Our 1st Family Vacation

Hello again! We just returned from a wonderful, family vacation in Gulf Shores, AL. I went there many times as a kid (and with Duane when we were older) with my family so it was really special to take Olivia there for her first summer vacation. We stayed at Seawind Condominiums with my parents and it couldn't have been more perfect! We flew into Pensacola and my parents picked us up - along with our mountain of luggage, car seat and stroller. I do need to mention one thing - the day before we left St. Paul, Liv started showing symptoms of another ear infection so I took her into the doctor and sure enough, another ear infection. This is the 3rd time she's had an ear infection before a trip! Packing on Friday night was tough for her, as you can see below.

Our condo was in a great location and had a really nice kiddie pool. We even had a 3rd bedroom but Liv wasn't fond of it so we ended up putting her pack-n-play in the laundry room each night....random, I know! The first day there she went down to the beach and the pool. The beach was fun but a little difficult with her - she's not walking yet so crawling in the hot sand didn't work too well. She was quite the beach babe, though!

Duane and his girls

After a big wave came up and splashed Liv in the face, she made it clear that she had had enough! So, we moved on up to the pool - which she loved. She espeically loved to drink the water - sick!

Dad carrying everything of ours off the beach - what a guy!

Grandpa was an excellent nap assister for Olivia - he would walk her around the parking ramp until she fell asleep and then we'd wheel her into the laundry room! This was seriously the only way to get her to nap!

Each night we all got cleaned up and went out to dinner. The first night we went to the Oyster House and walked around their shopping area. Here's Liv looking oh-so-cute! We also gave her ice cream for the first time after our dinner - she was not that into it, which was a disappointment! I'm sure it'll only be a matter of time, though...

Day 2 was spent at the pool again - Olivia enjoyed floating around in her floaty. Somehow we were able to get her to fall asleep on the beach, so we were all able to soak in the sun for a little bit.

Day 3 we went to the zoo in the morning! The Gulf Shores Zoo is pretty cute and Olivia seemed to enjoy herself. It didn't take long, though, and she was asleep on my shoulder. She seemed to like the white, baby tigers and waved hello at them. The meerkats liked her shoes and tried to grab for them - it was a little freaky!

Nice family zoo photo but Olivia is sleeping!

After the zoo we had some BBQ and headed back to the condo. My parents watched Olivia the rest of the afternoon and Duane and I spent some time on the beach. It was so nice to just sit and not have to chase after a little crawler!

Day 4 was the pool again.

Once Olivia saw this little girl, she took off crawling across the pool

"Drunk Grandpa"

Thursday was my mom's birthday so the girls went to the outlet mall in Foley and then had an afternoon on the beach when we got back, minus Liv, though. We sadly packed up our bags and had one last night of fried shrimp at Sea N Suds. Friday they drove us back to Pensacola and off we all went... 

We took some obligatory sea oats pictures, though - you can't go to Gulf Shores and not do this!