are in New Orleans.
Playing soccer at the family farm
This week we are back to reality and feeling refreshed, and only slightly depressed that it all had to end. Now that my batteries have been recharged I am ready to tackle our projects that we need to finish before baby. 11 more weeks!
Nikki
