After a quick stop at Wal-Mart in Mobile for me to get our week's groceries, we headed on to our final destination - Dauphin Island, Alabama! Our two days of travel were about to bear their fruit.
The kids were anxiously watching for "beach signs" - shore birds, palm trees, and water, and their watchful eyes were finally rewarded when Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico came into view. I was a bit intimidated by the long bridge that took us to the island, but I'm happy to report it was quite sturdy and not scary at all!
We stayed in a top floor condo at Holiday Isle, right on the beach, and it was a perfect fit for our family. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and even a table with enough space for us all (although we preferred eating on the balcony when we could! We parked in the garage and used the carts to get all of our gear hauled up for the week. I did need to get the groceries put up straight away, but then we popped some pizzas in the oven and enjoyed where we were - the beach!
We ate on the balcony after we did step one - moving all the furniture far enough away from the balcony railing that Evalynn couldn't stand up on any of it and flip herself over. Never let your brain rest with this girl.
After supper we did the only other necessary thing...going to check out the beach!!
Our children's first time seeing any body of salt water!
We had no agenda for the evening, so even as the light faded, we let the children dig in the sand, dip their toes in the Gulf, and have new life experiences. We even saw a couple of little crabs!
Evalynn toted a bucket of sand back with her to the condo and no one could convince her to dump it out, nor could we convince her to let Daddy or I help her carry her burden - she did it all on her own.
After our beach walk that ended past sunset, we went back up to our room, the oldest four children put on suits, and I took them down to the pool...because vacation has no bedtime!
They swam until they were past exhausted, and then went back up for showers, snuggles, and bedtime. Bedtime in vacation beds is so exciting and they all settled down quickly.
After we got all the children tucked in, Mike and I sat out on the balcony enjoying the sounds of the waves...and that was a perfect ending to night one on the island.
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