Destin 2014

Well friends, we have just made it back from our very first trip to the beach with a babe. I honestly was not sure how Finn was going to do on this trip. He is definitely used to a calm, quiet house with just the three of us. On this trip, we had 28 people total with 11 kids under age 9. Let me just say- he LOVED it! While it made meal times distracting for him, he absolutely loved all of his cousins and I think it's safe to say that they loved him. He has been so close to crawling forward for over a month now and this trip pushed him over the edge. He started crawling on Tuesday-- I'm not sure if it was to keep up with the big kids or get away from them. Regardless, we now have a crawler. We went on early morning walks since Finn never quite adjusted to central time. He was up by 5:30 each morning; luckily so was the sun- so off we went on walks to fun coffee shops while being greeted by sweet oldsters who were the only other ones up that early. We were able to relax by the pool during nap times and spent plenty of time at the beach. He actually really liked the sand and the water. Momma likes the gulf way better than the Atlantic, because I can actually see the bottom. We jumped waves and let him splash until he was out of breath. His happy squeals melted our hearts. He played hard and crashed for his naps and bedtime. We can't wait to bring him back each year as he gets older! This year, was definitely more exhausting than in years past and we wouldn't have it any other way. I was not able to take as many pictures as I usually do, but here are the ones I managed to capture...

Ready to go!

 Gone are the days of packing lightly.

Stretching our legs at a pit stop. Someone was eager to get back on the road.

We made it! Celebrating Dustin's first Father's Day bright and early with a walk on the beach.

These two have my heart.

Finn and Colton- 7 weeks apart.

One of our many early bird walks to get breakfast.

Pool time.

 Parker, Sawyer and Reese checking out the recently captured sea wildlife.

 Sawyer with his "Shawk"

 Aunt Brittney with sweet sleeping Colton.

 Hallye and Brooke = BFF's for life after this trip.

 Snack time!

 Oma and Finn

 Dustin and Ella

 Not sure what I like the best about this pic. Dustin's center part or Ella looking up at her daddy and either thinking "he's so awesome" or "what the heck is he doing?"

 Finn and cousin Bonnie

This happy boy celebrated his 9 month birthday at the beach and requested doughnuts.

And we have a crawler. Even though this really isn't the best video.

Let the family photo sesh begin... all 28 of us.

 The Holman fam.

 The Oprea/Carson fam.

 BB and all of her great grands.

 BB and all of her grands.

 Dustin's brother, Seth and Brittney.

 The Carson fam.

 We hijacked someone's awesome sand castle for a photo opp with all the kids. Just for comparison, here are the grands from Destin 2008... 

 

 And Destin 2010... 

And 2014. What a difference 4 years can make...

 

 Cousins.

 Oma and Opa with their grands.

 Haley and Finn.

 "Silly Dustin" and Ella

 The "big kids" on the last night.

 Definitely miss this morning view off our room.

We have Finn's 9 month appt on Thursday, so stay tuned for that post!