This month I finally got my Florida beach vacation! Our little family of 3 went to Sandestin Florida Beach Resort for a CME conference and a very relaxing get away. When I say relaxing, I mean the most relaxing vacation I think I've ever had. Travis and I didn't do the usual adventurous stuff, but instead went by Dallen's schedule and just played with him on the beach, in the ocean and in the pool. I didn't expect to be so content with it just being the 3 of us; I thought it would be more fun to have family or friends come. But it was a great family time bonding experience (so cliche, but true!). Each day was basically a combination of napping and playing on the beach and/or at the pool. Here are some of the highlights:
Dallen LOVES the sand. Sandestin has fine white sand beaches. He was just happy sitting under the umbrella smashing the mini-sand castles I was building for him. On the last day I finally got with it and made him a little hill with a moat around it. He just crawled around and around the hill and on top of it smashing all the sand pots. It was so cute to watch. A couple of times he played so hard that he just chilled and drifted off to sleep in the beach chair.
Dallen also started crawling around with his forehead in the sand, kind of like a human bulldozer. It was so funny to watch. He did it the most one night when we went down to the beach for a bonfire with the conference, probably because the sand was cooler then. What a cutie!
Dallen definitely liked the pool better than the ocean. He actually didn't warm up to the ocean until the last day or 2 and the last day was way windy with a strong current. But the pool, that he loved. Travis got him to sit on the side and 'jump' in, and he loved it!
Travis and I did spend some time in the ocean, each taking turns holding Dallen or sitting with him on the beach. We both did a lot of boogie boarding, but Travis was definitely more adventurous about it. The first day we got out to the water, a storm was rolling in. Dallen and I ran for cover while Travis kept boogie boarding away. :) Travis also got in a lot of snorkeling but unfortunately there isn't much to look at there. Bonita definitely has a lot more marine life and seashells. He did find his first sand dollar though!
One of the most relaxing moments was when Dallen and Travis went down for a long afternoon nap. I took advantage of the free time and went and sat by the pool with a yummy drink and read my book. City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare turned out to be a great read for the week and I loved being able to sit out in the sun and relax. He's a shot of our condo from the pool.
Another highlight of the trip was visiting the Village at Sandestin and eating dinner at a Cajun restaurant. We had seafood etoufee and it was deeelicious! It was so fun trying something different and eating at a place from both Travis my past.
Our last evening on the beach had a pretty sunset through a distant storm and a happy little Dallen. It was a perfect ending to a perfect week. I love my little family of 3!
