Destin, Florida trip: Part 1 (Warning: major picture overload ahead!)

I am finally getting around to our trip posts. I am finding it a fun yet daunting task. The bottom line is that I take WAY too many pictures, and while I know this, I can't stop myself! My friend, Ali, described it as some type of photo disease. If there is such a thing, I have an extreme case! Ha! I am also not good at downsizing and weeding out the best shots; I love them all! Sooo...no apologies for the ridiculous number of pictures in this post. If you are reading this, you know me, so you aren't surprised! :) At least Holden has plenty of reminders of this trip!

We decided to leave Thursday night, so that we could be in close proximity with Jay's parents, who drove down separately with his sister, Allison, and her friend, Carly. That way, too, Holden could sleep through the night and it would make the long drive easier on all of us. I took a personal day Friday. Holden's sitter dropped him off at my school Thursday afternoon, and Jay picked us up with the van all loaded and ready to go. We were off! I have to say, Holden did a MUCH better job of entertaining himself in the van this year. It's nice that he's old enough to watch DVD's and play with travel toys. We also read a lot of books and sang a lot of songs, danced to music on the radio, and pointed out anything and everything we could see out the window. If I had a dime for every time he said, "A TRUCK!" I could have paid off our entire trip. :) Thank goodness for the Wiggles, as they had his rapt attention for a good leg of the drive. And when all else failed, snacks did the trick. Nothing like bribing your child with food! He did not, however, sleep as well through the night as last year. He fell asleep around 8pm, but woke up on and off crying and fussing every so often. I think he was just uncomfortable. He likes to sleep on his tummy at home. Jay and I had to laugh at some hilarious sleep-talking outbursts that took place. At one point, he threw his arms up in the air and yelled, "WHEE!" Then he dropped his head to the side and was out cold again. We arrived around 6am, beating Jay's family. Since we couldn't check into the hotel for a few hours, and Holden was sleeping soundly at that point, we pulled a total white trash move and slept in a Walmart parking lot! Lol! When we woke up-scratch that-when Holden woke us up-we ate breakfast at a Cracker Barrel. Holden thought the peg game was pretty cool.

Once we met up with Paul, Tami, Allison, and Carly, we were able to check in early and head to the beach. Destin lost a great deal of its beach to the hurricane a few years back, and they are slowly trying to rebuild. Near our hotel were some construction workers scooping up sand. They saw how fascinated Holden was with the truck, and offered to let him help dig! He was on cloud nine! It's all he talked about the rest of the week, and when we show people the picture album now, he always requests the "truck page."

Aunt Ally and Carly wasted no time in testing out the (freezing!) water temperatures. This was before we had even checked in. Destin got very warm (mid 70's) around 10:00 and lasting until around 2:00, but was chilly in the mornings and evenings. I think Holden would have ran in after them if Memaw wasn't there!

We saw a dead stingray on the beach. It was pretty neat to see one up so close!

The beach was beautiful. Pure white sand and crystal clear water in beautiful shades of blue. Sigh. I missed it from the moment we left! If I ever win the lottery...! Holden found a little "sand hill" that he liked to climb up and run down. Lots of pictures ensue; he was too darn cute!

He looks like a little surfer dude! :)

Nothing like a tushy shot!

Ahh, the scenery

Taking a break to lay out?! (This only lasted a second.)

He tried to see what was so cool about laying out like Aunt Ally and Carly...so cute! This only lasted a second, too.

"Hey, Grandpa, want some sand?"

Needless to say, Holden required a bath everyday before nap time since he had sand head to toe. As you can see, he didn't mind! He loved playing with his shovel and net in the tub.

This is the view out of our 6th floor balcony. You can see our pool, hot tub, pavilion, and the gorgeous ocean view. Does it get any better than this?

Another balcony view of the beach. Man, I wish I was there right now!

I had to add this one of the "diggers" for Holden since it was the highlight of his trip! He'd beg to be held on the balcony so he could watch them. I think he was the only one excited about the noise!

Palm tree shot with Daddy! We took a walk the first night along the front of our hotel and the rest of the street.

Rear view :)

Holden and Mommy in front of our hotel sign.

Think of the theme from Jaws...."doo doo doo doo..." Everyday around 4:30, sharks and stingrays surfaced near the beach. A local told us it was mating season, and supposedly they don't eat when they are mating. I don't know who would want to take their chances, but we did see several surfers literally within touching distance of the sharks! They'd just float on by. Crazy! They were not around at all during the day, but they came out like clockwork in the late afternoon. Scary, but really cool to see so close! I got some shots from our balcony. Holden now knows the word, "Shark!"

There are three in this picture if you look closely. Two on the left; one is farther back but you can make out a dark shape. Jay and his dad counted 15 one night!

Holden and Mommy being goofy before bed on our first night. We were so happy to be on vacation!

Chillin' with Daddy on the couch before bed. We had a great first day! More posts to follow; stay tuned! (A big thanks to Ali Moser for showing me how to post multiple pictures off Picasa...as you can see I made the most of it!) :)