Beach Vacation 2016

Well, it's only taken me four months to finally get through the 3,600 photos I took on our Florida beach vacation back in April. I'm not even slightly kidding or over-exaggerating with that number either, so I'm considering this a major accomplishment. A bottle of champagne may or may not have been popped. Honestly, I don't know why I feel it's necessary to take so many photos when we're on vacation and I'm always completely overwhelmed by them when we get home. When I downloaded them all, I was pretty sure I'd still be editing them when we go back next year. Part of that was because it was Mim's first time on the beach since she could walk and I really wanted to capture her reaction and the other part was that I was trying to get comfortable with a new lens I got for Christmas, but haven't used much. I'm still not sure I love it. Next year I need to remind myself to put the camera down more and play more instead of chasing my children around and trying to capture the perfect shot. I think I got some good ones, but there were literally thousands that were totally unnecessary. Lesson learned. 

Otherwise, our trip this year was probably the best yet. Every spring we rent a house on this island and spend a week doing as little as possible. The kids had so much fun at the beach this year and I think they're just going to love it more each year. The house we stayed in was amazing - right across the street from the beach with lots of space, bunk beds for the kids (which blew their minds), a rooftop deck, a huge wrap-around porch and a nice heated pool. Mim loved the beach from the second we put her down in the sand and couldn't stop splashing in the water, jumping the waves, chasing the birds and rolling in the sand. Mac was all about finding critters on the beach and fishing. He ended up catching a number of really cool ocean fish, including three stingrays! If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that stingrays are basically his spirit animal, so it was a very very big deal to him. It nearly broke his heart when we told him we couldn't keep them or take them home with us!

We try to make sure our beach vacation is relaxing and consists of lots of beaching, fishing, eating and swimming. We don't go anywhere that requires shoes or doesn't accept dogs. We try not to even get in the car once we're settled. Every day starts with a golf cart ride into town to get shrimp (bait), followed by beach time, pool time, lunch time, nap time (which is right at daiquiri o'clock), more beach time, more pool time, dinner, a golf cart ride into town for ice cream and then back on the beach with headlamps and flashlights to chase crabs until the kids basically pass out from exhaustion. We also played at the park, did a little shopping, danced at the local dive bar, ate our weight in oysters and even did a little geocaching. We had no agenda or schedule and just enjoyed living on island time for a week. The days were long, but so much fun and they flew by. Why is it that time seems to be on warp speed when you're trying to soak up every minute? I'm already counting the days until we can go back.

So, without further ado...here's a sampling of a few of my favorite pictures from the trip. If you want to read all about where we were and what there is to do there, check out the post I recently did on Savvy Sassy Moms. 

Only 290 days until we get to go back...