Gulf Shores

Fall is in full force and I am loving the changing winds and leaves.  The chill in the air is incredible (and great for running) but leaves me missing the hot summer sun just a smidge.  What I am really missing is the beach.  We took a family vacation to the beach back in August and oh my, we had a great time!

I learned something about Gulf Shores during the last week of August, it is toddlerville USA.  Yep, everywhere you look (cue Full House theme song) there are babies and toddlers.  This means if you don't want to hear breakdowns on the beach or don't want to eat dinner next to some nap-deprived, sun bleached sweeties I would plan my trip for a different week.  We went to the beach with my parents, we will call them Meme and Grumpa.  It was awesome being at the beach with them because it left me alone at least once with just the beach and my book and  Steve and I were able to go down to the hot tub at night by ourselves a couple times.  We also found out that said toddler's (and preschoolers) parents brought a set of grandparents along too.  We found ourselves in the hot tub with other parents who were excited to be downstairs in the cool beach air while the bedtime battles were raging upstairs.

There were a few discoveries on this trip: Steve really likes Limearitas, as does my dad.  Isla can't stand the sand, she didn't even want her feet in it.  This is difficult at the beach.  Cian did not want to go anywhere near the ocean and wanted to spend all his time at the pool.  I mean I love the pool but there is nothing like the ocean breeze.  Running on sand is like running in quicksand, and I don't mean it makes you quick.  There is a certain serenity about being at the beach and putting all your daily responsibilities aside for a week.

The good news is that Isla warmed up to the sand and would finally sit on it on a beach towel.  For most of the week she wanted to be sitting right on top of you on a chair.  Cian also warmed up to the ocean on our last day there and loved running around and diving into the water.

I did go on a couple runs there, one was an excruciating three mile run on the sand. While it was beautiful to watch the sun come up on the ocean it was difficult to keep my feel from sliding down into the sand and I was constantly playing a game of dodge the craters.

The most amazing thing about being on vacation was just spending time with my family and truly enjoying them each moment of the day for an entire week.

This was Cian's "pirate ship" bed.  He loved it but wanted someone to sleep in there with him every night

Sometimes vacation doesn't bring what we want it to

Our chairs for the week

It did storm quite a bit while we were there but that couldn't stop our fun!

I loved that the trash chutes said rubbish.  I said it in a British accent every time I saw one

baby foot + alligator

Isla loved napping by the water

Playing with Grumpa

Put Put Night

Cian won of course

listening together

I miss this

enjoying a strawberry on the beach

nap time for both kids!

We stopped by the giant shark on our way out and he tried to eat us!