Perdido Key

We spent the last week in Perdido Key with my family -- Mom/Dad, Kimmie/Dave/Ellie and Me/Ben/Wyatt.  Although we see each other often and much of that time is sorta 'vacation-mode' since we're at the lake, its still nice to just get away once in a while.  We weren't halfway through the week when my sister was trying to plan the next family vacation!  She's usually the catalyst to these trips and I'm usually just the beneficiary but it all works out!

Its tough for Dad and I both to be out of the office at the same time, and because of this we ended up not going for the WHOLE week but rather Tues-Sunday.  When we all got there on Tuesday, we did take a little time to go down to the pool for an hour or so before getting dressed for dinner.  Its tough to take W out to dinner because he likes to go to bed so early but we figured we could swing it a couple of the nights.  As it turns out, dinner took a longer time than expected and as a result we spent a lot of time trying to entertain Wyatt to distract him from his exhaustion.  This ended up being one of my favorite pictures from the whole trip just because it is hilarious.  Ben and I look so stoopid, but as you can tell Wyatt is very happy!

We set up a tent on the beach complete with a baby pool (you should have seen us lugging up water from the ocean one bucket at a time) and lounge chairs.  Wyatt had a tendency to want a morning nap as soon as we got down to the beach so I kinda set up camp for him in the shade.

Wyatt was extremely tentative about being in or even near the ocean.  We did manage to get one of Meme, Wyatt, and Ellie by the water

and of him playing giddyup with his Daddy

and of Wyatt and Ellie sitting by the sand castle that Meme built for them.

But mostly if he was on the beach and not asleep he just wanted to play in his baby pool in the shade.

He quite enjoyed his beach snacks after he woke up from his morning beach nap.  (Kid has a rough life)

And he found a new sippy cup that he loves! 

Meanwhile, Papa enjoyed the shade and the air conditioning. 

When we went inside for lunch each day, the kids would play in the condo for a while.  I had 2 frisbees that were really meant for (adult) beach toys but Wyatt LOVED just skating around the condo on these things. He also had fun playing under this table!

After lunch, naps, and snack time, we usually headed back down to the pool for a while. 

We spent a lot of time teaching Wyatt all about waving.  (I think this is a trick he's known for a while but just this past week has begun to do it on command)

Wyatt is clearly going through some sort of growth spurt right now because the child has been eating like a horse!  In this picture, he had already eaten his afternoon snack and was begging Ellie for some of her yogurt. 

At night, we ended up splitting up the staying home duties in an effort to not make the kids go out for dinner. This was nice because the nights we did go out, we didn't feel rushed and actually got to relax and not worry that the kids were interrupting other people eating!  Here are Dave and Ben one of the nights with enough food to feed a whole army (or at the rate he has been eating, one Wyatt)!

The guys all went fishing on Thursday and really had a good time.  I don't have any pictures of their prized catches but they caught some mackerel, redfish, and a flounder.  Friday afternoon Ben, Dave, and Dad grilled the fish for lunch and everyone really seemed to enjoy it. (I don't eat fish, but I hear it was very tasty!)

We did do some family pictures on the beach one evening and despite having a tough time getting sleepy Wyatt to smile, I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.

This one is my favorite, I think.  It will be framed and in my house eventually. 

We also got a good one of Wyatt/Meme/Papa!

On our last day, we spent the morning at the beach.  While Wyatt was taking his usual nap, I managed to (attempt) a game of frisbee with Ben.

 And when he woke, we posed for one last family beach picture.  I tried to get him into the water after this but he just wasn't having it.

We braved it on the last night and EVERYONE went out to dinner together.  Of course we had to get our only group picture beforehand since we were all dressed.

It was a fun trip, and I was definitley not pleased at the sound of my alarm clock at 5:30 this morning.  Don't think Ben was either and Wyatt certainly wasn't.

Perdido Key on Dwellable