Gulf Shores 2013

So I left off on our travel post where we had gotten into Foley, Alabama around 11 AM, did a little shopping at the outlet mall there and went to lunch.  We ate at a Ruby Tuesday's since we don't have one of those locally.   Carter bug was able to join in on the fun and had a few sweet potato fries that we let him feed himself....let's just say he thought he was one cool dude!

From the restaurant, we headed towards our condo so we could check in.  Once we found our place, got checked in and parked, unloaded the vehicle, and found and explored our room, we unpacked.  We were totally exhausted, but I had to get to the grocery to get some essentials for Carter bug, so I left Carter with my family & Brent and went to the grocery with Brent's side.  We got everything for the week, came back to the condo, and crashed out soon after.  I was worried about how Carter would sleep in his pack & play, but he used it just like his crib and we had no trouble at all out of it!

Of course, I had heard you can't vacation with kids...and I found that so true on the first morning.  We would have loved to get some extra sleep, but baby boy woke up early and ready to go!  So to let everyone else in the condo sleep, his daddy & I took him down to check out the ocean for the first time!  

He was so super excited until we actually got down to the water.  It had been storming/raining for most of the week before, so the ocean was really rough and the waves were crashing hard and loud.  Poor little man was scared to death, especially when mommy and daddy let the waves touch his little piggies!

I was alternating between video camera, digital camera, and cell phones trying to capture the moment, so I didn't capture much of him throwing a fit everytime the waves came up in pictures, but I know I caught it on video!

We didn't want to torture baby boy much longer, so we just headed back up the boardwalk and sat in the swings facing out toward the ocean and enjoyed the morning.  Then we headed up to the condo to get ready for a day on the beach.

It was not a very pretty day, but we weren't going to waste it, so we went out anyways.  Sweet baby boy was just not very happy that day.  We made it through a couple of hours until lunch/naptime and headed back up to the room.  

Unfortunately, this was when I realized that Carter was really not acting himself and was feeling a bit warm.  I had noticed that morning when he woke up that he felt hotter than normal, but it wasn't much so I didn't worry about it too much.  I did not pack his thermometer, so I had no way of knowing just how high of a fever he was running, but I knew it couldn't be too high.  But when he started acting the same way he acted back last month when he had an ear infection, I realized I needed to get him seen by a doctor so we could start treating it and not have to fight it all week on vacation.  My mom and little sister Raylee went with me to the doctor's office, an urgent care walk-in clinic we had seen on the way in town.  There was no one in the waiting room, so that was good news!  We still had to wait quite awhile, but when we were seen, it turned out that he did not have red ears or a red throat!  He must have just been teething...which was good and bad.  I hated that I wasted time dragging him to the doctor for nothing, but was glad it was nothing and for the peace of mind.  Afterwards, we made a trip to Target to make the best of our afternoon not spent on the beach and headed back to meet everyone else for dinner.

They had decided they wanted to go to Hooter's that night for supper.  So we, of course, had to get a picture of Carter with some Hooter's girls! :)  (even if he wasn't interested at all!)

The next day was my mom's birthday.  Thankfully, little man woke up back to his normal self, ready to celebrate his Ninny's big day!  It was still a pretty cloudy day, but no rain, so we were happy.  We packed up for a long day on the beach.  I had bought Carter this tent to keep him out of the sun.  It was supposed to be blue and silver, but as you can see it showed up in pink and brown!  Thanks, Amazon! ;)  Thankfully, no matter the color, it was exactly what we needed...it kept the sun off our little guy while he napped and played, was super easy to put up or take down, and folded down small and light for great portability.

Carter was still very leery of the ocean.  Every picture we tried to take he would not take his eyes off of the waves crashing.  I guess he thought they might sneak up on him if he didn't watch it! :) 

We didn't push him to get in the water as he was getting tired.  Instead, I took him back up to his tent and gave him a bottle and he was soon fast asleep!  Beach naps are the best...this one lasted nearly 3 hours!

We were all able to relax and enjoy the day for a bit.  Beach bumming is pretty much our perfect activity.  Music playing, drinking beers, reading books/magazines, and catching some rays all while the waves crash in the background...can it get any better?

When Carter finally awoke, he was ready to play.  He finally decided to give the ocean a chance, and he really seemed to enjoy it!  

That night, Brent's side split up from us and went to eat at one place while we went to Nolan's.  This was totally on a whim, recommended by some people we met at the pool that day.  It was actually much nicer than we had expected!  We ended up with a very fancy meal for my Mom's birthday.  Thankfully, Carter bug fell asleep in his stroller just before our main course came out, so we were all able to eat in peace.  It was just a nap though, because he was up and at 'em before we left!  I was very happy with him for being so flexible with bedtime on vacation!  We ended up going to ride go-carts after we finished eating.  I sat out with Carter first, then my mom sat out with him so I could drive.  Mark it down, I beat Brent! :)

The next day, Brent's family was ready for a break from the beach.  His mom and sisters went shopping and his dad stayed in to keep Carter so we could enjoy the beach without worrying about naps and bottles!  We very much enjoyed it! I don't even think I took a picture besides one of my feet on the beach, relaxing and taking in the most beautiful weather of our vacation!  That night, we ate at the restaurant at our condo.  It was a sports bar type place, and OMG it was amazing.  I think I could have found something on the menu there to eat every night!

 Wednesday was the day of the rehearsal for the wedding of our friends, Heather & Jake.  We knew we had to be in getting ready by at least 3, so we just had a pool day.  Carter was very happy with that, as he is a little pool baby.  He even took his nap in my mother-in-laws arms out by the pool that day!

We got ready for the rehearsal and snapped a picture with our little guy.  My little sister Claire curled my hair for me with her wand (thanks, sis!).  

We left Carter with our parents and headed off to the beach house where our friends were getting married.  It was gorgeous!  It was like a southern plantation home that just so happened to have a beach in the backyard! :)  I would move there in a heartbeat!  It started raining just as we were ready to start rehearsing, so we had to do a bit of rehearsing inside while waiting on the storm to pass.  Thankfully, it was gone as quick as it came and we were able to practice out on the beach like we would be doing the next day.

After the rehearsal, we were ready for the rehearsal dinner.  We ate at Tacky Jack's where they had a little room set up with a buffet for us.  It was super yummy!  Afterwards, several of the us in the wedding party headed out to the Hangout for a few beers and fun with the soon-to-be-newlyweds.  We hung out a bit and then headed in so we could rest up for the big day!

I was more than happy to get up early with Carter the morning of the wedding since I wouldn't be seeing him at all the rest of the day.  Then it was time to head off to get my hair and makeup done.  Heather had gotten us some men's button up shirts embroidered with our initials to wear with leggings, and it turned out so cute!  Unfortunately, it was pouring all day long and we were so nervous that they would have to move the wedding indoors. Thankfully, about an hour or two before the wedding, the sky cleared up and the sun came out to dry out the grass and sand!   

The wedding was gorgeous!  I wish I had more pictures, but with both of us in the wedding party, we just didn't get any.  I can't wait to see the professional pictures!  

The reception was a blast!  We danced the night away under the stars by the ocean with our best friends...how could it be better?  I definitely missed baby boy by this point and was exhausted, but we stayed to help clean up a bit and headed back to the condo to be with our families a bit before bed.

The next day, Friday, was our last beach day.  We decided we would leave that night since we only had the condo through Saturday morning and we knew we wanted to drive overnight.  It was a gorgeous weather day, so we got ourselves all sunscreened up and headed down.

We had a fun day on the beach.  Carter even ventured out into the ocean with his daddy and seemed to like it!  

When it was time for Carter's afternoon nap, we headed back up to the room and I gave him a quick bath. While he and daddy napped, I got us all packed up.  Once they woke up and Brent got everything to the car, we were off.  We would have stayed later but I never got to do much shopping at the Foley outlets, so we decided to just stop on our way out of town. 

In all, it was a great trip!  At the beginning of the week, I was worried, but thankfully Carter got used to it and was a great little vacationer by the end.  He did great considering we were totally throwing off bedtime and even naptimes some days, plus he was apparently teething (must have been the cause of the fever).  I actually read that 8 months is the worst time to take a baby on vacation because they have just gotten used to what home is...so if that is the case, we made it through the worst, so it can only get better! :)  And of course, we are so happy for our friends Jake & Heather!