On the day school let out, we packed up and headed to the beach with our best friends from Chattanooga, for our annual Memorial Day Weekend Framily Beach Vacation. For 5 out of the last 6 years, we've gone on the beach trip with the Strickland family (we didn't go last year because we were at Disney). It started 6 years ago, as just a weekend trip. Traffic was so tough getting into town on a Friday morning and horrible getting out on Monday. We lengthened it one year to a full week and our children were about to kill each other and get on our last nerve by the end. So we finally figured out our sweet spot is 5 full days. That gives us enough time to enjoy the beach while still keeping our sanity. And as always, a HUGE shout out to my precious parents who graciously let us use the condo during what is one of the busiest weeks out of the rental calendar.
Before we left, we ran into a weather hiccup. A tropical storm (Alberto) was headed directly to 30A directly in the middle of our trip. We all agreed we'd still keep the trip on and worst case scenario would be we'd all be stuck in the condo with pouring rain for 5 days. But at least we'd have another family with us so we'd have people to hang out with and it was going to be raining in Birmingham too. So either way, we were going to be stuck inside! I'd rather be stuck inside at the beach than my own house! So we headed down Thursday.
We got into town Thursday night and we always do pizza our first night for ease. We knew Friday would be our best bet for good weather, so we went to bed early with plans to get to the beach first thing in the morning and stay until rain forced us inside.
 |
| Jake (9), Addie (8.5), Tyler (5) & Hollon (3.5) |
Hollon did well at the beach during Spring Break, so I was hoping she would still like it a few months later. (She is very dramatic and unpredictable, so you never know one day to the next what she will like.) Thankfully, she still loved it!
This is a picture of Jake & Addie from our first beach trip when they were 3/4 years old
And now awkwardly posing at 8/9 because their moms are trying to get a photo of them
The waves were pretty tough, so Hollon spent a lot of time playing in the sand
Mine & Kimberly's favorite view. All the kids out in the water with the dads, so we could sit on the shore and read! (It didn't happen often)
Lots of wiffle ball was played
Which Hollon interrupted almost every game
The water was BEAUTIFUL!😍
After lunch in the condo, we still had pretty weather, so we headed immediately back down. We stopped at the pool first to let the kids swim.
And then headed down to the beach
Jake never cared about the sand. If he was at the beach, he wanted to be in the water. Hollon likes the beach and the sand equally. And she certainly doesn't mind sand on her. It was all in her hair, her swimsuit, on every body part. I feel like I'm still finding sand on her.
She loved getting buried
We finally packed up and headed to the condo to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. We had dinner at one of our favorites, Old Florida Fish House.
When you've played all day at the beach and just can't make it through dinner
To our surprise, we woke up on Saturday to another pretty day
And some mean mom made these kids take a picture with the sun directly shining in their eyes
Her favorite is to be in the water, but have someone holding her
The best feeling ever
Alberto held off and we got in another full beautiful day at the beach. We headed into Seaside that evening for dinner.
 |
| Jake's "natural" smile |
We hung out in the amphitheater while we waited for our table at Great Southern to be ready
And some people used the opportunity to roll all over the grass
Sunday we woke up to still no rain, but you could definitely tell a storm was going to roll in. We were still able to get in a full day at the beach.
This was the first time in 6 years, that we haven't had a baby or toddler napping at the beach. Instead we got a 9-year-old napping.
Lunch on the beach, trying to squeeze in as much time as possible
Dinner that night we headed to Stinky's
Alberto getting ready to roll in
 |
| Hollon's hair! |
It reminded me of her hair her first year at the beach when it was like this....
We took the kids crabbing
 |
| Her dress tucked into her bloomers to try to keep it from getting wet😲 |
Alberto came on Monday and brought all day rain. After 3 full long days at the beach, we were all ready for a break! We watched The Office marathon and the kids played. They watched movies, played video games, played board games. I was so thankful our kids had other kids to play with. Jake & Tyler had a blast and Addie was so sweet to play Barbie's with Hollon. They all really were good all day long. We stayed inside and had a super lazy day. The beach got a lot of heavy rain, but that was it. Montgomery & Birmingham got worse weather!
Jake & Addie playing a dance game
Tuesday morning, the storm was gone, but it was still overcast and scattered showers. So Kimberly & I took the kids to the Disney outlet store. We came back and had lunch. By the afternoon, the rain had moved out, so we took the kids to the pool.
We then took a walk on the beach. It was crazy how far up on the beach the waves came up.
The waves were still really rough and double red flags. So everyone was playing at the inlet.
The kids & dads caught several fish and crabs and built a little aquarium
Jake living his best life
On our last night, we headed to The Hub
Such a pretty sunset
And because I love a walk down memory lane.....
It was a great framily vacation and a great kickoff to summer!
Past Framily Beach Trips:
