Gulf Shores 2011

We spent a week in Gulf Shores last summer for our family vacation. We stayed in a condo next door to friends at a fun complex with a really nice pool and tennis courts. We had a few days of beautiful weather and a few days of rain, but still had a great time!

The seaweed was plentiful :) I don't remember ever seeing so much of it before, but maybe it's because I got spoiled in Mexico!

It took some coaxing to get Grace out into the boat, but once she got in, she loved it!

Mermaid Marion

Jeremy and Marion hunting crabs! I had never done this before Mandi and Josh introduced us to it 2 years ago. It's super fun!!

Grace is a fish in the pool!

Marion loves the pool, as long as she can touch the bottom!

Now, for my funny story of the trip: We booked a dolphin cruise, and we were really excited about it! The morning of trip came and the weather was dark and gloomy. We loaded up in the car anyway, because the boat captain was supposed to call us if it was a no-go due to weather. We were told all about his special on-board radar. Anyway, on the way there, it staring pouring. Not a little, I'm talking crashing lightening, should we pull over to the side of the road weather. Anyway, we got there and waited, and waited a bit longer. It never got any better. We finally gave up. Jeremy and I were heart broken, we had been really looking forward to it. We called our friends who had given up a while before us and were headed back. They were taking their kiddos to the shops; the one with the big shark head that you enter through, and the one with the massive purple octopus in front. I asked my girls if they wanted to join them. I got an ecstatic YES!! from the backseat. We spent about $5.00 on each girl and they thought it was the best day ever. Jeremy and I stayed bummed for a bit about missing our dolphin cruise...

Moral of the Story: When you go out for pricey entertainment, leave the kids with someone who will take them shopping at the Dollar Store. They will be just as happy :)

Fort Lauderdale - Beach

Hello from sunny Florida :) We are on vacation with the pouty princesses. Jeremy's pursuit of his Third Mate's license (only 1 class to go after this!),and ultimately an unlimited Coast Guard license, has brought us to Fort Lauderdale.

The East Coast sand is so different from the fine sugary sand of Gulf Coast Florida that I'm used to. It's coarse, colorful, and gorgeous! If you look closely at it, you can see that every bit of it is a tiny crumble of a seashell. You can see the shells' ridges and colors on the bits of sand, so pretty. Oh, and the water is fab-u-lous!!! You can go in up to you shoulders and look down and see your feet and the ocean floor crystal clear. There's no seaweed, no cloudiness... just perfectly clear.

Grace was hesitant to go in the water at first. The news here has been full of stories about the dangerous rip tides. Hundreds of beachgoers have had to be rescued in a matter of days. Well, Grace has heard me talking about it, and, like mother like daughter, she was scared! She will go in now, just not too deep, which is fine with me :)

Jeremy and Marion

I am in love with all of the palm trees!

Okay, there's a story here! Marion loves to eat sand!! Despite our constant correcting, she won't stop. She's sure that if we tried it, we'd like it... so she shoves a handful in your mouth when you are least expecting it!

She got me this time!

Beautiful!! These are big pieces of old coral. You could look all around them and see that there are more surfacing as the sand is washed away. I remember from a snorkeling trip when I was a child, the instructor told us not to touch the coral, it was like a cheese grater and would hurt you. Well, I learned the hard way here in Fort Lauderdale. After a slight brush against it, blood was running down my leg!

Grace playing in the rocks as the tide hits them.

beach pictures

We had some professional pictures taken during our beach vacation a few weeks ago. I'd love to share some of my favorites with you...

Family, you are welcome to order any pictures you like for yourself...

just click here
the password is "grace"

vacation!

we're at the beach with friends... enjoy the pictures... I may add captions later... right now I have to play rummikub and drink my wine :)