The Beach: Last Day

We all managed to get a little burned over the past couple of days and the excitement was starting to wear, leaving us all a little tired. So the last day was a "chill" day. We took Allie to the pool and let her swim until she was too tired to swim anymore. Then we came inside and took a nice looooong nap. After our nap, we decided to go eat at Lamberts. The food was wonderful..... however....sometime in the past 10 years, they apparently began staffing with work-release guys from the local prisons! The place was being run by a bunch of thugs. They were rude, disrespectful, and actually had the nerve to argue with my mom over whether or not she wanted some fried okra. I was appauled! But the food was good and we ate quickly and left, vowing not to return to that Lamberts.

We had several points left on our card from "The Carnival" so we took Allie and let her ride a few more rides before we had to leave.

On the way out of town, Mom and I needed to visit a piece of Mike Hendricks' History. One summer during college, my dad and one of his friend's built a house in Gulf Shores. His friend owned it for years and my parents used to stay there quite a bit before Josh and I came along. The one and only time that I had been to Gulf Shores before this trip was 10 years ago this summer and we stayed in this house. Just seeing it brought back a flood of memories. Oh! How I wish my Dad could be here with us. He would have a blast with Allie. Sometimes I miss him so much, I feel like it could crush me like a coke can. I would have given anything for him to have been here with us this week. Just for one more vacation. Well, anyway, here are pictures of "His" house:

I have to say....be it Allie's age...or Gulf Shores itself.....this has been the best vacation that I can ever remember!

The Beach: Day 5

Today was a day full of surprises. For starters, our little Pool Princess decided that she wanted to play on the beach. I didn't get to enjoy much of the Ocean because I was busy taking pictures. Up until today, you couldn't tell if we were on vacation at the local Holiday Inn or if we were at the Beach, based on the pictures. Of course, we spent a little time with our friends at the pool too.

This afternoon, we got all dressed up and went out onto the beach for some family pictures. After waiting 30 minutes for my camera to acclimate to the humidity and the heat, we actually got some pretty good pictures. Allie even played along and posed for me! Wow! I could get used to this!

Tonight we went back to our favorite place to eat, Lu Lu's. Note to self: It is never a good idea to order your food after 10:00 at night.....especially if you are going to eat a basket of fried greatness!

The Beach: Day 4

Today was going to be The Shopping Day! Daddy went golfing with his buddies, so Allie, Mimi, and I slept in and then got ready to head to the Outlet Mall. We found a ton of clothes for Allie and Baby Shaw (Allie's cousin who will be here in September). Allie was having a blast. We headed to the next store and as we were going in, Allie said "This is not MY shopping!" We should have turned right around.... Mimi said it best when she said "Allie went from precious to possessed!" She was throwing clothes off the rack....I'm telling ya...it got ugly... QUICK! So we packed up and headed back to the room. After some lunch we put Allie down for a nap. Daddy offered to watch her while we went back and did some more shopping. That probably wasn't his smartest move. We came back with, among many other things, 11 pairs of shoes!

While we were gone, John took Allie to swim in the pool. Of course, she would choose the time when Mimi and I aren't there to swim by herself (well, with floaties...but still...big improvement). John said that once she got a little scared so he pulled her back to him. He said that she looked up at him and said "You're my hero!" He was gloating a little...I think!

Tonight we met up with our friends on the beach. Allie actually enjoyed herself and, get this.... she played in the Ocean! We didn't drive 10 hours just to play in a pool after-all! Allie and her friends played some beach softball. Allie got a really good hit.....she may have a future.....do they have beach softball in Arkansas?

The Beach: Day 3

Today was so much fun! We tried to get Allie to play on the beach again and again she wanted to go to the pool instead. So off to the pool we went. It's day 3 and I still haven't laid on those beach chairs I rented! ......Nor am I any darker than I was when I left on Saturday. Sad story! Hayden came back to play with Allie and we played around in the pool most of the morning.

Tonight we had the most fun ever! We went to a place called The Track....Allie called it "The Carnival" It had Go Carts, Kiddie Rides, and Arcade, and tons of stuff to do. Allie rode Go Carts with Daddy and Mimi. She LOVED the kiddie rides. This precious child has absolutely no fear!



Today was the best day yet!

The Beach: Day 2

Well today stared out pretty much like yesterday. Allie headed to the beach with her daddy while mommy and mimi picked up the condo and got the "Beach" bag packed for a day at the pool! Last night we went to one of the souvenir shops and bought water guns to play with in the pool. Allie's friend Hayden came over to play with her in the pool. Little did he know she was locked and loaded for him when he got there. They had a blast squirting each other with the guns.

Tonight we met up with some of John's college friends that we ran into while we were down here. They have 3 precious girls and Allie thought she was just as big as they were. We went to eat at Lu Lu's and I have to say it was the most fun I have ever had at a restaurant. There was shopping and lots of play areas for Allie while we waited. Then after we ate, Allie got up and danced to the live music. She even got called up to the stage and got an autograph from the singer. Her daddy and I are a little worried about her teenage years. No concerts for this girl!

So much for the cute outfit.....this was how I found her after 5 minutes with Daddy!

MIA at The Beach....

For all 3 of you who have been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for the next post from the Beach, I wanted to let you know where I went. It seems that I have found the one and only downside of our condo......the internet connection is worse that dial up! It is so slow that it won't even allow me to try and upload pictures. I have been documenting each day but since I cannot attach any pictures, I am going to wait and post when I can add pictures. Sorry for the suspense.....I know you are beside yourself right?! Ha! We are having a blast! Can't wait to share all of our fun stories.

The Beach: Day 1

I am going to try to document our vacation while we are here and I can still remember the funny things.

It took us over 10 hours to drive to the Beach. Allie was wonderful! She stayed awake for 9 of the 10 hours and never fussed once. She was beyond excited to see the Ocean. When we got to the beach it was 6:00 in the afternoon. Before we could even unpack, we had to let her go see the Ocean. On the way to the Ocean, we passed the pool. That pretty much is as far as we have gotten. She plays a little in the morning on the beach with her friends (whether they know her or not!) and then it's off to the pool until nap time.

We went to eat at a great place called the Oyster House. The food was yummy. Allie loved the popcorn shrimp which she called "chicken nuggets" and I tried Aligator for the first time. It did sort of taste like a chicken nugget.

While we were getting ready for bed after have a great first day, I told Allie to come to me to get her pj's on. Her response was "You're not the boss!" Where does she get these things?

So Monday morning, I woke up to find these things on our dresser in the condo. I thought to myself, "Yep...It's going to be a good vacation!"