Destin

We had such a nice, relaxing trip to Destin, Florida last weekend. We ended up staying an extra night, because when Saturday rolled around, we just didn't want to leave yet. Emery was a wee bit excited about the ocean...as in took off running for the waves the minute her little feet hit the sand:

When she saw a wave coming in, she became giggly and excited, then a bit scared as it got closer, then laughed as it washed over her legs.

The white sand was beautiful and no less loved by Emery than the water

This little girl had sand everywhere! Her hair, eyebrows, etc. Surprisingly, she only attempted to eat it once. After that, she was content to just drop handfuls of it onto everything we had brought with us to the beach (including me, as I sat reading a book in the camping chair). 

We tried to build a sandcastle, but Emery's destructing of it was quicker than Pete and I's building. 

A tip for painting a toddler's toes: do it while she's strapped in her high chair! Emery couldn't see what I was doing to her toes over the big tray and she held perfectly still, concentrating on the cool sensation tickling her toenails. Afterward, she loved looking at and touching the bright pink color.

Our two days in Destin went, more or less, like this: wake up, eat breakfast, go for a run, change and lather on sunscreen, pack up the beach stuff and walk a few blocks to the beach, play in the sand and water, come home and eat lunch, all take naps, go out and about, eat dinner, come home and read books/watch movies, and go to sleep! After our first day, all three of us came home from the beach sunburned (me the most, Emery the least). The next day, we vowed to not let that happen again and spent FOREVER lathering on the sunscreen. We're talking triple and quadruple thick layers, plus re-applying after a couple hours. And it worked! We could have just put more clothes on, I suppose. But ohmygoodness it was HOT and HUMID. We missed the record breaking 106 degrees in Atlanta, but by the time we got back home, the heat and humidity combination felt just like Florida. I guess summer has finally hit the south.

Other activities in Destin included shopping at the (supposedly nation's largest) outlet mall, which was fun and a good way to enjoy some time indoors with AC. Also, we drove down to Destin Harbor and ate dinner right next to the water. It was fun to watch the boats come in, and watch the fishermen unloading their fish. We were typical tourists and kept asking questions about the different kinds of fish we were seeing :) It was pretty amazing how quick these people could filet a fish!

One huge money saver was that we only had to buy a couple meals while we were there (I had packed a TON of food in a huge cooler). Next time, we'll do a little more research to make sure we find good restaurants, because we weren't too impressed with any of the food we bought. Sadly, Emery caught a cold while we were there, so she's got a runny nose and yucky cough (Pete and I joke that she's got sand in her lungs). Overall, it was so fun to enjoy a little family vacation, just the three of us and we're grateful that the beautiful Florida beach is within driving distance from where we live. It makes for the perfect weekend getaway!