Spring Break in Florida

We just got home from a wonderful trip to Florida. We decided to go to Pensacola for a quick trip and it was a last minute decision, but we are so glad we made the trip.

We left Wednesday after work and drove for about 5 hours. We got a hotel for the night on the border of Arkansas and Mississippi and crashed for the night.

The next morning we hit the road again and we drove until we arrived in Pensacola at the Harber's house around 3 pm. The Harbers were busy with after school activities so we headed directly to the beach. We played in the surf and dug in the sand and then I snapped a few family pictures.

I absolutely love beach pictures and my family kindly indulged me again.

This right here.. my whole world. I love my people so dang much. 

Also, I couldn't get enough of this boy in his overalls. 

And he couldn't get enough sand. He loved it. He tried to eat it by the handful. 

And this girl, she whipped around and posed for this picture without a problem. 

Tucker's poses always crack me up but this one is just about on-point for his personality.
Seriously though, his hands in his pockets kind of kill me!

And last but not least, Tanner boy. 

We had to hold Benson a lot because otherwise he would just shovel sand into his mouth.

Oh and here are a few pictures of just the kids. 

We managed to get one family picture after the sun started to drop. It was incredibly hard to get a picture this time of night because the sun was just at the right level to be in our eyes. The kids were struggling to smile, but then it started to drop and we snagged this gem. 

After pictures, we went back to the Harber's house for dinner.

We ate and put the kids to bed. However, in the middle of the night, Bailey threw up. She made it to the toilet but still, it wasn't the way we wanted to start our vacation. 

So the next morning I told Adrian that we were leaving so we wouldn't get their family sick.

I hoped that Bailey was just sick from being in the car, eating junk food and traveling for two days, but I couldn't be sure.

So we packed our stuff and sadly left the Harber house. Chris was able to book us a room at the Pensacola Naval base.

However, we had booked tickets at the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park, so we headed there first.

Bailey was feeling fine when we left the Harbers so we decided to risk it. 

We drove over to Destin and by 11:30 am we were at the Gulfarium and ready to play. 

Our first stop was the dolphin show. We had reserved a ticket for Bailey to do a dolphin interaction. She was so excited and so we were glad she was feeling well enough to do it.

Check out this view! Right on the beach, so beautiful!

The kids couldn't wait for the show to start. They had never seen dolphins before. 

This little guy just sat on Daddy's lap and charmed everyone around him. 

The kids loved the show. It was so fun.

Tucker was seriously shocked to see the dolphins jumping and skipping across the water. 

They came pretty close to us and even splashed us a few times. 

The kids were completely enthralled with the show. It was so fun!!

Then Bailey got to go meet the dolphins. She was so nervous and excited. It was adorable. 

The dolphin she met was named Sebastian. 

She got to touch and pet Sebastian. 

She helped the trainer count his teeth

She was in dolphin heaven. 

She got to touch his fin and we learned that every dolphin's fin is different, just like our fingerprints. 

Then she got to feed the dolphin a little fish. She carefully tossed it into Sebastian's mouth. 

It's safe to say that we were big fans of the dolphin show. 

After the dolphin show, we explored the aquarium area. Tanner and Bailey are both pretty good little readers, so they enjoyed learning about the different fish in the tanks. 

Next we went over to the sting ray tank. These sting rays grow as long 6 feet

Tanner and Bailey loved this parrot. They each took turns holding it on their arms. So cool. 

We explored a little more before heading over to the sea lion show. This show was so cute. 

Then we saw the turtles and visited the touch tank. 

The kids loved the touch tanks. They were full of cool things but the kids loved the star fish best. 

Also, how cute are these penguins? Tuck really loved them 

We had so much fun at the Gulfarium and we are so relieved that Bailey was feeling good.

After we finished with all our fun there, we found some delicious seafood.

We all enjoyed  the food, even little Bensy boy. 

We drove back to Pensacola after lunch and checked into our room on base. We were thrilled to find out that our room faced the beach. It was so beautiful. The naval lodging reminded us a lot of our time at Fort Lee, but with a view of the beach.

Also, right outside our room were palm trees with hammocks hanging everywhere. It was the perfect spot for us.

We checked into our rooms and then went straight out to the beach. 

Tucker and Tanner couldn't wait to start digging in the sand. 

Seriously, this face? I can't even..

Bailey really wanted to build a sandcastle. So I helped her work on that for a while. 

Then she decided she wanted me to bury her in the sand. 

Tucker thought that was a great idea and so I buried him too. 

Benson was a big fan of the beach. 

The next morning was Saturday and our last official day in Florida. We decided to make the most of it. We grabbed breakfast at the lodge and then Dad took the kids on a little adventure while I packed up our bag for the day. The kids loved their adventure with Dad. They followed this little path of rocks until they reached the beach. Oh and they all loved the hammocks. It was so cute. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the kids in the hammocks- it was so fun. 

Then we went to explore the Naval Aviation Museum. We had visited once before, years ago, but the kids wanted to go again, so we did.

It was fun to see the Blue Angels up close and personal.

Then we went into the museum and explored.

The kids loved all the retired cockpits. They climbed in and out of them and had the best time.

How cute is this little Maverick? 

Benson, true to form, was happy being along for the ride. 

Next we took the kids over to do a flight simulation. They loved it. 

I could literally hear the kids laughing for 10 feet away and outside the plane. 

Here are the little pilots after the simulation.

They loved it so much!

After exploring at the museum, we headed over to the beach to meet up with the Harbers. Since Bailey wasn't sick anymore, we figured it was safe. We had the best time. 

Bailey immediately grabbed her boogie board and hit the water. 

Tucker was totally content chasing waves and digging in the dirt.
I'm pretty sure Tucker is happiest at the beach. He never stops smiling. 

And how cute is this boy? I just love him in his sunglasses. 

Benson loves his Daddy. I think he loves him as much or more than he loves me- which is saying a lot. Chris and Benson have a special little bond and its precious!

Tanner also boogie boarded for a while. He was so cute out there. 

Benson enjoyed watching the older kids play in the water. He didn't have much interest in getting wet, but he loved sitting in the sand. 

I adore this freckle face kid. He had the best time flying his kite around the beach. 

After spending most our day at the beach, we went to "Jo Patti's Fresh Fish Market". We've been dying to go here for years, but we finally found the time for it.
Tanner had been begging for crab legs since we arrived in Florida and we hadn't had much luck finding any. He was so excited when we found some at this market. 

So we grabbed crab legs and some shrimp and had them steamed and seasoned. 

There was a little deli attached to the market and they gave the kids free gelato samples.

The kids were in heaven!

 

We had a little picnic outside the market and it was perfect. 

Don't you love this boy and his happy crab smile!

Tucker loves crab but only when I help him crack and peel it. Lol. 

After dinner we met up with Adrian and her family for ice cream. 

Between Adrian and I, we have 9 kids- you can imagine how crazy life is when we are together. 

This was the perfect way to end our beach trip.

We had so much fun and we can't wait to go back. Beach vacations are my absolute favorite.

Now that we know we can stay on base, we can go back again even after the Harber family moves.
It was such a great spring break and it was so hard to come back to reality.