Santa Rosa Beach Vacation with the Taylor's

On Friday (8/12) Melissa, Jamie, Violet, Lincoln, Hazel, Goldie, Teresa and I headed to Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. While the Taylor's chose to go through Nashville, Teresa and I went through Memphis heading to Tunica, MS to spend our first night at Harrahs.

Even though we left a few hours before the Taylors on Saturday and were an hour farther away, the Taylors still beat us to the beach by a couple of hours and that was including having to stop to find Lincoln's tooth which he lost on the way. By the way, they found the tooth.

I blame the GPS and Teresa's desire to go down the scenic route of Highway 98 (the most crowded highway along the coast). I think Teresa still blames me for getting there later in the evening. 

The Taylor's spent time at the beach and Jamie even tried out his onewheel (basically an electric skateboard) before we even got there.

When we arrived, the kids were ready to go look for crabs on the beach. Teresa and I were headed to bed for a much needed rest after all the failed navigation.

The next day we headed to the beach.

I brought sand toys with the hopes of building sand castles but the buckets didn't cooperate. Either that or we have no idea how to make sand castles.

It's rare to get a family picture with Hazel looking forward so we didn't press our luck and everyone gathered around her.

Goldie enjoys sitting in the wagon. I think she'd rather be sitting in the sand but that brings on all new problems with her putting the sand in her mouth.

That afternoon we went to mini golf at The Big Kahuna Water Park. Teresa kept score and I do believe she won but no one asked who the winner was so there were no tears. Corralling 4 kids (including the baby) and 4 adults for a round of mini golf was a win in anyone's book.

We then went to the Crab Trap for dinner...a seafood restaurant perched high above the white sands of the gulf. While waiting for dinner, the kids went out to play in the sand. Nice way to pass time while waiting for the food.

The next day after the Taylor's spent the morning at the beach and Teresa and I went t-shirt shopping, we decided to travel down 30A and explore the sites. Lululemon, an athletic apparel store that Melissa has been wanting to check out, was one of our first stops. Even though I was shopping for a belated birthday gift for Melissa, I couldn't resist getting one of their headbands to keep the pouring sweat out of my eyes. Best $12 I've even spent.

Then it was off to Seaside Beach for giant, and I mean GIANT, snow cones. This was a root beer snow cone with cream through it. It was really good but continued to melt before you could finish it.

I believe this is where Michele has spent a few winters. They have a really nice square and attractions. I could probably spend the winter here even though it doesn't get quite as warm as I would like. Still better than freezing temperatures in Missouri.

Later that evening we decided to go down to the local bar and have drinks and, of course, ice cream for the kids.

The next day after the kids did crafts at Rock Paper Scissors, we headed towards Navarre Beach. On the way we stopped at Fudpuckers for lunch and to see all the alligators.

Even though the previous pic shows the alligators behind me and Violet, here's a better close up. Really creepy!

Navarre Beach is not as populated or tourist friendly as farther down the coast, so we were hoping for bigger seashells. While the shells were few they were more intact than the ones at Santa Rosa Beach. Another reason to head toward Navarre was so Teresa could meet up with Brad's sister and relatives where we had a great bar-b-cue dinner.

Even though Teresa and I left on Wednesday, that didn't stop the Taylor's from continuing with all their adventures. Wave runners were an exciting experience.....

Even though Violet was a little apprehensive to try.

Their last day was spent at an indoor park with a bed of nails and

mechanical pulleys.

Even Hazel enjoyed the glow in the dark I believe was slime...maybe foam.

But the Taylor's don't let any time get away from their beach time.

They finally got a picture of Goldie in the sand I'm sure before a fist full of it went in her mouth.

And then the infamous family selfie. I get so mad at myself for forgetting to take a lot more pictures but as you can see all of these are fond memories of our trip to the beach.