Pensacola

Our family ventured to Pensacola on Friday and headed to the beach.   This was the second adventure at the beach for Mae, but the first with her being mobile.   We all had a blast. 

We forgot Mae's hat and so I repurposed her swim bottoms into a bandanna of sorts.  It worked well and kept the sun off her head when she'd wander away from the shade or while out in the ocean.   She loved the water and she especially loved licking her face and tasting all the salt (she is her mother's daughter!)  

Ace once again had a GREAT time running around, chasing birds, running away from the waves, splashing in the water.    And both Loving Husband and I took turns playing with the kids in the ocean and splashing in the waves.   

After about two hours worth of fun we headed to get cleaned up and checked into a hotel which upon arrival we saw would be totally sub par for our needs... 1 queen bed with a family of 4, while some might be able to do it - we can't.  We tried once with just the three of us in a queen and it was a no go.  So LH did some priceline research while I showered and got the kids cleaned up and then we left that hotel and headed back toward the beaches to check into the Holiday Inn.   Which was an amazing hotel!   The rooms were nice, the view spectacular, and the restaurant inside the hotel excellent.     We had dinner and finally got the kids in bed VERY late. 

The next morning we woke up, had some breakfast and then got ready to use the pool.   Loaded up the car and then headed to the pool.   They had a lazy river at this pool and so after some initial splashing around both Loving Husband and I got into our respective inner tubes and each put a kid on our lap and floated down the river.   Ace and LH got out of their tube and went to find his floaties and Mae and I continued to circle the river and she eventually fell asleep.   We probably floated for 20 minutes while she had a nice snooze while I shielded her from the sun.   It was sweet and there was a lot of 'aww's from the other pool guests.  

After Mae woke up we played and splashed in the water - Ace spent a good amount of time swimming all over the pool wearing his floaties and he had a great and tiring time.  Overall about 2 hours of playtime in the pool.    We dried off and changed the kids and then headed to lunch.   Afterwards we dropped of LH at a friend's house and me and the kids headed home for a silent car ride, as they were both out for 90% of the 2 hour drive home.  It was a great family weekend at the beach.  Lots of sun and fun.