Destin Family Vacation

We spent the last week of July in Destin, Florida at the Sandestin Resort. It was our first family vacation since "The Vacation From Hell" a year and a half ago.  We had a great time! The kids had never seen the ocean, so that in itself was worth the trip. We left early Saturday morning (around 3:00 AM) and got down there mid-afternoon. The kids did much better than what I ever imagined in the vehicle for that amount of time. They were so excited, in fact as soon as we arrived, we were in our condo just long enough to dig out our swimsuits and they were racing down to the beach.

The waves were a bit much for Anden, and even Kaylee and Jacob initially. Destin was experiencing more sea grass than usual, so the waters weren’t as clear as we’d imagined. 

This is the face of the girl who'd cry, "I have slime in my swimsuit!!!  Get it out!  I just want to swim in the pool!"

Anden ventured into the ocean a time or two but was much happier spending his time playing in the sand...

Or better yet… the pool!

He went from just beginning to figure out how to jump in and float with his floaties, to by the end of the week, jumping in and swimming his way around the entire pool. He was a little fish!

By the end of the week, Kaylee & Jacob were having a good time in the ocean with the boogie boards. They’d gotten used to the waves, the salt water, and the moss.  Kaylee figured out that if she wore a 2-piece suit, she didn't get near as much moss in her swimsuit. 

We also spent a day in Pensacola (about 1 ½ hours east of Destin) at the Pensacola Air Museum. Two days a week, visitors can view the Blue Angels practice their air show stunts. It was pretty amazing. In fact, this was Jesse’s favorite part of the trip.

Some friends of ours were also in Destin at the time, so we met up with them several times throughout the week. The kids really had a good time with each other.

Here we are together at McGuire's Pub.

And here we are at Pompano Joe's.

 

Love love love this picture of Jacob.

The kids’ favorite part of the trip was crab hunting at night. Almost every evening, we’d head out to the shore with our flashlights and search for snow crabs. They all had a blast… I think Kaylee was our best crab hunter!

On our final evening, we ventured over to The Village of Baytown Wharf. The kids tried out euro-bungy, mechanical bullriding, mechanical surfboard riding, and hamster balls! They had a blast!

On our final morning, we took to the beach for some family pictures.

Here are just a few pictures from around the resort that we stayed at.  We were up on teh 14th floor, all the way on the left side.  Since we were on the end, we had an extra sundeck off the side of our balcony.  It was nice during the afternoon when Anden would nap.

This was the view from our balcony.

And this was the view from the entry way into our condo.

 

Overall, we had a GREAT time!  The kids are already asking if we can go back next year.  I doubt that we'll do as big of a vacation again next year... and the following year, I really have my heart set on Disney World, but who knows!  We'll see!