Two words. Absolutely breathtaking. Our brief trip to Destin, Florida was nothing short of a dream. The water was a beautiful emerald, the breeze complimented the warm day, and my kids could not stay out of the water. Destin reminded me like a hotter version of Ocean Shores (for all of my PNW readers). Ocean shores is like this nice little nook on the coast - that is what Destin reminded me of - with more established businesses and people. Our first stop after the hotel was Miramar Beach. It was only a 10 minute drive and boy was it completely packed. I thought parking was going to be near impossible, but luckily we found something. There were a lot of people there and tons of activities to do. Beach chairs were available as well - $35 for a set of two. 

We actually didn't dress appropriately for a beach day... I don't know why though? I think I just thought we were going to scope out the area for photos? Who knows, but that didn't stop Justin and the girls. They ditched their heavier clothes (Justin took off his shirt) and they ran right into the Gulf. I took photos, watched them, and eventually ended up in the water myself. It was so gorgeous. I don't think I'd ever felt water that warm outside of the Southern and Eastern coast. It was Olivia's first time putting her cute little feet into the ocean as well. I love first moments. Ava is no stranger to the ocean and she went in and didn't want to get out! She's such a fish when it comes to the water. 

We spent well over an hour at that beach before heading back in to make dinner plans. Justin and I tried a local seafood place called The Back Porch. I wasn't completely sold on their seafood, but it wasn't terrible either. After dinner we made our way back out to Henderson State Park just a couple minutes from the hotel. We did pay like a $6 entrance fee, but it was well worth it. There was an option to camp inside this park as well.. I've never truly been camping but boy would I give it a try if we were in Destin for longer. 

We spent close to two hours at this park and it was perfect because golden hour and sunset of course. Taking photos at the beach was a little more challenging than i expected (horizons through heads, crooked horizons, etc.). Even still I had the time of my life watching my family enjoy themselves so much. We couldn't get over how white the sand was. Literally just fell right through your fingers. At one point Ava ended up in the ocean with just her undies on. To watch my sweet girl's spirit just soar like that.. it was unbelievable. 

I'm so glad we made the decision to stop in Florida during our vacation. We had so many family milestones. Justin's first time being to Florida, ALL of our firsts for putting our feet into the Gulf of Mexico, and our first road trip since we moved to Texas. 

♥- Leilani

Bad Sunday

You know that law.. Murphy's Law? Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong? That was my day today. I woke up this morning with the sunlight on my face, Ava bug snoozing away, and a husband that was overly eager to cuddle. Little did I know that this morning would be the extent of how happy my day got.

Our first family Christmas pictures were today, so I wanted to run all my errands in the morning. I started driving out of my subdivision and a little down the road I realize that our car is acting weird. I pulled over, and long behold we have a flat tire. Initially I thought, no problem. Justin got the jack out, and took the bolts off, only to have the tire not want to come off. I had to call a friend to come out and help! (Thank you Simmons family) It took awhile, but the tire finally came off. A darn screw was lodged pretty good into our tire.

Due to the South and it's lovely "no establishments open" on Sunday, the only place to get a new tire was Wal-Mart. The wait was over two hours long, we had to leave for pictures at two, and Ava needed to nurse badly. I have never spent that much time in Wal-Mart, nor do I care to ever again. By the time we left, we had very little time to get ready for pictures. I rushed to get both of my Howl babies ready, and then I threw on mascara, and cover up within seconds it felt like.

On the ride to the beach (1.5 hours away) Justin kept making comments on how cold and windy it was. At this point I was so irritated from my day, I had little patience for those types of comments. My cuddly, lovey, husband from this morning was being such a little terd! I was annoyed, and the only thing I had on my mind were our beach photos, and how they would make up for my awful day.

We get to Jekyll Island, and the wind is whipping, it's cold, and Justin started up again on the harsh weather comments. I won't lie, It was freezing, and I didn't want Ava to catch another cold, or freeze.. I just thought maybe it won't be so bad when we get to the beach... WRONG! It was worse. My hair was flying everywhere, my hands felt like they were going to fall off, and I could hear my husband's not so happy tone about the darn weather!

I felt so bad for having our photographer (and friend) drive all that way to have us turn around. She managed to take a few photos, but after that we'd called it quits. It was a good decision. Ava bug was an ice bug when we got to the car. We immediately warmed her up, and started our ride back home. In the car, Justin apologized for being a terd. I was thankful. I really hate when we don't sync, it throws me off completely. I apologized for not rescheduling the photos after an already bad day. Ava knocked out, and we ended up laughing about something that happened earlier in our week.

Even though our Sunday wasn't so great, tonight has been. Any day that doesn't require me to wash dinner dishes is golden in my book. We munched down some Italian food, and Ava had her second serving of apples tonight. Looks like after the Broncos play, I get some snuggle time with Justin. I can't wait to watch a Christmas movie, and just relax. Happy Sunday all!



♥- Leilani