Sunday, August 17, 2014

Family Vacation 2014...Santa Rosa Beach, Florida!


Our summer has come to an end with a bang! We spent our family vacation this year with our good friends the Eggers and the Devines in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida (#vacationwithfriends)!  We left from Houston last Sunday morning and made an overnight stop in New Orleans, Louisiana.  We stayed in a quaint hotel one block off Rue Bourbon, so we were able to show the kids the local flair and flavor.  I don't think they knew what to think of all that was going on (#parents of the year). Day two consisted of another day of driving to our rented beach house.  The next four days were spent on the beach and in the house pool.  The girls also got a chance to visit Seaside for some shopping and we all got to test out some really great restaurants.  Naturally on Friday morning it was hard to leave!  We pushed all the way home instead of breaking up the trip like on the way there.  After 15.5 solid hours on I-10, two delirious parents and three sleeping kids pulled into the driveway at midnight.  What a wild week!

Horsing around in our New Orleans hotel room.
Two days of driving and the Big Easy were too much for this little one.   Ellie couldn't quite make it through the first walk on the beach.
She started to get the hang of it!  Yay for Ellie's first vacation!
In no time at all Ellie was enjoying the ocean!
For the first day on the beach, Penny preferred the sand to the crashing waves.
By the second day, she was joining the other kids in the ocean!
This adventurous kid just couldn't get enough of the beach!
Different this time around was Daddy was in charge of the camera most of the time.  Mama made a few of the pictures!
We finished every beach trip with a dip in the house pool.  I think the kids had just as much fun there as the beach!
Cooper kept everyone entertained by putting on a show jumping in the pool.  He kept telling everyone to watch by saying "Everyone shut it down!"  and  "Look at my eyes!"
HUGE this trip was Miss Penny becoming so much braver both on the beach and in the pool.  She started swimming across the pool underwater!  We were so proud of her!
Look who can write his name in the sand?
We really enjoyed our time spent with these folks!  
And these people!
All the kids (Six in all!) had such a great time playing together!
We had two nannies (Not my term, they asked to be called that!) accompany us on the trip.  The kids always had someone to play with take care of them and the adults got to have some adult time! 
 Thanks again Reagan and Paige for all your help!
Daddy and Penny at the end of the last beach day.  We had so much fun we are already talking about next year's trip!

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