One benefit of Sophie starting school so early is the week long Fall Break in September which enabled us to do our yearly beach vacation. This year, our destination was Sandestin, Florida and rather than spending the week with multiple families as in years past, we opted for a trip with just the four of us.The beginning of our journey proved to be a bit nerve-wracking as Sophie had some sort of stomach bug that resulted in pit stops along the way that seemed like once every 10 minutes. Thankfully, her symptoms dissipated and after a couple of days on the BRAT diet, she was good to go.
We had beautiful weather and enjoyed a relaxing week on the beach with no real agenda whatsoever. Even with just a one hour time change, the kids were thrown off a bit which led to some very early mornings, but it also meant that we could put them to bed early and have the evenings to ourselves.
The golf cart we rented with our villa provided a convenient means for transportation and was a novelty that never wore off for the kids.
The gulf was quite a bit rougher than we expected, but the kids still enjoyed plenty of time jumping waves and burying each other in the sand. We also had access to a great pool which was great when the kids needed a change of scenery.
Towards the end of the week, we attempted our first family round of miniature golf, which was just as hilarious as expected. Sophie proved to be quite a skilled player while Jack mostly chased the ball and stopped it with his hands to redirect its path. We will surely enjoy many games in the future!
On our last night, we headed on on a Sunset Dolphin Cruise that did not disappoint. We had lots of sightings and Sophie and Jack each had a turn as Captain. At one point the kids were allowed to feed the seagulls, which involved holding fritos into the air as the birds swept down to grab them out of their hand. Kind of scary, if you ask me, but Sophie was especially into this.
There's just something about a beach vacation that allows one to decompress more than any other type of vacation. It was just what we needed but all too quickly, our week came to an end and it was back to reality. Until next time!
