Destin Diary 2013: Vacation Day 2

Vacation day two started out with one of my very favorite things we do while in Destin.  Mom came into my room at about 6AM and said urgently "Dolphins!"  I threw the covers off and dashed for the balcony.  I love sitting out early in the morning with Mom and Dad watching the ocean.  We always see lots of dolphins, but we also see herons, boats, gulls diving for fish, brown pelicans, and sometimes unidentified dark masses slowly floating by - don't think too hard about those.

No matter how many times we do it, I'll never ever get tired of seeing dolphins off the patio. It really is the most amazing thing to sit on your balcony and watch one of your favorite animals at one of your favorite places.  Plus, it's nice quality time with Mom and Dad before everyone else gets up.  The older we get, the earlier all of the kids start getting up, which is fine.  But I like to savor my solo time, even if it's only ten minutes.

The water has started clearing up, and the ocean was calmer today.  Everyone hit the beach around 10AM, and I hung back in the condo with Riley, giving her a bath and resting with her out on the balcony.  It's still amazing to me that she will sleep out here.  Must get ocean sound machine when we get back home.

Ryan and Alli came up around noon, and they both had had too much sun.  Alli is always gung ho for the beach, but this year there's a family with some girls her age right next to us, so she can't stand a minute out of the water.  But Ryan and I decided she needed to call it a day at that point and let her sunburned cheeks (both on her face and the top of her legs!) heal.  I pumped a bottle, so guess what that meant - I got almost a whole day on the beach to myself!  My studly husband watched our angelic children while I roasted myself.  I came up around three, and the rest of the family came up closer to five.  We all showered and then I fed Riley.  We headed to the HarborWalk around 7:30PM so that John Patrick and Daddy could get some new shades.  When we got there, they had installed zip lines across the HarborWalk, and guess whose kid wanted to do them.

Oh yeah.

Mine.

The weight limit was 50 lbs, and Alli is 55 lbs, so she was allegedly qualified to go.  Lindsey said she'd go with her, but I was nervous.  The little girl before her got stuck because she wasn't heavy enough.  Stressing this mama out.  I called Ryan in a panic to tell him that she couldn't do it, but it was too late.  Alli zipped over the crowd.  And she did get stuck, but that was uneventful too.  She was exhilarated and energized.  We are so opposites.  She wants to parasail too - Lord help me.

We walked around the HarborWalk for another hour - John & Dad got their Ray Bans.  I was so tempted to get a pair too, I love new sunglasses.  But I am really wanting to hit up Sawyer Art and get another painting like my crab from last year for our casa.  We headed back to the condo to watch a movie, and I finished a book ("Gone Girl" for those of you wondering, a twisted psychological thriller).  Don't you just like the aimless pursuits you engage in on vacation?  Walking on a beach, reading a book, building a sandcastle?  Can't wait to see what the next days hold.