Destin!!!!

We left Friday afternoon and drove to Rachel's apartment in Little Rock. It didn't get us very far, but it was free, rather than booking a hotel further down the road. We continued on Saturday and despite a few diaper blowouts had an okay ride. We got there around 5pm on Saturday and after putting the kids to bed, the ladies headed to Walmart for the big grocery run. YIKES!!!! It was busier than Disneyworld. I think it took us two hours to get everything. We were definitely ready for bed that night!

Sunday morning before church: (thanks Dad, for teaching us that no matter where you are, it's always important to find a place to worship God each Sunday - even when you're at the beach!)
Sunday afternoon beach time:

The men digging a hole:

Our house came with an AWESOME street-legal golf cart. A TOTAL life-saver. No sand in the cars!

The playground at the complex:

The swimming pool at the complex:

Enjoying a little play-doh fun:

We went to Fudpucker's for dinner one night. They have a cool restaurant and an even cooler area called Gator Beach - lots of alligators and other fun stuff:

Check out the bathtub in the master suite at the house!:

Story time:

Destin Commons: (kind of like the Promenade)

Bass Pro Shop:

The Gulfarium (kind of like a mini-mini-mini-Seaworld):

Thanks, Amanda, for thinking to bring bubbles!:

Of couse, you can't go to Destin without doing the family photoshoot on the beautiful white sand (Ethan was feeling less than photogenic and not so pleased with the whole idea):

Our drive back was an unreal experience. We left at 11am on Saturday (with the intention of driving the whole way back without stopping for the night) and within an hour or two Ethan puked all over himself and his carseat. It was really bad. After getting cleaned up, we continued on only to run into a horrible traffic jam that left us stuck on a two-mile stretch of highway for about 3 hours. Ethan was getting restless, so we just decided to let him out of his carseat and roam around the van. Shortly after climbing in my lap he pukes again. The other adventure from the traffic jam would be witnessing a grown woman in the car behind us put her car in park, walk to her front bumper, drop her pants, and urinate RIGHT ON THE ROAD!!! I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go! Anyway, we finally got moving again and by 11:30 that night decided we couldn't go anymore - we needed to get a hotel. Unfortunately for us, we stopped in Tupelo, which was hosting some sort of Little League World Series, and there were no vacancies in the whole city. We eventually found a hotel, if you can call it that. We enjoyed the cockroaches that slumbered with us. We got back on the road by 8am and drove, and drove, and drove, and FINALLY got home around 4pm. Mark my words - we will NEVER, EVER, drive to a destination that is 12+ hours away. WE WILL FLY, NO MATTER WHAT IT COSTS.

Sorry for all the details, but I want to remember them forever! Hope you got a few chuckles at our expense.

Awesome trip, though. Nothing like having such close friends and family that you can spend the week with in a beautiful house, with beautiful surroundings. Love you Thibs and Grubbs!