Gulf Shores, Day 5

On our last day, we began the morning with baking chocolate chip cookies. Auntie Carrie told Nathan not to eat the dough until the cookies were baked, but he was a little too fast!


"That's not cookie dough in my mouth!"

"Ummmm, I think they need a few more chocolate chips in them."

"Are they ready yet?"

Mama and Nathan sharing sand. They poured sand into each other's hands for the longest time.

And then shared kisses!

Mama, Nathan, Robert, and Carrie playing ring around the rosey.

When Papa came down to the beach (and after Nathan's nap), he brought the kite back out. This was so funny to watch, because Nathan was SO excited to fly it again!

Every time Papa or Robert flew the kite, Nathan would say, "Dare it goes!"

I think Papa had just as much fun flying the kite as the kids! Nathan and Robert would alternate between digging in the sand and helping Papa fly the kite.

"Hold on a minute...did we re-stock the cooler with juice boxes after my nap?"

"I better go check."

Robert made this play area for Nathan. He made a slide on one side and steps on the other. Nathan would climb on the steps and slide on the slide over and over and then clap for himself :)

After Papa got the kite in the air, he would give it to Nathan. He told Nathan to hold on tight and not let go. Nathan would get so excited and yell, "Look Mommy! Look Mama!" as he held on. Then, all of a sudden, he would just let it go! Nathan would laugh so hard as Papa ran to catch it. We had everyone on the beach laughing at us! Papa would catch the kite and give it back to Nathan, explaining again, not to let go. We all clapped for Nathan as he was flying the kite a 2nd time, but then he let it go again! He thought it was a game: fly the kite, let it go, and watch Papa run down the beach :) It was really funny!

Here is Nathan running from those big waves. The waves actually were really big on this day because of the storm from the night before. Carrie and I had so much fun trying to ride the waves on boogie boards with Alexandra and Robert. We even found a sand bar that was out a bit, and the waves there were HUGE! It was kind of scary swimming out there because for a while you couldn't touch, but once you reached it, it was really fun. The waves were so big there that we got knocked down a few times, but we loved it!

Every day, when it was time for Nathan to go back up for his nap, he would say "Bye Bye" to everyone and everything: "Bye sand! Bye waves! Bye Bye seagulls!" The funniest was when he said "Bye Man!" This was to a man walking past us :)

And for our last hoorah, we back to The Wharf for dinner and for Alexandra and Robert to do a ropes course and zip line there.

Auntie Carrie and Uncle Chris. Nathan calls them "Chis" and "Chee" or sometimes "Chee-Hee" how he comes up with his names, I don't know.

Robert and Alexandra getting ready for the zip line with Papa.

We had a great dinner, although Nathan threw a big fit when he saw he had to sit in a highchair. This is a regular occurrence nowadays. So Mom ordered me a margarita while Daddy took Nathan to stroll around until our dinner came. Once dinner was on the table, Papa and Nathan came back. He's usually happy to sit when his food is there, but he started to throw a fit again (arching his back, kicking his legs, and screaming)! So Papa took him back out, and about 10 seconds later, they showed up again with smiles on their faces. Nathan said "Hi Mommy!" in a cheery voice and then said, "Rice, yum, yum!" And he sat down in his high chair like nothing was ever wrong. I don't know what Papa said to him, but it worked!

The next morning, we all woke up early and started the long drive home. It wasn't so bad though because Carrie and I rode together in my car and had fun getting caught up on everything. We had the best time! Plus we all stopped for lunch and bathroom breaks together. I miss the beach already, but luckily, Wayne and I have our final vacation still to come! We leave for Cancun this Thursday for a friend's wedding. And it's just the two of us!

Thank you Mama and Papa for a wonderful vacation!

Here are a couple of videos from the trip: