We headed to Orange Beach, Alabama for a few days over the kids' fall break. After last year's beach trip, we knew we wanted to do that again!
So, we woke up at 4 am and drove the 12 hours to the beach (and by "we" I mean I drove 2 hours, and Joe drove 10...he's a rock star!)
The view from our balcony. Beautiful.
It was late in the afternoon, but we still headed out to the beach for a little bit that first day. It was gorgeous with the sun setting in the background.
The kids got right to work in the sand.
And got into the water. The waves were pretty intense the whole time we were there, which made body surfing pretty fun!
A quick stop at the pool for some daddy-throwing time...
And then showers and dinner!
We ate breakfast and lunch at the condo each day, but picked a fun restaurant each night. This was Bubba's, and it has very good shrimp!
The kids being themselves...
There was a fun big chair outside that was good for photos.
There's a little photo bomber back there!
The next day there was a beautiful sky.
Norah and I made an awesome sand castle.
Beach, outdoor pool, indoor pool, reading, and repeat. (I am relaxing just typing all those words!)
And then dressed up for dinner again that night.
We forgot to get a picture at dinner, but did manage to get one in front of the arcade we went to after dinner.
Joey was rubbing his head at dinner and said his head hurt a little bit. That should have been my first clue of what was to come...
I woke up the next morning and walked out to the living room to see two very sick looking, red faced children, with very high fevers. Oh no.
My gut told me what they had, so away we went to urgent care.
Influenza it was...
The rest of the day was spent hanging around the condo, and Joe and I taking turns at the pool with Kylah.
Joe and Kylah went to dinner alone that night. Kylah was very much enjoying all of the one on one time she was getting!
The next day was a little better, so we all went out to the beach for a little bit together that afternoon.
Kylah was playing in the sand and then all of a sudden was swarmed by seagulls. I wish I could have caught it on camera, but this was her reaction after they all flew away a few seconds later.
Joey got a little burst of energy and ran around with the seagulls for a few minutes.
And then he tanked....Norah too...
We did manage to get one family picture at the beach.
Norah was feeling much better after her little nap, and she hadn't had a fever all day, so Joe took both girls out to dinner.
I stayed home with this cute sickie...
We had one more day at the beach, and Joey was feeling much better so he was able to enjoy our last full day there much more.
And then we made the long trek back home.
Such a fun vacation, and I'm sure we will keep doing this for years to come!
