The Lamp Post: Beach Vacation 2012

Well, how in the world do you sift through 300 vacation pictures and find the ones to blog???

Here goes.... (I, of course, tried to not include grown ups other than Lonnie and I in our swimsuits; pretty sure our friends would not appreciate that!)

So we left on Saturday night (June 16) and drove about 5 hours to McGeehee, Arkansas and stayed overnight. We got up the next morning and drove about 4 hours to Jackson, Mississippi and stopped for church. After church we drove the last 4 and a half hours to Gulf Shores, Alabama.

All 4 of us got our first ever ferry ride. It was quite an experience! The boys loved that we got to drive the van on the big boat, and liked riding it. It STRESSED me out big time! Eli is so wiggly and wanted to be independent (not held), I was sure he was going to fall in to the Gulf of Mexico.

Our first day on the beach! The boys discovered that the waves were a little rough and scary, and pretty much stayed on the land to build sand castles and dig holes for most of the vacation.

After several hours on the beach, we'd all come in and have lunch. It was quite a sight to see! 8 adults and 9 kids.

After lunch we'd take naps, then usually go back out to the beach while dinner was being cooked. After dinner we'd have group bath time, of course! We gave the 4 youngest boys a bath in our tub most nights.

After bath time...play time! So glad we brought some toys to keep the kids entertained!

On Tuesday, we went to Waterville, USA. I don't know how it began, but WE LOVE WATERPARKS!!! Lonnie and I have been hitting waterparks since our honeymoon in Mexico and have gone to as many as we can since then, and have gotten the kids hooked on them, too. The boys especially loved the wave pool, the lazy river, and the kiddie area.

Next day, beach again! More sand castles to be built. I didn't realize how hard it is to make sand castles! But I think we mastered it...

This is the back of our beach house...

Date Night! Each couple got a night out without the kids. I love a night alone with my man!

Another day, more beach time...

Lonnie was the resident hole digger. The kids loved to splash around and play in them.

At one point, the tide had come in and left a little lake of water on the beach, and the kids just LOVED it! Lonnie used the boogie board to give all the kids rides. I got some really cute videos of the boys being dragged along the beach.

A fish even flung himself up on the beach for us to catch and torment for a few minutes...

Evening walk on the beach...

Ethan finally ventured into the water with Lonnie. He borrowed Allison's floatie and had a blast! The waves didn't seem to scare him when he was with Lonnie (you know, in his big, strong arms). ;)

Harris family picture time...

Lamp family picture time.... Oh, goodness gracious. How is it possible for us to be so UNPHOTOGENIC!!!!!!!! Seriously. Usually it's the kids that give us problems, but even Lonnie was difficult in these pictures! Much too squinty. And of course, if there were any good ones with the boys, then my hair was blowing uncontrollably in my face. But we managed to get a couple of good ones...