The Reed Family: Beach Trip

We got back yesterday from a week long beach trip. It was just what the doctor ordered for all of us. It wasn't the most relaxing vacation I have ever had (is any vacation relaxing with small children???), but it was so nice to get away, forget about work, and focus on one thing--our little family!

We did not have one drop of rain until yesterday morning when we were leaving. It was perfect weather the whole week! It was a bit windy though, and there was a red flag all week, so there wasn't much getting in the ocean, not that I would have gotten in very far anyway with all the sea life we saw too!

Most days were spent on the beach and in the pool multiple times. Harrison wasn't much of a fan of the sand, but Hudson wasn't either at this point. He was tolerable of it though, so we could at least be down there. Once we got the baby pool out down there, between that and snacks, he was good to go.

He was fearless in the pool though and by the end of the week was refusing to put on the puddle jumper. Oh how we have a wild one.

We flew kites on the beach at sunset. Does it get any better than this???

My buddy and me, who was attached to me all week. Daddy would not do, but that's ok!

These two had so much fun digging holes in the sand.

Most nights after dinner, we would head out to the bluff and watch the sunset (Hudson's request every night!), and all the kids would congregate and play until dark. The parents would drink their cocktails and gossip and watch the little ones wear themselves out even more. It's what we used to do down there growing up and it's so fun watching the tradition continue!

It was good sleeping down there for the most part. We did not have a crib, so we took our bed rails and Harrison slept big boy style and did great! I was worried he would not want to go back to the crib last night, but he was fine. Only problem was that he and Hudson would wake up at the crack of dawn and come out before 7 everyday. They came out of their room with these little devious smiles on their faces and were ready for the day!

Right after the above picture was taken, we watched the "big kids" catch a black racer snake in the courtyard. Not my favorite activity of the week, but Hudson was right there in the middle of the action. He was not afraid in the least! I immediately texted my mom because I remember having to take one of those black racers home in a bucket with us one summer. Vann was always catching snakes down there. That is one thing I will never ever be doing!

One night we headed down to Rosemary for the Kids Rock the Block party. It sounded like a good idea until Hudson wanted to get his face painted and the line for it was literally an hour long. Forget the bounce houses or the balloon man. It was the only thing he wanted to do. So, we waited. Thankfully, the evening could not have been more beautiful!

It was worth the wait!

He got just what he wanted--a blue dragon face! Definitely the high for the day. The low for the day was removing the blue paint! :(

He got his hair spray painted to match!

To break up the routine a bit, we headed down to Destin on Wednesday to look at the boats and eat at Harry T's. I highly recommend Harry T's if you have kids. We sat outside and watched the boats come in and out of the harbor and you would have thought it was the best thing the kids have ever done. They loved it. Then, we walked down the docks and checked out the boats. Fun stuff for little boys!

We also hit up Alys Beach a good bit as it is just a short stroll from our place. The donut truck was a must on several days, and Hudson and Joel even rode down there on their bikes one day to get us breakfast. I was so proud of my little guy for doing that with such little experience with his bike. He only fell 3 times according to Joel! :)

One of the kids' favorite activities was the Alys Beach splash pad. We will definitely be hitting that up again. Harrison had so much fun knocking everyone over and unfortunately hurt a little girl (I'm telling you, he is a bruiser). I would get out of the way if I saw him coming at me!

Then it was back to the pool for more fun!

I tried getting a picture of them on the beach. No such luck. Maybe next year!

We always have to eat at the Red Bar, so we did that Friday night. It did not disappoint. Live bands = my kids dancing the night away. I caught a lady video taping them on her I-phone. I thought that was kind of weird???

We then got some pictures after dinner. I had wanted to get some on the beach, but with Harrison not really loving the sand, we thought better of it and found this cute little dock near the Red Bar. Unfortunately, we were not able to stay but for about 5 minutes for fear that Harrison would jump off the dock. :)