Destin Vaca 2011

We just returned from a very relaxing vacation to the beach at Destin, Florida. This was our third time to go but Steve's parents and his sister and her family went with us this time. We had a super fun time and made some great family memories that I know the kids will especially cherish. Here's some pics and videos from our trip...

This was taken about 6 hours before we needed to leave. The girls were so excited to go, they couldn't help but pack early and hang out in our rental van.

Since it's about a 14-hour drive, we left at 2 in the morning and drove straight through and arrived at our condo about 4 in the afternoon.

After we unloaded our luggage, of course we had to hit the beach...

Day 2...

Everyone ate dinner at our condo that night, then the kids performed a "talent show" for us...

Here's their "light show"...

And my niece, Emily, sang...

And here's the grand finale...

After that, we took family pics at the beach...

Then we went crab hunting when it got dark...

Day 3 at the beach...

That night we went to Seaside - a beach community close to Destin, which I LOVE. Could totally live there. Great food, shopping, entertainment and shaved ice at Frost Bites!

Day 4 at the beach...

At night, we went to Baytowne Wharf - a neat area that has shops, restaurants and fun things for kids to do...

Day 5 - we took a break from swimming because we had some pretty bad sunburns. We opted to go shopping, instead, at Destin Commons, then we went back to Seaside again. We met some friends at Bud and Alley's for dinner then took a few more pics at the beach...

Day 6 - we woke up early and went "shopping" on the beach - a.k.a. looking for "treasures" left over from the day before. We found flip flops, a fishing net, a paddle, a boogie board, and lots of sand toys. Score! ;-)

The girls made a friend at the beach named Kylie. They had so much fun playing at our condo's pool, surfing the waves on their boards, and building sand castles together. They exchanged e-mail addresses and hope to stay in touch with each other. Too bad she doesn't live closer to us - Illinois is a little far away to schedule a play date ;-)

Here's pics from our last day on the beach...

And dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, The Back Porch...

Day 7 @ 4 a.m. - Time to head home and get back to reality :-(

It was a fun trip that we'll always remember. The kids are already talking about the next one! ;-)