Florida

This year for our family vacation we went to Ft Walton/Destin Beaches. We stayed inland at a Marriott and drove out to different beaches every day. 

Day 1: We drove ALL day and arrived at the beach at sunset. There was enough light from the surrounding businesses that the kids got to play for a while.

 Ryan gets buried and a bucket placed on his head.

 Alex's sandy grave.

 Macers in the sand trap.

 Day 2:  The water was a bit murky for picture taking, but worth a try.

 There was a big enough hole for a mass burial. 3 happy beach goers!

 Sand art!

Day 3: We went out on a snorkel trip. Actually, the snorkeling wasn't all that great, but it was cool to see the dolphins up close and to go shelling (which meant collecting shells that may or may not have hermit crabs living in them. Those had to be tossed back in.)

 Dolphins at play.

 Snorkeling pros.

 Mom and Ryan. Taking an underwater picture is very tricky!

 Mace, Alex Ry, me

 Nice picture, Dan!

 If you are going shelling, you should take Dan. He is awesome! A lot of what he found had tenants, so they had to be thrown back to sea, but he and sister found a lot of great shells.

Every snorkeler got to pick one crab to enter in the crab races. One of ours was the beast on the far right! He did not win the race, but did make a very loud thud when he fell off the chest.

 Free soda? Ryan's favorite kind!

 Nice.

We happened upon this awesome hole. Some boys had been working on it the day before. They came by after Ryan had spent some more time on it. Every boy's dream. A large hole to sit in!

 Me and my hubs.

 Goofy golf was $3 an adult $150 a kid. It was so cool, we went on 2 different occasions!

Day 4: We stopped at the free Air Force armament museum. We saw a lot of bombs and some very cool airplanes too.

 Day 5: Yeah, there was a creepy moment at the beach gift shops.

 The weather was interesting while we were in Florida. Thunderstorms came through on the first couple of days, which brought rain and surf. Another day was sun with no surf. And the last beach day another storm came through, which left it cloudy in the afternoon, but nice for swimming.

Ryan's masterpiece.
Day 6: Time for another 12 hours in the car to get us home. And see our Lucy Lou!
Extra photos below...

 The road trip down.

 Yes, I want to go swimming in the thunderstorm please.

 Hungry Howies.

 A mom and her boy.

This is our pack mule loaded with everything we needed for the beach, including dad.

A girl and her dad.