Best Vacation EVER

Levi has been working A LOT, like not getting home until 2am a lot. Don't get me wrong...we are so grateful for his job and for the satisfaction that comes from it but it has gotten out of hand a little bit. And on top of the late hours he is about to leave for a month. So his boss practically forced him to take a week of vacation before he leaves. THANK YOU!!!! So we decided to go to Destin, FL...a week before we would leave. But it worked out and we found the cutest beach cottage, reserved it, and started packing. We left at 2am on July 4th for our long 13 hour drive.

We made a little bed in the back that Jack was able to go right back to sleep in. It was so great because the kids could play and nap back there which made the trip go sooooo much smoother. (I know it is terribly dangerous to not have our kids in seat belts and you can judge me all you want. It was necessary.)

Addie was not too happy to be woken up at 2 in the morning.

The hammock that hung in the screened in porch was a family favorite.

1st day on the beach.

We let Addie go without a diaper but then her bathing suit bottoms wouldn't stay up...it didn't help that they kept filling up with sand.

10 minutes before we set out for the beach on the first day I managed to drop the curling iron right on my chest. You can't really tell from the picture but it looked like my skin was rotting off. Pretty.

Addie was trying to get the sand off her hands so she could suck her thumb. She gave up and decided to stick it in there dirty.

Jack swimming in our private pool...which was AWESOME!!!

We ate most meals sitting out in the screened in porch.

Some down time. The boys playing the Wii while Addie Grace and I read. Typical.

We went to Panama Beach one day and found some really fun things to do there. Jack really enjoyed his Superman ice cream.

The only picture of me and Levi sans kids. Jack needs to work on centering.

Jack saw these cool bouncy things and convinced us he had enough courage to do it. So we payed the $10 so he could bounce on a trampoline for 5 minutes.

I just had to get a picture of those curls!

Waiting in line.

How cute is he!?!?!

I was actually kind of jealous after watching Jack jump on this thing. It was super cool and he was able to do all these really neat flips.

Then back to the beach .

The kids ran around playing chase.

Jack and Levi spent 90% of the time playing in the waves.

We managed to pull some people aside to take a family picture of us.

Addie loved the birds. She kept yelling, "QUACK QUACK!!!" at them and calling them ducks...close enough.

Addie had this odd facination with looking at the ocean upside down.

I love that smile.

Me and my girl.

Addie running to Daddy...

and then back to me.

I think by the end of the week the kids' little cheeks must have been hurting from all the huge nonstop smiles they had on their faces.

Love him!!!!

Addie had to sit in time out...she was not happy about it.

The many faces of Addie Grace.

Me and my little guy.

There she goes again...

Cool shades.

We took a walk on the beach in the evening.

On our way home we stopped in Louisianna and ate dinner at this cool creole boat house restaruant. We sat out on the deck over the river and got to feed these giant turtles. It was pretty cool and the kids loved it.

Then we spent the night in Shreveport in one of the Casino hotels. It was pretty funny. There was a jacuzzi tub in the middle or our room and the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. Levi was pretty excited about watching tv while bathing too.

The we all slept in the same huge bed on our very last night of vacation. It was pretty perfect. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep because Addie insisted on sleeping sideways but at least I got her head...Levi had to deal with her feet and Jack's constant rubbing.

On the last trek home we stopped at the Tyler Zoo. The kids really enjoyed this. In fact, they kind of ran the whole show. Addie was in charge of the wagon while Jack led the way with the map.

This was so cute...we didn't even tell them to hold hands. They are so sweet!

It was so freaking hot so we got the kids some cool animal cups and rested before setting off for home.

Now vacation is officially over. Levi is at work, I should be doing laundry, Jack is at VBS, and Addie is destroying the house. But I have to say that our Destin vacation was exactly what our little family needed, a chance to reconnect, refresh, and just love on eachother nonstop. I can't wait until we go back next year!