Beach Bummin'

Whoa, I just went through and counted...this post contains 43 pictures! That's outrageous, I know. Who are my true friends and family that came make it ALL THE WAY to the end?! :-)

Where did the week go? We had all been looking forward to this week for months, and like things usually happen--it came and went SO fast! The Ege's and us had such a fabulous time, and I must say that our little kiddos were A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. It took us 10 hours to get there. Yes, TEN hours. Let me just say, I am not a fan of car rides, so I was imagining Abby to be in hysterics by hour 4 (because that's the longest she's ever traveled, and usually by the end of it, she's done.) But both Caleb and Abby were great. No huge crying fits by either child...yes, of course, they got fidgety and fussy a few times, but all in all--they rocked :-)

Now, on to what you are really interested in...my PICTURES! Obviously, I took a lot--200 or so. I actually thought I would've taken more, but still 200 pictures is a lot to choose from.

We'll see how many of you are able to bear with me all the way until the end of this post :-)

Day 1
We left at 5:30am. Yuck! But this actually helped and seemed to make the trip go quickly. The kids fell back asleep an hour and half or so, and we arrived in Destin, FL around 3:30pm.

Walking to the beach

First time on the beachI LOVE this picture of Josh and Abby!Our familyThe Ege FamilyThe Beasley Family...footprints in the sand :-) (Hopefully you can tell, but just in case...in order from left: Josh's, Abby's, mine) As we were walking down to the beach this night, a wedding had just taken place...so I snapped a shotDay 2
It was overcast and probably in the lower 70s. The water was chilly, and Abby wasn't a huge fan of the sand (or water for that matter). I tried keeping a hat on her head, which was pointless because within seconds of putting in on her head, she pulled it right off. She had a cute little pink cover-up, too. She didn't mind it.Josh and I were in Destin 3 years ago, and our favorite restaurant was The Back Porch. We went there this night, and got a lovely family picture. Day 3
This was the "Boy's Day" to play. They decided to go deep sea fishing. Matt mentioned wanting to go. Josh had never done it before, but wanted to go. They left at 6:30am, and the place they picked was a 4 hour deal. My poor Josh. Going deep sea fishing made him sick, but he wasn't down for the count! He got sick on the way out, then felt better and caught some fish, then on the way back in he got sick again. The deck hand said if anyone got sick, and threw-up overboard it would just make the fish start biting, so hey, he was just trying to help everybody out. And it worked! Josh caught 2 red snapper (and one was 8lbs!), and Matt caught 3 red snapper. Amongst the other 4 people that went on this, they got to bring back to the beach house some grouper and king mackrel, too. Josh was so proud he brought dinner home for us!

Here's the fish the whole gang caughtThe gang A rainbow Josh saw while he was out Day 4
This was the "Girls Day" to play. Kim and I went and had spa pedicures. This was my first pedicure of my whole entire life. I thought it would bother me for someone to touch my feet. It was OK, but I do NOT like it when they have to file your toe nails. That didn't feel great, but other than that, it was a lovely experience. I especially liked the name of the toe nail polish I picked..."Cajun Shrimp." Sorry, I don't have any pictures of my toe nails :-) Then Kim and I went to eat at the Broken Egg Cafe--yummy! And finally, the only way to make a girls day complete...we shopped! That night we at at this place called Pompano Joe's. It had a fantastic view of the ocean. We got one family picture (but we didn't capture the great view in the background...I have no idea why). Day 5
The Ege's were gracious enough to watch Abby so Josh and I could catch an awesome 2 hour jet ski guided tour to see dolphins! It was such a fun time, although freezing. I must first say that I am totally a jet ski girl in the LAKE. Jet skiing in the OCEAN is very, very different. Josh got an earful of screams, and I sang at the top of my lungs to keep my mind busy and occupied. I'm not a fan of salt water splashing into my eyes either. Once we got out of the ocean part, I was totally fine. We did see dolphins, and that was totally amazing! The pictures are scanned in because we bought a disposable water camera and had these pictures developed already. I'm one of those dorky people that got a picture with our tour guide (his name was Tim), and the group of people that jet skied with us. All for memories sake, of course :-)

One of the dolphins was even closer than this, but we never knew for sure exactly when they were going to come out of the water. This is the best shot we got. When we got back from our jet skiing, we went down to the beach with the Ege's. Look at their little cutie :-)
Abby in her sweet strawberry swimsuit
This is how Abby spent a lot of her time on the beach...bundled up in a towel because the wind was so strong and chilly off the water Day 6
Josh and I had a date night this night. (Don't worry, this trip wasn't all about us. The Ege's had their date night the night before!)
Josh and I went out to eat at A.J's. It was good, but it wasn't my favorite--nothing beats The Backporch and Pompano Joe's! Then we played putt-putt (and had a little fun with the animals on the course!)

Leaving on our dateHoping the putt-putt people don't kick us out anytime soon

Josh had wanted to bungee jump, but for some reason it was closed...so he did the sky-flyer instead. (Video to follow of this event) Day 7
This was our last day to do stuff around Destin. We all pretty much just hung out, and Josh and I took Abby to the beach one last time. In the first part of the day, we all went back to the putt-putt place because they had small kiddie rides for Caleb and Abby to enjoy. Abby got to ride a carousel and train. What fun :-)

Beach time
Caleb in Abby's beach cover-up (looking like a ballerina, ha!)Back from the beach, at our pool This night we went and ate at The Twisted Palm. I have to tell ya'll this story. So we're just sitting, eating our appetizer when this guy (later to find out the manager) comes up to Abby and says, "Well hey there beautiful blue eyes." My guess is, he just came up so quickly that it startled her because she burst into tears. Like 10 minutes later we're all eating and Abby bursts out crying again. I'm thinking what the heck? I look up, and way down the way the manager guy has come outside again and was just waving at Abby from afar. Abby is giving this poor guy a complex, I'm sure! So he wants to bring her a treat! He just WALKS past her, doesn't even look at her...she bursts out crying. The WEIRDEST thing I've ever seen! When we walked out, I covered her eyes so she wouldn't see him so we could leave peacefully! Remember the Easter bunny story? It was JUST like that, but this guy didn't even have on a weird looking suit!
This is what the manager made for her. She thought it was fun once we were away from that place!
Alright folks, this now concludes our 7 night stay in Destin, FL. Whew! Are you exhausted? I know I am! I do have a video I'd like to post, but I'm too pooped to do it right now. You'll have to check back for some funny clips later.

Aunt Linda--you'll have some MAJOR printer ink loss after all these pictures :-)