2017 Navarre Beach Trip

I’m embarrassed that it’s taken me this long to get around to writing about our family beach trip back in mid-May, but thankfully I wrote down some notes about the trip when we got home so I don’t have to recall everything from memory ;) I feel like I can’t remember much of anything these days, so I depend heavily on notes–especially when I am this far behind at documenting everything. Our trip was actually not supposed to be until this September (if you remember, we went in September last year and LOVED IT), but Baby girl #3 had other ideas :) My due date is October 4th, so it wouldn’t have been a great idea to travel to the beach that late in the pregnancy. Thankfully, the rest of the family was able to make it work to move the trip up! Beach trips in the summer are so expensive (AND hot and crowded), so we decided to try out going in May for the first time. The trip really snuck up on me with everything else we had going on in May, but it was really the perfect timing to get away for the week and not have to deal with cleaning the house for showings! (Big thanks to Cici and Melissa for taking care of Gabby and checking on the house while we were gone!).

This year’s trip was from Friday, May 12th to Friday, May 19th. Typically, our trips are Saturday to Saturday, but going and leaving on Fridays worked better this year because Aunt Jenn graduated from medical school on Saturday, May 20th. We had a wedding to attend in Cullman on Friday the 12th (Travis’s cousin, Bekah was getting married) so we went to the wedding on the way down to the beach. It worked out well that we could still go to the wedding, but it did make for a late night! We didn’t get to the condo until about 10:30 PM that night even though we only stopped twice along the way. The girls did really well overall on the drive even though it was way past bedtime by the time we got there.

Saturday was our first full day there, and the girls were ready to swim!

We stayed at the Pearl this year, which is the place we stayed our first year at Navarre (different unit this time). It has two pools, and one was heated (which helped since the water was a little colder than what we were used to).

The cooler water temps didn’t stop Brooklyn from swimming!

Savannah preferred sitting on the side of the pool on that first day :)

After a little while at the pool, we headed down to the beach! It was a little more crowded than it was last fall, but still not bad compared to the summer crowds.

Eating Pop Ices on the beach is a must-do every year!

One of Brooklyn’s favorite activities of the week was building sand castles. She did a pretty good job of recruiting people to help her (usually Paw or Rae Rae).

Savannah also enjoyed digging in the sand!

We ate lunch on the balcony almost every day. It was perfect weather for sitting outside—plenty warm, but not hot enough to be uncomfortable.

Brooklyn was exhausted after a fun first day!

She collected a whole bowl full of shells on day 1!

Sunday was Mother’s Day—not a bad place to spend Mother’s Day if you ask me :) We snapped a few pictures before heading to church that morning, and the girls actually cooperated!

I’m so thankful for my THREE girls!

Another lunch on the balcony :)

More fun on the sand after lunch

Brooklyn saw a teenage girl building a turtle in the sand and wanted to make one too, so she convinced Aunt Jenn to help her. It turned out much cuter than it would have if I’d been the helper!

She even decorated it with a few shells on top :)

B played hard and was worn out by the time we went back to church that evening. She needed a good nap!

For supper that night, we went out to eat at TC’s Front Porch. Mom and Dad had eaten there on Friday night (before the rest of us got into town) and said it was really good. The fish tacos were excellent! It was a nice way to cap off Mother’s Day, and none of us had to cook!

The two pools at the Pearl—the two little dots in the pool are Rae Rae and Brooklyn! Rae Rae was doing water aerobics, and Brooklyn was supervising ;)

More fun on the sand! The ocean was chilly, especially at the beginning of the week, so we mostly stuck to the pool and the sand itself. The girls did get in the ocean a few times but didn’t stay in too long :)

Toddler attitude :) She’d only turned 2 a couple of weeks before the trip, but we could already tell it…haha. I can’t remember why she was pouting and not wanting to eat, but thankfully she came around after a few minutes :)

Love seeing that big smile instead of a pout!

We found a box of blocks in the girls’ bedroom, so they enjoyed playing with those during the week. Nice change of pace from all the outdoor fun!

Brooklyn and Savannah are so lucky to have such a great Paw! He spent a lot of time reading to them over the course of the week, and they loved it!

Pool time on Tuesday morning

Brooklyn offered to help Paw build the “remote” around the sand castle…haha

Looking for more shells! The water was so calm and clear that day.

Brooklyn is always game for making new friends wherever we go. There was a family staying at the Pearl who had 4 year old twins and a 2 year old little girl. We kept running into them several days in a row, and of course Brooklyn thought they were all automatic best friends ;)

Savannah didn’t have as much stamina as her big sister and got worn out pretty quickly after playing on the beach. She enjoyed taking several naps by the ocean and lots of cuddles to help her recharge :)

Another day…another lunch with a view. Couldn’t beat it!

Wednesday morning, we decided to hit the playground and splash pad across the bridge in Navarre. It was a nice change to do something a little different for the morning. Before we left, the girls got in some more reading time with Paw :)

We went to the playground first before the girls got all wet…

Brooklyn always wants to swing in these swings (made for special needs kids, I think). They must look more fun than regular swings because they are so big and colorful :)

The swings are right by the water—so pretty!

Time to slide!

After about 10 or 15 minutes at the playground, Brooklyn was ready to move on to the splash pad area—the main attraction :) So, we headed over that way…

So excited to play!

Savannah enjoyed the splash pad too, but she didn’t like water getting in her eyes :)

We brought their watering cans with us that morning, and they were a big hit!

Savannah mainly stuck to the shorter fountains where the water wasn’t spraying so high. Brooklyn ran all around the area getting wet and making friends :) We ended up staying for quite a while even after Savannah was tired of playing because Brooklyn was having so much fun!

Taking a break with Paw to catch her breath :)

We skipped the beach that day, but after lunch and naps, we headed to the pool for a late afternoon swim!

I turned 20 weeks while we were there: halfway! This was my first beach trip while pregnant, and it wasn’t bad at all. I felt fine the whole week!

Savannah was looking so cute waiting on the elevator that night!

Thursday was our last full day at the beach! Brooklyn, Paw, and Rae Rae walked all the way to the pier looking for shells.

One of Savannah’s favorite activities of the week was walking back and forth from our chairs to the ocean collecting “wa-wa” (water). She would get back to the chair with a full bucket or watering can, dump it out, and then want to go get more. We definitely got our exercise helping her that week :)

The girls also discovered that day how much fun it is to get buried in the sand!

Covering up Daddy’s feet :)

Everybody took a turn getting buried!

Savannah surprisingly LOVED getting covered up in the sand!

She actually got mad when we uncovered her and said it was time to go eat lunch :)

After lunch and naps, we spent some time at the pool that afternoon before it was time to start getting packed up that evening.

This face = the sign of a fun-filled week. The girls both played hard!

Other Notes from the Week: 

• Brooklyn’s favorite things from the week: looking for shells on the beach, making sand castles and decorating them with shells, swimming in the pool, burying people in the sand, eating Pop Ices, and having “picnics” on the balcony for lunch
• Savannah’s favorite things from the week: digging in the sand, getting buried in the sand, walking back and forth to the ocean to get “wa-wa”, climbing the steps of the pool, jumping from the pool steps to Mommy (we got a fun video of this!)
• We played I Spy one night during supper. Here was Brooklyn’s turn: “I spy something yellow. It’s on the cob!” Haha!
• The girls did pretty good sharing a room and not waking each other up. They shared the third bedroom for most of the week after Jenn and Chandler headed home. It was Savannah’s first time to sleep somewhere other than a crib or pack-n-play, but she never tried climbing out of the bed on her own. She did great!
• Savannah was so excited to be with Paw and “Yay Yay”for a whole week—as were we all!

 Our annual family beach trip is always one of my favorite weeks of the year, and this year was no different! It’s great to just be able to get away and spend time with family. Thank you, Paw and Rae Rae, for a wonderful time!