The Beach Club - Part 1

Well, we just back from a wonderful vacation in Gulf Shores. We went for a week with my parents and grandmother. My sweet gracious parents invited us along to stay at a fabulous penthouse that overlooked the Gulf. The penthouse was wonderful and my parents let our family take the master suit (aren't they the best?!!) to spread all of our stuff about in. Lorelei and Paxton enjoyed sleeping next to each other on their make shift beds on the floor, while Josh and I got to sleep in a king sized bed- gotta get us one of those for home!

Our days were spent in the sand and sun down at the beach. The kiddos loved just playing in the sand-dumping it in and out over and over again (we have a sandbox here but I haven't filled it up since we moved-probably should). I was amazed at how long they could spend just playing in the sand and sitting at the edge of the water. We also buried Josh, Paxton and Lorelei in the sand which was a big hit- no, mama, was not into that. Daddy built sand castles for Paxton and Lorelei, or as Lorelei said "Build me a city daddy!" Lorelei was intimidated by the ocean's waves but Paxton was ready to jump right in with daddy. We were very lucky not to have gotten stung by jelly fish, as they were everywhere and at least 4 or 5 people would get stung while we were there everyday!

The pools were also a big hit. There were 5 different pools along with hot tubs for us to enjoy. I am so proud of Lorelei who is now swimming with arm floaties instead of baby float. She really loved playing with her water toys on the steps and hanging out with grandmama near the edge. Paxton is now insisting on wearing his life vest all the time- we will have to work on swimming without it now that we are home again- but loved dunking daddy and having splash fights with mama. The pools were really nice to cool off in after spending a few hours in the hot sand. Speaking of sand, I never knew how sand could be in every crevice of your body and your child's! We were such a mess everyday after spending time at the beach- Josh in particular loved this part!

Anywho, that is how we spent most of our days- besides naps, which by the way they slept great thanks to the incredible automatic shutters that shut out all light from the bedrooms! I will do another post on our non-beachy activities. Here are some of the many many pics that my parents and I took last week- more to come!

The view from our balcony.

Some parasailers. Dad and I almost did this but we waited till the last day and they didn't have any spots left. Maybe next year!

Like I said, the kids spent hours just doing this!

Paxton, catching a wave with his daddy!

My beach beauty!

Lorelei only wanted to get partially buried in the sand.

Where's Paxton? Paxton was our little beach bum this week. He just loved the beach and his hair turned really blond and he has the cutest little tan (yes, I did put 50spf on him like every hour but he still got tanned-not burned!)

Chilln' in the sand!

Grandmama and her little butterfly. I got the kids the cutest towels from Target. They have hoods and are kid sized! Lorelei is a butterfly and Paxton is a shark.

Decked out in their beach attire!