Just Beachin' It!

I am just now getting around to blogging about our vacation to Gulf Shores we took with my family. It's hard to narrow it down with just a few pictures, but I will try! It was so nice to be there for a whole week, and the weather was beautiful the whole time. We got there on Saturday afternoon (March 22) and Caroline couldn't wait to explore the beach. In fact, we put on her bathing suit and sunscreen almost right away so she could have her first beach experience. She wanted to kick the sand at first, with Grandy and Poppy holding on to each of her hands. You can check out her reaction to the beach on the video clip below. Though she seemed to like the beach, Caroline was reluctant to go anywhere near the water.

The next morning was Easter and Caroline got a few presents from the Easter bunny. She even got a taste of a few sweet treats. :) She also got a few things to play with on the beach. The biggest hit of all though was when she opened her new Louie, just like her favorite bear that she takes everywhere. I have never seen her so happy! She kept saying, "Louie, Louie!". The plan is to keep the new Louie in her bed and let her take the ragged one everywhere else. She pretty much forgot about her old Louie and only wanted the new one from then on. He is like the Velveteen Rabbit now- old and worn out and forgotten. She calls the new one "Big Louie" because he is much fluffier than her old one.



The weather was a little cool on Sunday and Monday, so we just stayed by the pool where it was tad warmer. The water was like ice though, so we didn't even attempt to get in. Caroline had so much fun flying a kite on the beach with Ben and Poppy.


The rest of our days were filled with time on the beach and the weather warmed up as the week went on. Caroline never quite got used to the idea of going near the water. In fact, when Ben asked her to help him get some water for the sand castle they were making, her response was, "I watch!". At one point, I was able to get her to come to the shore line to dig in the sand. But then the tide came in and scared her away! She also didn't want to get her hands too dirty and wanted us to wipe off her feet. Caroline really enjoyed all the seagulls and kept waving and saying "Hello!" to them.

Caroline pointing to the seagulls

Building her first sand castle with Daddy

Digging with Mommy- before the tide scared her away!

Chad and Jackie joined us on Wednesday night, and we celebrated Chad's and Caroline's birthdays with a joint party on Thursday night. We had a beach theme of course! Caroline loves to open (op, as she calls it) presents and got some fun toys and cute clothes. We will be celebrating again on her actual birthday in Charlotte.


Chad and Jackie are really good photographers, so they took some pictures of us all on the beach in the classic white and khakis. Good job with the pics, Chad and Jackie! Caroline was very sleepy, so it was difficult to get her to cooperate. We managed to get a few with her though. You can click on the pictures to make them bigger (of course, you experienced bloggers knew that already!).






On our last night there, we went to a great restaurant called Lu Lu's. We were interested to find out that the owner of that restaurant is Jimmy Buffet's sister. We took one last photo op with Caroline on the beach after we got back from dinner.




We did all the stuff that a good vacation is made of: ate lots of good food, spent time together, and relaxed. Caroline didn't seem to realize that we were on vacation though, as she woke up at 5 or 6 am every morning! (ouch!) She also didn't want to eat much which is very unusual for her. Too much excitement for her, I guess! When we got back to Charlotte on Sunday afternoon, it was cold and rainy. Kind of hard to leave a warm and sunny place and come back to colder weather! This week I have been preparing for Caroline's birthday party that we are having on Saturday. Ben's family is coming to help us celebrate with a casual cookout at home. It should be fun! I can't believe my baby is turning two!