counting down

We were midway into planning our trip to the northwest coast, when we suddenly decided to change our plans. Instead, we'll be occupying this cute little cottage May 3rd-9th in Seaside, Florida! It's been a couple of years since we've taken a trip where sightseeing wasn't the number one priority, or a crying baby wasn't dictating our schedule. In fact, we've never gone to the beach just the two of us, so we decided maybe we needed a more low key trip. 

Oregon and Seattle will have to wait... for now. This Momma (and Daddy) need to relax. Now, let's hope I can part with a certain little someone for six days...

Seagrove: Part II

We've been home almost a week and I'm already wishing we were back.  Seagrove is a little town nestled right on the Florida coast between Seaside and Santa Rosa.  We ate most of our meals in Seaside, and boy did we eat good!  One of our favorite things was eating lunch at the food trucks.  It was quick and easy with a baby, and there were several yummy options to choose from.  My favorite was the grilled cheese truck, The Melt Down.  If you go to the Seaside/Seagrove area, you must go there and try the Smokin' Turkey!  A few other favorites were: Red Bar, Cafe 30A, and Great Southern (the shrimp and grits, oh my!).  We even got to bring home a taste of the ocean. The men caught all of those fish pictured above on a 10 hour deep sea fishing trip. Once back on land, they filleted them and they all made the trek back to Arkansas with us.

I hope you all got to get away and relax at some point this summer.  I can't imagine life without a vacation from the day to day, and it doesn't get much better than family, friends, food, and the beach!

Seagrove: Part I

Last week we had our toes in the sand in Seagrove Florida.  My parents took our whole family to spend a week on the beach together.  Our family friends, the Schaefer's, also came to Seagrove, and stayed in the condo next door to ours.  Elliott and Paisley were the main attraction, entertaining us with their every move.

Vacationing with a baby made for a different kind of vacation.  While others slept until 10 or 11 each morning, we were up walking on the beach with E at 6, we took frequent breaks from the heat so our beach baby could cool off or nap, and went to dinner with all the senior citizens at 5 every night.  Packing took me a week, filling my parents car and my brother's truck with baby's necessities, and the 11 hour car ride took more like 15 after all of the stops to nurse, change diapers, or give E a break from his carseat.  It was work, but I wouldn't trade the memories for anything.  My parent's were a huge help, giving us breaks to lay out on the beach, and allowing for a parent's night out with Brooke and Jonathan at Red Bar.

If you plan to travel to the beach with a baby, let me make one suggestion.  Bring a baby pool for the beach.  We used the pool to keep Elliott and his toys out of the sand, and it made a perfect spot for napping under the umbrella using the ocean as his sound machine.

We got lots of good photos to share, so stay tuned for more in a few days.