The Beach

We packed up last weekend and took our kids on our first ever family vacation. We flew Sunday to Tampa and drove over to Redington beach for the week. Adam loved the airplane ride. He was so good and happy to finally be on a plane. He talked non-stop about being up in the sky the whole time.

Our condo was great and had a beautiful view. We went straight to the beach after a quick nap for Adam. It was his first time sleeping in a big bed and he did great. In fact, as soon as we got home we took down his crib to keep the good luck going. Everyone seemed to love the beach and the ocean. We were really excited.

We spent our evenings on the balcony watching the sunset. We thought our kids could stay up long enough to play on the beach in the evening, but they were worn out and tired. They stuck to their usual bedtimes. Matt and I got to spend our evenings outside relaxing. Adam did discover how fun it was to throw things off our 5th floor balcony. We lost a lot of our sand toys within the first 2 days and the day before we left, he tossed a coaster and the remote. The guys at the pool thought it was funny and luckily no one was hurt (except the remote).

We were back at the beach on day 2 to try and build a sandcastle for Layla. Before we left, all she wanted was a sand castle big enough to get in. It turns out, she and Adam just wanted to keep knocking down our castles. We gave up after about an hour. We did make an octopus and a giant hole.

Monday night we took everyone to the original Hooters. They were less than impressed. They enjoyed the ice cream on the pier and the music from the bar below.

Tuesday the seas were rough and it was overcast, so we choose that day for the water park. Layla went down exactly one slide and was done. Hannah could have had fun there for days. Adam did some slides and the wave pool. I even went down a few slides. It was fun, but we didn't last long. By noon we were ready to head back for a nap. That is a pretty expensive day, so we will be holding off for a few years before going back. Our other option would be to get some helpers or leave Layla at home. She sure is cute, but for $40, she enjoyed watching water squirt out of this hole.

Adam and dad in the wave pool.

We had a very windy walk on the beach later in the evening. We did have a family picture taken, but Adam was pulling my shirt, so it is really just a picture of my bra. Not blog material.

We had plenty of beach time and swimming. Layla and Adam did not want to swim in the ocean ever again, so we took turns swimming with Hannah and building random things on the beach.

They sure did love swimming at the pool though. Our condo had a nice pool right on the beach. I was obsessive with the sunscreen and made sure no one got burned. It was exhausting and relaxing at the same time. Now that we are home, I am trying to chisel off those 72 layers of sunscreen.

Wednesday, we went on a dolphin watching boat cruise. It was fun for them to be on a boat and we did end up finding a bunch of dolphins. I had never seen one before so it was neat.

On board the boat we got each kid their own can of pepsi. They loved it, but were pretty wound up. Adam talked in his bed until well after 9. He just talked and sang to himself until the caffine finally wore off.

On our last day, we played mostly at the beach and the pool. We did make a run to the candy kitchen to pick out some fun retro candy. Everyone got to fill their own bag of candy. There is something purely joyful about kids in a candy store.

It was a great vacation and we hope to go back in a couple of years. Next year, we tackle Disney.