The Gulf | Part One

Last Monday, we were enjoying the sand, sunshine, and salty air.

And now - well, I'm sitting at home and doing a three day cleanse.

How did my week of eating tacos, donuts, and ice cream pass by so quickly?

But that's what makes vacations so exciting - it's not our every day, it's a break from reality, it's no worries, it's eating whatever you want, it's not doing a three day cleanse. :)

After our week away, we're back home. 

It's nice being home - I'm a girl who loves some routine - but I'm also a girl who loves her some vacation (don't we all...) Now, all I have left from our week at the Gulf is lots of laundry, sand at the bottom of my suitcase, and sweet pictures of our trip.

We headed down to the Gulf Saturday morning.

We were staying near Rosemary Beach - Inlet Beach specifically - but really right near 30A.

We heard so many amazing things about the area, and we were so excited to see what 30A was all about. We quickly realized it was stunning and would be a great week away.

Last year, Cody and I were flying solo on our beach vacation, which was super fun, but a little stressful with a six month old. This year, we were going with my family down to the beach, and with a wild little eighteen month old. We were excited to have backup for one, but were also excited that she could play in the sand and water and experience beach life at it's fullest. 

Like I mentioned, we left Saturday morning - SUPER early - 4am to be exact.

My eyes were hardly peeled open, but our goal was to get as far as possible while Harper was still asleep. And it worked REALLY well. We made it about three hours into our trip before she woke up, and since we weren't on a time frame to get down there, we stopped for breakfast and a chance for Harps to stretch those little legs. After french toast and bacon, we were back on the road with lots of toddler friendly games and movies in tow. Since we couldn't check into our house until that afternoon, we decided to stop in Destin first for lunch, shopping, and looking at big fish that Harper wasn't too fond of. :)

As we headed towards our house, we decided to stop at Deer Lake State Park to let Harper see the beach and walk in the sand. It was a little bit of a walk to the beach - we stopped at some of the covered benches along the way - but it was so beautiful and so worth the walk. The sand dunes looked like hills of rolling snow, they were so white and pretty. The beach was not crowded at all, and the water was that beautiful emerald color that's always associated with the Gulf. It was warm, but the breeze by the ocean made it feel really nice, and Harper got to stick her little toes in the sand and water for the first time on this trip. Girlfriend wasn't too excited about it at first, she didn't know what to think. I blame being tired on her non-excitement. She warmed up to it a little, and eventually we made the long walk back and headed to our house to check in.

After unloading our car, my family arriving a little bit later, we decided it was a night of staying in since we were all a little tired from traveling and waking up before the sun had even risen. We were excited to hit the beach the next morning for Father's Day, and enjoy celebrating our guys!

And for fun - a little photobombing/blooper picture that still cracks us up. :)

I look crazy, but Harper looks adorbs.

Previously

GULF PART ONE | TWO | THREE