FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND

(warning : this post will be picture overload)

we celebrated beautiful america with a trip to the beach. a few months ago our friends, the aikens, invited us to join them in planning a trip to florida for the fourth. vy and i have been wanting to take madelyn to the beach but never could plan a time in which we thought was right, so when the aikens suggested it we jump right on board. 

we left early friday (july fourth) morning for our five and half hour drive to the sunshine state. i was a little nervous because the last time we took madelyn on a road trip, she was about eight months old, it was a real disaster. this time i wanted to keep to her schedule as much as possible and to my surprise it worked. she was the BEST little traveler. we left right when she usually wakes up at 7am, i feed her her morning milk in the car. we had to stop about 45 minutes in to meet my mom to drop off both of the doggies then when we got back on the road just in time for madelyn to eat her breakfast at around 8am. she was up chatting, singing and reading (she has been obsessed with books lately and i just love it.) at around 9am she began to snooze and slept until 11:30am, when she woke we stopped for lunch (where madelyn had her first mcdonalds experience, there isn't much in rural alabama.) then we were back in the car for the last leg of the ride where madelyn watched super why on the ipad. vy and i were so proud and thanked our lucky stars for such a smooth ride with our happy baby girl.

once we arrived, our condo was not quite ready which meant we had some time to kill and gave me the perfect excuse to hit up the outlets. i picked up a few cute pieces from jcrew and crewcuts for me and my mini, don't worry daddy also got himself some goodies. our friends, the aikens weren't arriving till later in the night so we were on our own for a little while. we checked into the condo and got ready for dinner, we decided to visit a little restaurant on the beach. we ate overlooking. the ocean and once dinner was over we took madelyn to put her little tiny toes into the sand for the very first time...

madelyn doesn't like to be dirty so there was no surprise that she wasn't ready to be rolling around in this fuffy white sand. 

after dinner we headed to the condo to get ready to watch some fireworks and wait for our dear friends. madelyn didn't even seem to notice or care for the fireworks so maybe next year we'll get a little more excitement. 

on saturday we went to the pool

 madelyn was a huge fan of the pool and playing with the rocks.

after the pool, the kiddos took their afternoon naps and it was off to dinner on the beach.

[the aikens : we have known these two since college (for over 10 years), they are two of our closest friends. they used to leave in atlanta (prior babies) and we would double date every saturday. then a job opportunity took them to d.c., we love when we can see them and we pick up right where we left off. this trip was much needed for the soul, we reminisce about college and marveled at where we are now. oh how the times have changed. we are beyond lucky for their friendship and love these three to pieces.]

 

on sunday, we went to the beach

madelyn didn't mind the water one bit but all the sand was another story. maybe next year...

[i am in love with the picture of these two, m is a daddy's girl]

after the beach, we relaxed while the babies napped and then it was off to baytowne wharf. every time we come to destin, we also make sure to come here at least one night. it so cute and fun for a family. we walked around, went into a few shops, let the kids play on the playground, ate dinner and went for a little walk on the dock to look at the marina. 

this is a baby girl who wanted to walk instead of taking a family picture for her mama. vy said she better get used to it because it'll be the story of her life, i just can't help myself. if i don't capture these moments, who will!??

we had a wonderful few short days in the sun with our sweet friends. we cannot wait for another beach trip, we are already talking about next year. hope everyone had a beautiful weekend celebrating this amazing country we live in. xo