Gulf Shores Day 2

My dad got us two condos, and they were amazing! Mom, Dad, Jen, Alexandra and Robert stayed in one, and Carrie, Wayne, Nathan and I stayed in another right next door. We all had our own rooms which was really nice! The kids ran back and forth the whole time! The next morning, we got up bright and early (Nathan and Robert were our wake up calls). We enjoyed coffee and Cheerios on the balcony before getting our swimsuits on and heading to the beach.



Mama and Nathan. The "soft focus" look is thanks to the sunscreen I accidentally got on the lens :)



Wayne, Papa, and Robert got right to work showing Nathan how to build sand castles.

Robert spent the whole first day digging this hole. This is what it looked like in the morning. By the end of the day, he could pretty much stand up in it!

Carrie soaking up the rays.

This is the boat we bought at the souvenir shop. Can you believe it was only $10?! That was the best money we spent! Nathan loved riding the waves in it. He kept saying, "Big wave...no baby wave...no big wave." That was his way of describing the big and small waves :)

Hi Papa!

We stocked the ice chests with all sorts of drinks. Of course, Nathan drank about a million juice boxes!

Nathan giving Mommy a sandy, salty smooch.

After having a great first day, we went back to the rooms to get ready and then headed down to the pool to grill hamburgers and hot dogs.

Everyone was in charge of something...Robert has the kite, Carrie has the baked beans, Nathan has the cookies, Alexandra has the condiments, and I have the camera!

While Wayne and Papa got our dinner ready, Carrie and I took Nathan, Alexandra, and Robert to the beach to attempt to fly a kite.

"Mommy, enough pictures! They need me to help them fly the kite."

Robert was successful! Look at that kite go!

Of course, Nathan smiles with Auntie Carrie as he claps and cheers for Robert :)

While we were eating our dinner, we kept seeing this plane flying in circles near us. It turns out that people were parachuting to this bar called the Flora-Bama which literally sits in both states, Florida and Alabama.

Those are two of the cutest profiles I've ever seen!

We then went to an amusement park for the kids to have some fun (and the adults too!) They have a small kiddie area for Nathan's age, plus several go-kart tracks, bumper boats, and the Sky Coaster...there's a picture of that coming up!

Robert rode this little ferris wheel with Nathan. I was actually kind of nervous that once it started going, Nathan would get really scared and want to get out, but Robert was so sweet to him. Every time their car came around, Nathan would yell, "Bye Mommy! Bye Daddy!"

Notice how the first picture is of Nathan and Robert on opposite sides, and then the last two are of Nathan sitting right next to Robert :) Robert said he got a little scared at the top and wanted to sit next to him.

Then it was on to the Carousel. I've tried to get Nathan to do this before, but he every time we get on, he gets so excited at first, and then just wants to sit on the bench. It's amazing what a little peer pressure from a cousin can get you!

This is the Sky Coaster! I've done this before, and it's so scary! Alexandra really wanted to do it, so Carrie and I couldn't say no. You get strapped into a harness while you're laying on your stomach. Then a line pulls you up by your feet until you are 110 feet in the air! One person pulls the rip cord (Carrie), you free fall, and then swing up over the buildings going 70 mph! How crazy is that?!

We screamed the whole time! What was funny is that the guys strapping us in, said that once we got to the top, they'd count to 3, and that's when you pull the cord. Well, we got to the top, but didn't hear them count. We could see them making some kind of hand motion, but we didn't know if they were saying to pull the cord or to wait. Finally, we could tell that the guy was getting a little frustrated with us and was saying to hurry up and GO! Sorry! I mean when you're that high up, you don't really want to make a mistake :)