une petite aventure: Family Beach Vacation 2016

Call us crazy. We took an almost 2 year old and a 2 month old on a 13 hour car ride to Florida. We drive at night so that they sleep for the majority of it---or at least thats the hope anyway.

We left at 10pm Friday night in hopes we would get there about lunchtime the next day. We gave Holt some Benadryl to help him stay calm and hopefully sleep (don't knock it until you've tried it) and hit the road. Everyone did great until about midnight. We had to stop to use the bathroom and that woke Holt up. He was awake from midnight-4AM! Thanks a lot Benadryl. He did well for the most part but then he started getting SUPER cranky as he got more tired, but finally drifted back off to sleep. We had to stop and feed Evie about 3:30AM, again at 7 AM (thankfully we stopped for breakfast at a Chick-fil-A so Holt could run off some energy) and again at 10AM (Cracker Barrel this time) before making it into Seaside about 11:45AM.

Mom, Dad, Hannah, and Kirby met us there about 1:00PM and we ate lunch at the Great Southern ( a MUST if you're ever down on 30A) before heading over to our condo. We got in around 3:30PM, unloaded and unpacked a little before getting ready and heading out to an early dinner. We were exhausted by this point and so ready for bed.

The rest of the trip consisted of beach time (and pool time) during the day and heading out for dinner at night. Evie did great for the most part--she just slept out on the beach. And of course we kept her shaded and as cool as possible. I brought a portable, battery powered fan and some "cooling" towels that once wet, they cool your body temperature down. Holt had a FANTASTIC time! We just thought he loved the beach last year! He played in the sand and water with his toys and buckets and loved to chase the "duckies" (toddler code for sandpipers) and go for walks with his RoRo and his daddy. We also had an amazing shallow sand bar this year and he loved to go out there and be in the water. Speaking of the water, it was GORGEOUS this year--crystal clear, a great sandbar, and minimal waves. Perfect for young kids!

A funny story for the week: Night ONE, I lost one of Holt's sandals. I knew it was in the condo somewhere, but absolutely could not find it. I brushed it off and figured I'd find it as I continued to unpack, but NOPE. Our kid went shoeless to every single restaurant throughout the week because I could not find his other sandal! I even went and bought a $25 pair of toddler flip flops (which KILLED me) but they ended up being a tad too small. Ugh! Anyway, long story short, we found it the day we packed up to come home. Good grief.

All too soon, it was time to pack up and head back home. We slept a little this time, getting up at 3AM so I could feed Evie and then we ended up pulling out of the condo about 3:30AM. Since we drove more during the day this time, we had to stop more often so Evie could eat. It ended up taking us 18 HOURS to get home. Longest. Day. Ever. I was never so thankful to see my house! But, worth it for getting to spend a week on the beach.

Here is more photos from our fun trip! You can view the entire album HERE