Destin 2010

What a change this year was in Destin! Last year, Makena was just about 7 months and hadn't started crawling yet. We'd time her naps perfectly to when we wanted to be on the beach and let her snooze in a little take-a-long swing. MY how much they grow in a year!

We drove straight through this time as well. (Last year we stopped in Louisiana)...but this year, because of the mass chaos over the oil, Luke worked a deal with our condo renters and we got the first night for like $30...you can't beat that, so we drove. Makena did surprisingly well, and stayed in her car seat the entire time. We did stop 3 times to run around and stretch our legs, but we still made it in about 11 hours! (That's record time for us). And, riding in a Tahoe was much nicer/roomier than riding in a Camry.

We were in Destin for almost 2 weeks this time, and it was perfectly relaxing. We stayed in the same condo's we stayed in last year...and you can't help but compare the different owners. Next time, we'll stay in the condo we stayed in last year. The layouts are exactly the same, but the condo owners in the one this year didn't really think through all the things you might need in your kitchen (like measuring cups/spoons), etc. Though, the condo was very nice so I really can't complain.

The day before we left, I got myself one of these:




and played on it the ENTIRE way there. I started about 20 games of words with friends (with random opponents) and kept myself entertained. I'm still trying to figure out how to be able to hook up 2 iphones to the computer and not lose all of previous person's information. ...and I'm getting frustrated, but that's a blog post of its own.

The first night we got there we decided to get grocery shopping out of the way so we could wake up the next day and head straight to the beach. Makena had taken MAYBE a 15 minute nap in the car the ENTIRE day. I guess the silly girl thought she was going to miss something if she fell asleep....so, we took a VERY tired family to Walmart, and surprisingly, we all made it out almost as happy as we went in. :)

When we arrived on the beach Makena took off RUNNING towards the water. She LOVES water in all forms of containment (in a dog bowl, in a cup, in a pool, and especially in the ocean). We built sand castles, played in the waves, found seashells, and buried our feet. (So, this year, our beach experience was MUCH different!) But, this made for a very tired girl who would take 2 LONG naps each day! I love this "new" normal. It was such a joy to see her having fun. Now I understand what my parents meant when they said "I'm just having fun watching ya'll have fun" (even though I didn't understand at the time how that could be true, I totally get it now). Seeing her eyes light up and her squeal with excitement when a (cold) wave would rush up to her made me so happy that sometimes I'd have to wipe away a happy tear. (The water was pretty cold this year! And, at that particular time, the oil hadn't made it to Florida...)

We ate lots of good food! EVERYTHING is so expensive there so we did eat in a couple of nights, and always ate breakfast and lunch in the condo. We found a random hole-in-the wall Mexican food place (through using a nifty app on my phone)...and it was DELICIOUS. They even advertised buy one, get one free margaritas, so we opted for the big-daddy. (And, there's a reason they were BOGO...Makena could've probably had it and no one would've known, that's how virgin-ish they were, though I did not test this theory.) But, the food (and a couple of extra shots of tequila) made up for it. :)

Makena decided to give me her silly smile when I took her picture this night:


When we got back from eating, we decided we felt like gluttons and needed some exercise. A sunset walk on the beach was just what the doctor ordered and I actually had my camera with me this night.

Makena found a disgusting torn up piece of toy that she would NOT put down. It had the consistency of a gooey sponge. Eww. Alas, she was proud of her discovery (probably because it was something other than seashells).

I love how prissy she looks in this picture running from the waves: :)

Makena DID get her own (virgin) pina colada (b/c it was entirely too sweet for the adults). She LOVED drinking out of Mommy's big cup. And, I love the pucker of her lips in these pictures, and her shifty eyes, making sure she wasn't going to get in trouble for sneaking a drink out of my cup.

One night, Luke got the crazy idea to go to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. If you've ever been there, you know it's 1) very elegant and 2) is NOT cheap. I was SO nervous about the experience. I even forced him to call and make sure they'd allow us in with a baby and hopefully we wouldn't get evil stares. We got to the restaurant, and sat in a cute roundy booth. Makena wouldn't sit in her highchair, so I figured she could snuggle between Luke and myself. But, after 2 minutes, I knew this was not going to be a good idea. She was popping up and down, trying to grab for EVERYTHING in her diaper bag. I was on the verge of wanting to leave b/c I just KNEW it wasn't going to be a relaxing meal (like it should be). BOY was I WRONG! The waitress told us when she first walked up that they had mini-dvd players for kids entertainment and she could bring us one if Makena would like to watch it. "UM....YES PLEASE!!" She even had a beloved Barney DVD! It's like this night was meant to be! Makena sat GLUED to the DVD player (w/ headphones) for almost 2 hours. I can't tell you how relaxing the meal turned out to be! And, was it EVER ((singing)) DELICIOUS!!!!!! Yum! My mouth is watering now thinking about the buttery steak. Makena was more well behaved than the adults were at the table next to us. I love this little girl.

(it's hard to tell, but in this picture she's moving her head from side to side b/c she's listening to a song--and I could squeeze her for it!)

Perfection: (Barney, and a Paci)...lol....

Then, one night, we went hunting for crabs. Makena was not very amused. Probably because I repeatedly warned her that they would "hurt you really bad". :0) We caught a TON of them, and then had the bright idea to boil them on our own. It was definitely an experience we'll never forget.

It was during the spawn, so some of them had disgusting spong-like things protruding from their bellies. (We did not eat those ladies, and found out later that it's actually against the law to keep those girls...but if you'd seen the nastiness on their bellies, you wouldn't want to eat them either.)

I could tell you a million things about crabs, as I researched them for a good 2 hours before deciding eating them most likely would not make us sick. I also you tubed "how to eat a crab" and learned the best way to peel them; technology is amazing). We did not get sick...and the crab was actually very tastey...and guess what? THEY WERE FREE. BOOYA! (The amount that we caught/cooked would've been at LEAST $50-60 at a restaurant).

Here are some random pictures:

We always needed an afternoon snack after playing in the water/sun for hours!

And, needed to rehydrate...

I love this picture of my Lukey, b/c I got him to smile, sitting watching dolphins one morning on our balcony:

Makena kept pointing to "dat" (the pool). And discovered it was much easier to walk to it than to walk through the sand to the beach...so the latter part of the vacation we spent most of the time at the pool. Her new phrase that she learned this vacation was "Wanna go?" said pretty much first thing when she'd wake up in the morning, and she'd grab you by the finger and lead you to the door and want to walk all the way to the beach/pool. It was pretty cute.

Daddy kisses:

We discovered floaties and loved them.

She also loves to ride on her Daddy's shoulders.

Cute as a button:

Swinging round and round with mommy while brushing the waves.

Mommy kisses:

These are a couple of my favorite pics of Makena from the trip:

So long Destin, you were good to us again this year. Hopefully we'll see you again soon and the nasty oil doesn't hurt you!! :-/