Gulf Shores 2013

We spent last week with my family in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and we had a blast. My three sisters, two brothers in law, two nieces, my mom, my dad, Colin, Hank and me. It was a week full of family fun: pitch tournaments, good cooking, ice cream every night, tie dying tshirts, puzzles, Thomas the Train, outlet mall shopping, more good eating, and lots of pool and ocean time.

We saw dolphins playing and jumping in the mornings, and we saw what we think was a hammerhead shark one evening. Jill and I saw a little stingray close by us in the water, and there were three jellyfish casualties. Hank refused to go in the ocean and didn't much care for the sand. He kept saying "it's dirty" and "it's all over me!" He would play in the sand as long as he could sit on the beach blanket.

The real highlight of the trip for me was seeing Hank and his cousin Roxanne together. They played incredibly well together for a 2.5 and 1 year old. Hank had brought his little take along trains, and he would let Roxanne hold them (sometimes). The first day they were together was the hardest for Hank. I heard him say things like "Don't do that Roxanne" "that's my train" "leave my train alone, Roxanne." 

It took the whole family, but we did the whole puzzle. Who knew a puzzle could be such great entertainment?

Another thing that Hank really loved was the "big boy bed" in our room. We had a king size bed and a set of twin bunk beds, and Hank loved playing on both. Roxanne had to get in on the action, too.

Cousins!

 

Roxanne was a big fan of the beach!

Grandma, MK, Hank, Eve, Roxanne, Larkin, Noel

 

This souvenir shop has a huge shark mouth as the entrance. Hank loved it and wanted to stop every time we passed it. 

We drove home through the night on Friday. Hank woke up when I got pulled over for speeding (low point of the trip!), and he started crying saying "I wanna go see Roxanne!" It was so sweet. Family vacations are the best.