Vacation

Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, Alabama have become a favorite vacation spot of ours .... it was our second trip down there in as many years.  We liked it just as much this time as we did last year. 

This year, our friends Nikki and Joshua and their 6 month old daughter, Persephone, joined us for the trip.  My parents also drove down and stayed with us for a few days.

This year, we stayed  in the Gulf Shores area, just west of the little lagoon pass, about 3 miles from the main T separating Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.  Our house was across the street from the ocean, but was directly on the water of the back bay lagoon.  We enjoyed fishing from our pier, kayaking and paddle boarding in our backyard, and just being able to sit on the deck and enjoy seeing the water in front of us.  The beach was only a short walk across the street, or a moderate paddle through lagoon pass.  One day when we were on the beach, we were treated to a private air show by the Blue Angles who did their practice run along the coast right in front of us.

One day, Nikki and I went glass blowing.  I made a paperweright.  She made a hollow glass ball for the christmas tree.  Both turned out awesome.

One night, we all went out to eat at the Oyster House (thanks mom and dad!).  Carolyn ate (and liked) raw oysters.  I love that she will try just about any type of food. Another night, we cooked an entire thanksgiving dinner at home.  Most nights we cooked at the house, taking turns who cooked and who cleaned.  My parents babysat one evening, so the adults went to experience the famous "Florabama" bar.  It was pretty tame on a Tuesday night, but I can see how it gets roaring during summer and spring break.

Other than that, we went go-carting, putt-putting, played laser tag, wasted a lot of money in an arcade, and overall just enjoyed the time to be together -- whether it was cooking for one another, building sand castles on the beach, watching movies, or napping with each other.  The girls and I went to the zoo and saw 7-week old bengal tiger cubs.  And, on our final night, we went to a beach restaurant that had a haunted house.  After Carolyn did the child version, she said she wanted to try to "real" haunted house.  Steve took her and said it was legitimately scary.  She loved it.

Elizabeth loved the ocean and probably would have been swept away with the current if we were not careful, but I think she was most happy on vacation when she was half-naked eating watermelon and sitting on the porch swing.

Next year's trip can't come soon enough.