We meet the Hudmans', get our coffee at the QT to help keep our sleepy eyes open and head out. We arrived that evening in Rosemary Beach, a beautiful place to vacation. That first night we had a full moon coming up over the ocean. It was gorgeous and foreshadowed a fabulous trip ahead, minus a few bumps along the way.
That first day Hayes said "I am having the best day with my family." And Ben said "I have the best family." What great compliments!
The waves were pretty big the whole time we were there. It was mainly red flag days but that did not stop us from having fun. We bought Sam and boogie board and he instantly became a pro! Now, with all those big waves comes a lot of seaweed. Sam comes running up on the sand gagging. We think it is because he has swallowed salt water so I grab a drink to give him. He then throws up. Yep, my boy puked into the sugary sand. I said, "what happened?" He said "I saw the seaweed and it grossed me out." REALLY??? SEAWEED? Cracked me up!
Next up, green coming out of Hayes' nose and eyes. Great! Pink eye? Sinus infection? Call the doctor who sends a Rx to the nearest CVS and get him going on it. By the way, Sam is also on antibiotics this trip.
On Wednesday we decided to rent a pontoon boat and head to Shell Island. It is an island filled with thousands of sea shells and gorgeous white sand. The island is between the ocean and the bay and so the bay side is nice and calm where the kids can swim in crystal clear water with no waves to knock them down. We packed a picnic lunch and spent the whole afternoon there. The ocean side had huge waves and tons of jellyfish. The boys filled their buckets to the brim with shells and found hermit crabs and sand dollars. It was a wonderful diversion for the week.
There is an awesome little ice cream/candy shop in Rosemary called the Sugar Shack. Pretty much the name says it all. We made daily treks there to get our sugar fix!! One night, Stefani was asking Sam if he really wanted a 4th bowl of pasta. She explained that it takes a while for your brain to get the full signal from your tummy. Ben said, my brain is getting the message that I need the Sugar Shack. Classic!
Sam was dying to rent bikes and I kind of wanted to and kind of didn't. So, the second day we made our trip to the Shack and wondered over to the bike rental place. A bike was parked with a buggy on the back that could fit my two little twinks and it was kismet. We rented that along with one for Sam and off we went. Holy cow! That was the most fun ever!!! We bike every morning and every night and had the absolute best time doing it. We have returned home and I am on the hunt for a bike for myself. I have awakened my inner bike goddess and she is ready to ride!
We drove to Seaside for lunch one afternoon. We wanted, and needed, the most fabulous lobster rolls. Yes, if you were wondering, they do cost about $35 each but oh are they are worth it! The kids ate grilled cheeses from the food trucks and got ice cream, because ice cream was a food group while we were there, and we had fun. It was extremely crowded with tons of people and cars so that was a little annoying. We were glad to go back to Rosemary and our quiet little sanctuary.
The last night we went into Panama City for dinner with the kids at a total kid friendly place that almost felt like it should have been in Padre Island and that is not a compliment.
We were sad to leave our beach vacation but figured that is the best time to leave. We also left while it was raining so we felt a little better about that.
Until next year Rosemary Beach.....
