We went on vacation a couple of weeks ago. Just the 3 of us. It was a perfect vacation. We were a bit nervous about Elaina getting bored with us but we had a perfect week. We went to Seagrove Beach, FL.
On the way down we stopped in Atlanta to surprise Elaina with a visit to the American Girl doll store. I wish I would have videoed her reaction to us telling her we were going to the it but I didn't. It's was so sweet. She said "are you just kidding with me?" When I told her it was true, she just buried her head in my chest and giggled almost to the point of tears. It was really precious. She has been asking to go for a long time. I have brought her gifts back from various stores that I have visited (Denver and Chicago) while on business travel so the fact that she could go was exciting to her.
This is a picture of her in the hotel room cheering that she gets to go before we left.
She wore her matching dress with her doll (this shot was in the elevator - more on my thoughts on elevators later)
Dinner at the bistro (before shopping)
Erik and I joked that the bistros was "boo-stro"....not that impressed. I had high expectations of the experience since I made reservations and told them it was a birthday trip. But, they didn't do any special things like they said they would. And, the food was close to the worst I had ever eaten at a restaurant. But, Elaina was none the wiser. She thought the whole thing was great and that is what it's about.
We stayed the night in Atlanta......note, I am convinced that we could do vacations just at random hotels. As long as there are ice machines, elevators, and escalators (like the ones at the Atlanta mall), Elaina would be in hog heaven. Someone should open up a kids parks with all three of those things. What would we call it? Hmmmm?? Food for thought.
Anyway, moving along...the next day we made the second half of the trip to the condo in Seagrove Beach. The condo we stayed in was so very nice and a perfect size and spot for us. We spent the entire time on the beach or in the pool. What's not to love about that? We thought about taking a day to go to the Waterpark in Destin but were having so much fun at the beach and pool, we decided to save our money and I am glad we did.
First order of business.....digging a hole.
....for Elaina to stand in
Elaina made a friend, name Anna Claire. She was from Chattanooga. That made for nice beach time :)
The condo we stayed at had a boogie board. Elaina decided to try it as Anna Claire was doing it too. She LOVED it. She did this the majority of the time at the beach and it was fun to watch her. She and Anna Claire did it together.
Erik was really good at helping her. I know this because she told me "Mommy...Daddy is better at this then you". It's true. He is a lot more patient to wait on the exact perfect wave. I just threw her at any and all of them. I got better by the end of the week though
I got this video. Just lucked out that my camera was on her at the exact time she caught the best wave of the week....sweet!
I floated in the water on this thing some.....
Our sweet beach girl
We did venture out to dinner one night....pre-dinner pics.
Too cool for school with her peace sign :)
BTW - her new American Girl doll that she picked out as an early b-day present went with us every where. Her name is Isabelle. We even got her a swim suit so she went to the beach with us.
Family pose
This was our umbrella and chair. Erik snapped this picture from our condo while we were inside for a lunch break one day. I think it is a cute picture. It needs a name.
We tried to get her to let us bury her all the way but this was as far as she would let us.
The view the morning we left.....leaving vacation is the WORST!
Last pose on the balcony before we left
We stopped for biscuits on the way home...my silly kid posing for a pic. She gained a few extra freckles this trip ;)
We stopped at our usual place on the way back through Georgia for some peaces - the Peach Park. They have delicious fruits/vegetables....and peaches which we always buy. They also have a park where Elaina can run around for a bit which is good for her and us. She loves this horse.
Like I said...the trip was perfect. We got to spend some great quality time together as a family. It was the perfect balance of relaxing and time in the water/beach with our wee one. We were afraid that she would be bored. However, with making a couple of little friends, giving us some time to relax and read, balanced with those moments where she had no one to play with - forcing us to get out there with her - it was perfection.
No comments:
Post a Comment