I am a week behind in this post at this point, but that is kind of how it goes when you get home from vacation, isn't it? Everything is a little behind and on the back burner as you get back into the groove of normal life. But now that we are back in the groove, I'm ready to share about our trip.
First off I should say, we had a great time. It's the first time that we've ever had a vacation with just our little family of three, and it was so nice to get away and spend time together. We started vacation a little early by going to Chicago where I shot a wedding with Christine, and the morning after we headed to Florida. The drive was great, Jayce was a peach as always, watching his little DVD player (and Cars seemingly on a loop), and even had fun at our hotel stop.
We arrived in Destin on Sunday around 5 pm, unloaded the car and then headed to the pool for a quick dip, mostly to reward Jayce for being so great for almost 2 full days in the car. We then headed to supper, the grocery store, and then home to chill out. It was sunny and hot, in the high 80s.
But that was the last time that we saw the sun, until we left 4 days later when Hurricane Ivan was about to hit hard.
But we made the most of it. There was no sunshine whatsoever, but there was still periods of non-rain and we had fun. We went for ice cream and then let Jayce play in the fountains, a stop that always starts off with him standing on the side observing the fountains, progresses to him trying to run and avoid the fountains, and culminates in him running straight to the highest spraying fountains and getting completely drenched. He is either giggling or screaming the whole time, and it really is hilarious.
We did go to the beach one day for about 20 minutes or so, and while we were there Jayce loved it. He was such a total due, putting on his shades as we left the condo and not taking them off until we were inside again. He liked the water the first time that it washed over his toes, but the second time it almost knocked him over, (you can imagine what the waves are like in a pre-hurricane state), so we backed off and played in the sand for a bit. It was great, but you can see what the wind was like in the second picture, and we had to leave after about 20 minutes because the rain was about to start. I washed the sand off of his beach toys, and let him play with them for a long time in a big bubbly bath, and he didn't seem to mind the difference.
We also made it to the pool for a few 45 minute sessions between the rain. It was still warm enough to enjoy the water, and it turns out that regardless of the sun factor, pool time still wears out little toddlers (and their parents) enough to ensure that good naps are had by all. We actually had an arguably better time outside, because there wasn't that miserable heat/sun that can be a factor with a trip to Florida in June.
Without the option of laying out/constant pool and beach time, we explored some other options instead. We've been going to Florida for 10 years now, but this was the first time that we ever rented and rode bikes, (corny-sounding I know, but it was fun and Jayce LOVED it). We also went for a walk on this great pier at the condo (again, never an option before, why waste outside time not in the water?) Jayce loved running down the pier, and since I had some Chex Mix in my purse, we got to feed the ducks. Another first, and a nice one.
We went to breakfast at a restaurant on the beach one morning, and then as the rain rolled in, headed to see Toy Story 3. It was Jayce's first movie and our first 3-D experience, and a good time was had by all. He snuggled on our laps during the movie, only got up once to go get some water from the drinking fountain, and even kept his glasses on throughout the movie.
It was all of the things that we were looking for in vacation, other than a tan. I'm glad to know that we can still make the most of our time together, even with inclement weather rolling in, but next time I'd still like to see at least a little more sun.
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