Spring Break 2013. Back to Orange Beach.

After getting a taste of some warm, sunshiney weather, I was very much looking forward to our second-annual Spring Break at Orange Beach getaway the last two weeks of March. Chris’s parents had rented the same condo as the previous year, and had graciously extended an invite to our family to join them. And because Taylor starts real-school and has a real-attendance driven schedule this upcoming Fall, we realized that this was our last chance to take a two-week long spring break vacation. We had to go.

Well, the kids and I did. Chris couldn’t take two weeks off of work to play at the beach. Something about supporting an entire family and owning two houses. And while it was the same story last year, this time he decided that instead of driving us there, flying to and fro from Asheville to work for a week, and then coming back to play for a few days and drive us back, it would be better worth his time to meet up with Greg and Sue in a middle-like location and have them drive the kids and I to the beach from there. Then he would drive back, work and drive down to the gulf coast to spend almost a week at the beach with us.

And guess just where happens to be the best middle-like location for us? Birmingham Alabama. Home of my very own sister and rapidly-growing niece. How convenient.

But it was a bittersweet twelve hours spend with Lib and Sweet P. My little niece is the most adorable thing ever. And just smelling her sweet skin and squeezing those fantastic thighs for that short of time confirmed I need to go to there more often. And our next trip is scheduled for the end of April.

What was even sadder than leaving Budgie’s cheeks was then having to say Goodbye to Chris until the following Tuesday. Yes. That’s not really THAT long. But ten sleeps away from my hubs was gonna be tough. On me AND the kids. They really really really love their dad. Because he’s super awesome.

So Taylor, Luke, Greg, Sue and I jam-packed a combined five-tons of two-weeks-at-the-beach clothes, toys, cribs, boosters, beach chairs, food, kitchen appliances – The Keurig was a MUST! – and three adults and two little people in my inlaw’s Suburban. It was tight. But we fit. And THANK GOODNESS! for the built in DVD-player. It helped a lot. But not enough, for after spending six hours in the car just the day before and then getting geeked up to finally be at the beach at the end of the day, neither of the kids were feeling relaxed and patient. So we had to stop less than an hour into the six hour trip to get an ice cream cone.

But we got there. And moved right back into the same condo we were in last year. I had remembered all the closets, drawers and cubbie details from the previous spring break, so unpacking was a breeze. And thus began our beach fun.

Luke wasn’t crazy about the sand right out of the shoots. But after a progressive few days – On a towel, On the sand with tennis shoes, On the sand with crocs, BARE FEET! WALKING! NOT CRYING! Fantastic.

The first week’s weather wasn’t nearly as warm as it was last year, but for the most part it was still bright and sunny. Somedays we got into our swim suits. Somedays we kept our outside clothes on. Somedays we stayed inside and watching the Lorax on a continuous loop and watched Luke throw soccer balls into the sliding glass door. Somedays I snatched Taylor and took her on mini-shopping sprees at souvenir shops. We were at the beach! We were having lots of fun!

A the beginning of the second week, I was happy to escape one chilly day to meet my spring-breaking cousins, Blair and Matt, for a nice, long lunch. I love those two. A whole lot. And it made my heart smile to be able to spend some time with them, and meet Matt’s girlfriend. I’m very proud of my kin.

And as if seeing my family was not cool enough, Chris drove in that exact same day. And, just so happened, to bring some nice, warmer weather for us. And we were SO HAPPY to have him there with us. Ecstatic.

And get this! Do you remember our good friends the Sinclairs? Eric and Brigitte. They graduated from Cedar Falls and went to Iowa. Moved to Colorado, got married and had their first born, a riotous little dude named Trey, one week before we birthed Luke. They were one of the two families that came to stay with us in the gigantic mountain house in Brevard last Fall. Well. They just so happened to be vacationing in OrangeBeach at the same time we were. So totally random, and absolutely marvelous. I can’t think of many other families we’d want to share a beach vacay with, and they are at the top of the list. Plus the kids got along pretty well. Bonus.

The weather was great, we couldn’t get Taylor out of the waves, and Luke FINALLY realized how awesome it is to splash and kick your feet in the water. The trifecta of beach happiness.

The day before we left, I forced Taylor to change out of her jammies early on to walk down to the beach and collect shells. It made my soul very very happy. I love that little monkey a lot.

Our last day at the beach was Easter Sunday, and after suffering through the previous road trips with Pookie, we realized our best gameplan would be to start the ten-hour trip back to Asheville in the late afternoon. Which meant we were able to go to church and hunt for Easter eggs with Chris’s parents and their good friends, the Petersens.

We realized after the fact that pumping Taylor and Luke full of jelly beans and chocolate eggs was probably not going to make them stay more still during the impending car ride. So we left the swimsuits unpacked and broke out the kite.

And after gathering, packing and moving out of the place we had been living at for over two weeks, we successfully fit every last seashell into Chris’s Envoy and hit the road. And because my hubs is incredible, he DROVE THE WHOLE THING. All ten hours. Mostly in the dead of night while the rest of us snored so loud he had to crank the volume of his stand-up radio. Love him.

And he got us home. Back to Asheville. It seemed like we had been gone for months. But we got unpacked and back to normal and started bracing ourselves for the upcoming Birthday Week. But we still had sand seeping out of our bags and shoes and books. The sweet sweet white sand from another awesome beach vacation. A big, huge THANK YOU to Greg and Sue for making it happen. It was one for the books.