2014 Navarre Beach Trip

WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD!!

We didn’t go to Fripp Island this summer for our annual Cushing beach trip vacation. With Jenn getting married in July, Claire (our cousin) getting married in November, and Uncle Gary running for Congress, there was just too much going on (and too much expense!) to go to Fripp unfortunately. Mom and Dad still wanted to do a beach trip for just our family, but we ended up going to Navarre Beach, FL instead. Navarre is between Pensacola and Fort Walton on the Gulf Coast. Mom found a nice condo there, and we really loved our stay. It was a great week!

Brooklyn was all dressed and ready to head to the beach early Saturday morning, but unfortunately her daddy wanted to finish eating half of a watermelon in our fridge before we left town. Not exactly his brightest idea ever…haha!

We stopped at Arby’s for lunch on the way down, and Brooklyn discovered ketchup for the first time. She enjoyed dipping her PB&J in it and licking the ketchup off. Yuck! :)

We got down to Navarre around 5:30 or 6 PM, and got all unpacked in the condo. Our unit was on the 10th floor (out of 18), and we had some great views!!

This was our view of the bay from our bedroom balcony!

And this was the view from the living room balcony of the beach/ocean. The water was so pretty!

We got to see some gorgeous sunsets from the condo too! Our balcony had a great view of the sun setting over the bay…

The house that we stay in at Fripp isn’t right on the beach, so this week, we enjoyed sitting outside on the balcony just listening to the ocean. We ate lunch out there several days and even turned homemade ice cream out there. Brooklyn loved it too!

Brooklyn enjoyed eating potato chips with Gramps…haha

She burned off all those calories when she cranked the ice cream…haha! We made cookies and cream ice cream by crushing up Oreos into our vanilla base, and it was so good!

The condo had two pools, so we usually spent a little time each day there. There were never too many people there, so that was nice!

Brooklyn also enjoyed going to the beach. She loved digging in the sand and getting in the ocean. That girl knows no fear! If we weren’t careful, she would just take off down the beach by herself. Gone are the days of sitting in a beach chair, relaxing, and reading a book :)

After coming in from the beach, Brooklyn’s hair would be SUPER curly. It was so cute!! She didn’t get those curls from me, but I definitely love them!!

We had great weather the whole week! It only rained once on Sunday afternoon, and the rest of the time it was nice and sunny. There was always a good breeze though, so it never felt too hot at the pool or the beach. We didn’t stay outside for long stretches of time with Brooklyn, so we did have some toys and books to entertain her inside…

She was fascinated by the elevator buttons :)

If you know my dad, you know that he’s always fixing something. Here, he’s fixing the toilet in one of the bathrooms. Good thing he had a little helper!

We took some pictures before church on Sunday :)

Da-Da and his girl!

Walking in after church!

A good night’s sleep unfortunately evaded us this week. Brooklyn didn’t sleep very well in her pack-n-play, so she woke up at least once every night and ended up sleeping with us a lot of times. I think she rolls around so much that she wakes herself up in a small space like that. Once we got home from vacation, she’s been sleeping great again in her crib. Yay!

She also took some naps on the beach and even in the pool!

She was covered in sand, but it didn’t seem to bother her at all :)

Floating in the pool and taking a nap. What a beach bum! :)

Of course, we ate lots of good food the whole week. Mom made Frogmore stew one night, which is an annual Fripp tradition. It was great as usual!

Shrimp, potatoes, corn, and sausage…what’s not to love??

We also went out to eat twice while we were there. The first night, we ate at the Shrimp Basket in Navarre. It was all-you-can-eat shrimp night…perfect for hungry guys like Travis :) He and Chandler ordered 4 or 5 refills of shrimp I think :) After supper, Travis, Brooklyn, and I went to get a snow cone at a place near the beach. Then, we played Rummikub with the family back at the condo. It was the perfect way to end the evening!

The second night, we drove to Pensacola and ate at the Fish House for Dad’s birthday. It was AMAZING!! It was some of the best seafood I’ve ever eaten. Everyone said their food was great. I’d love to go back there if we go to Navarre again next year. The drive to Pensacola from Navarre is also one of the coolest drives I’ve ever been on. It’s a “scenic route” that goes right along the beach and ocean with unobstructed views of the water. The sand is also all natural, so there are big mounds of sand that haven’t been leveled out. At many points along the way, you are probably driving 50 yards from the ocean. It was beautiful!

Coloring at the Fish House before supper

The whole family after eating supper

Jenn and Chandler were only able to come to the beach for a couple of days, but it was great to have them there while we did :)

We sat outside the restaurant after supper and watched Dad open his birthday presents…

Helping Gramps tear the wrapping paper :)

After we left the restaurant, Mom and Dad followed us to the beach to take some pictures of Brooklyn while the sun was setting. We got there just in time to get some shots with good lighting. Brooklyn actually cooperated and smiled for the camera too…it was great! I’m using the pictures of her for her 18 month post (coming soon!), but here are a couple of others we took that evening…

Checking out the shots…

On Friday, we decided to check out a local playground and splash pad. It was just over the bridge going into Navarre, so it only took 2 or 3 minutes to get there. Brooklyn had fun playing, and it was a nice change from the beach/pool for the morning!

After Brooklyn had enough fun getting wet, we dried her off and walked across the parking lot to the Butterfly House. It was a small place with butterflies from around the world on display inside and a butterfly garden in the back. By this point, Brooklyn was worn out, so I think the rest of us enjoyed it more than her. It was cool to see some of the butterflies that live in other parts of the world.

We spent the rest of Friday at the beach/pool, and then it was time to start packing up to leave on Saturday. Overall, we loved Navarre Beach! It’s not very crowded but it’s close enough to grocery stores and restaurants that you don’t feel too isolated. It’s also a short driving to Pensacola and Fort Walton/Destin. We can’t wait to go back sometime! Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a wonderful week!!!