Vacation Day 6: A Little Toasty

We finally remembered to bring Reed's sunglasses to the beach with us today. It hasn't really mattered, because he usually won't wear them for very long.



I guess that the sun must have really been bright because today he didn't have any issue keeping them on.



We are thankful to have a nice selection of umbrellas which we sit under most of the time on the beach because we don't want to get too toasty.



However, today, we all got a little "crabby" red. Not terrible, but we all had a little more color when we came in from the day at the beach.



We all slept late this morning which was really nice. After pancakes and bacon we sunblocked up and headed to the beach.



Today at the beach we saw 4 stingrays. That was pretty cool. I get really excited when I see things that you can normally only see at your local mall. (For our readers who are not Nashvillians, we have a stingray petting zoo in one of our malls ... odd, I know.)



Sometimes, Reed is sitting in the beach playing in the sand and doesn't realize there is a big wave coming up and it surprises him so much. Thankfully, I had the camera just ready to snap when this one happened.



There were some guys on the beach today who were digging this humongous hole. Reed was not all that impressed, but Uncle Bill and I were.



Uncle Bill was a good ecologist today and got a plastic bag out of water. I can't believe people would throw that into the water. Tacky.



Reed had a blast playing on the beach today and he was completely exhausted when we came back in for lunch, nearly 1 hour later than we have been coming in.



Unfortunately, after showering and then eating lunch our exhausted son was in no mood to nap.



I tried and I tried, but he just wouldn't go to sleep.



So we decided to go to the pool where Abbey was reading a book.



The pool is great because it has a HUGE wading pool area. It is great for Reed.



After the pool, we decided to go to Dollar General because we didn't have any microwave popcorn. While were were there, we decided to buy fixings for our third batch of rice krispy treats for this trip.



After DG, we decided to head a little further down the beach to check out some of the beach houses that Lola and Pop might want to rent for our fall trip. We had NO clue that there were so many options for houses here. They are so cool with their different colors.



We were amazed that Reed was able to stay awake during our tour of the beach house area.



When we got home, we had poppyseed chicken and then put several loads of laundry in the washers. Reed went to sleep early, but oddly enough, he still had a little fight in him.

Vacation Day 5: Hot Summer Day

It must be a boy thing, but I just love digging holes! So, today, I was digging, digging, digging, and realized that I could probably fit down in it.



So, I asked Abbey and Uncle Bill to bury me in the sands, with only my head and feet out.



Oh my goodness, look how gray my hair is!!!!



Reed thought that it was really funny that I was buried up to my neck in sand.



Have I mentioned how much Reed LOVES the beach. I think he could totally live out there in the sand. We also saw dolphins today. They were really neat to watch.



It was really hot today. It started early. It was great. We got down to the beach a little after 9:00 and got back to the condo for lunch a little after 12:00.




We took naps until around 3:30.



Reed didn't like the sun in his eyes, so he wore my hat.



After we ate supper tonight, we went to scope out beach houses. We're thinking that our beach trip with Pop and Lola might get a little cramped in the condo that they normally rent. There are some beautiful beach houses around here.



We pulled into a few of the houses that we liked that also looked unoccupied.



After we got home, I checked the Web site for the one that I liked the most. It was beautiful and completely loaded with amenities. It had private beach access within steps of the back door and three levels of balconies.

It was $5000 a week. Oops, I don't think we'll be staying there.



Tonight we went to the Original Oyster House for supper. It was yummy. We are not eating out a lot, so we have to be sure to go to our favorite spots.



Reed did a little self-portrait taking while we were at the restaurant.



After supper, we took Reed to his favorite spot in Gulf Shores ... The Purple Octopus.



Reed was REALLY excited to see his buddy.




Reed just absolutely loves octopi for some reason.





The purple octopus got a new paint job since the last time we were at the beach.





Here he is looking up in awe at his buddy.



It was getting ready to storm outside when we got in from eating, so we decided to just stay in and watch "The Biggest Loser".

Vacation Day 4: Fun in the Sun

Today was all sunny and all about digging. We dug holes and built huge castles.



Reed absolutely LOVES the beach. He has had so much fun playing in the sand and standing in the shallow parts of the water.



We woke up and had a breakfast of sausage, biscuits, and eggs.



After breakfast, we headed down to the beach. It was wonderful. The water was a bit cool at first, however, it was really nice once we got used to it.



The waves were a lot of fun. We were really glad that currents were not as bad as they were the other day.



Reed is really timid to go too far into the water. That's okay with us, except I would like it if he would go into the water with me.



He does, however, not have any issue whatsoever jumping off of the top of a sand castle and into the water.





He looks cute in Uncle Bill's straw hat.



He also enjoyed destroying nearly anything that we attempted to build.



He had fun doing whatever he was doing while we were at the beach.





At one point, he began thinking that anything that we built needed water.



And he was really good at getting water.







I dug a humongous hole and we decided to bury Uncle Bill in the hole.





He looked funny in the sand.



So we decided that it was my turn to be buried.



Reed thought it was funny.



Then we turned Uncle Bill into a MerMan.



After the beach, we have to rinse the sand off our feet.





Until tomorrow ...