travel diaries | destin - part one

Well, our big summer trip has come and gone and it's taken me a couple of weeks to come to grips that it is over!

We've made great friends with several families at church and two of those families invited us on their yearly trek to Destin, Florida. We jumped at the chance to experience it with these beach-going pros and set out at the end of August for our first family vacation!

It was Davis' first flight ever and the first one that Beau will have any memory of (at least for a few years). They both did great and we arrived early Saturday morning in Panama City Beach.

We had some time to kill before the rest of the crew got there so we passed the time with lunch, wandering around Bass Pro Shops, and an ice cream/cupcake stop.

We were finally able to check-in to our beach house at 4 and we walked out to this view. We were ON the beach and we will never ever do it any other way. LOVE!

Ian, Beau, and Ellie. The 'big kid' crew for the week!

We took some walks on the beach that evening but saved the swimsuits for the next day. On Sunday, we were up and ready to spend the day on the beach!

How great was this bunk room for the big kids?!

We made a great decision to bring our cameras that work on wifi with us so every morning Davis would nap as we were going to the beach and we could watch him from our beach chairs as he snoozed. We were about 50 yards from the house so once he started stirring we could go up and get him to join the party. It was great being able to enjoy the beach and know that he was getting the rest he needed!

Davis was a FAN. He took one small bite of sand, decided that was enough, and spent the rest of the trip happily crawling (and walking - yeah, that's a thing now!) up and down the beach and straight into the waves as if it was nothing new. He is our beach boy!

We hosed the kids off every day after the beach and couldn't resist these burrito babes!

We all did our own thing while the kids took their afternoon nap and that meant I took some time to read out on the balcony. The weather was great and the view was perfection!

The next day we were up and at it again. 

This ship would go by every couple of hours with this GIANT TV screen displaying ads. It was hilarious to me!

The guys decided to put their heads together to make an 'epic' pool...and subsequently defend it from the children that wanted to play in the sand near it! ha!

The lovely ladies that included us - Jenna and Lindsay (and sweet sleeping Landon)

That night we went to a restaurant that had it's own beach! It was GREAT entertainment for kids that needed to run out more energy before bed.

here's where we ate those first few days:

Pompano Joe's

McGuire's Pub

Lulu's 

I've got TONS more pictures and a video to share, so check back for the rest next week!