The Not So Beachy Beach Photos

Last beach post. I promise. :)

While we were in Gulf Shores we stayed in a cottage on a lake at Gulf State Park. I think we could have just stayed around our cottage the whole time and had a blast. Luckily, though, the beach was only a mile away.

But, really? Who needs a beach when you've got this to explore?

The cottages were incredibly nice...which turned out to be a good thing since my poor dad got a horrible sunburn on his feet. He spent a lot of his time right here...

At least he was in good company.

Our second day there Stephan took Levi fishing on the pier, and then we drove out to some open air fish markets and came back with crabs, oysters, and shrimp to go with the fish they caught. It turned into a divine meal.

I love the expression on Levi's face as he was looking over the sink at these guys...

On the drive home we talked about coming back next year. If we can get a house directly on the beach we might try that. Otherwise, I think we'll be headed back to one of the cottages. They were pretty much perfect.

Seeing my children playing in the sand with each other and grinning over all of their discoveries reminded me of my own childhood beach trips. I have many fond memories of playing on the beach with my brother and sister, crab hunting with my dad and uncles, and just relaxing in breezy beach houses.* I wonder what my children will remember from their childhoods. I like to think that this is just the beginning of good memories for them to hold on to.

*For the sake of sentimentality we'll just ignore my childhood memories that involve sharks...yikes...and getting sucked into the undertow. All's well that ends well, right? ;)

More Beach Photos

Things have quieted down around here a good bit since all of our visitors have gone home. Sniff, sniff. My sister was the last to leave today.

I finally pulled the beach pictures off of my camera....

We spent our vacation in Gulf Shores, AL and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The first beach we hit had a sandbar only a few feet away from the shore. It created the most perfect little kiddie pool ever and was brimming with hermit crabs. The next beach we found is the one in the pictures. It had lots of shells and a beautiful rock wall to explore full of barnacles, hermit crabs, and snails. The kids were in heaven. At least they were until the last minute of the last day. Levi stepped on a barnacle and got a small cut on his foot. He's still showing his "barnacle bite" to anyone who will look!

Despite the lack of photographic evidence, I did get to spend much of my time playing in the waves with Levi and Sophia. We bought a great beach tent,and my mother was happy to spend most of her time tending to sweet Lillian in the shade. I'm so grateful that my parents were able to come with us.

Instagram Beach Trip Pics

We got back from our beach vacation a few days ago, and we are still living out of our luggage and the baskets of laundry that have been washed but not put away. Needless to say I haven't gotten around to pulling the photos off of my camera, but I have a few favorites from my phone that I wanted to share.

The beach was fabulous. Even more so since my parents came along...

Thiswas the hideout for my mom and Lillian...

Sophia thought it was the funniest thing in the world to pretend to drink the water...

Of course, she had to find something to climb...

And, then there are three pictures of three of my favorite people in the whole world...

It was an excellent trip with the best of company. And, as soon as we got home we had more awesome company. My mother-in-law flew in with her husband for a quick visit, and my brother and sister-in-law are here for a week...their first time back in a few years! My children are going to be super disappointed when all of this fun ends. Thus far, they believe that they are still on vacation. :)