Beach Wrap-Up!

We made it back from the beach . . . all 456 miles!Evie kept a real close eye on both of us this morning when we were packing to make sure that she did not get left. She even helped us pack the car with her most important items such as her float and assorted sand buckets.

 It really was not a bad trip at all just exhausting for some reason to sit in the car for so long. Evie did great although she did not sleep at all! Not one minute, we are starting to wonder if it is our new van that is keeping her from sleeping because she used to sleep just fine in my Jeep. Not really sure but she is still relatively quiet and keeps herself occupied with her toys and shows. We stopped three times including a stop at Peach Park. It's exactly halfway from Nashville to Navarre and it was so much fun. I felt like we were right on a movie set from the 60's. Food was good, they had a playground, a huge produce stand, acres of property, fish in fountains and an ice-cream shop. Peach ice- cream is amazing! We ordered a small to share and it came with 5 scoops! Make Peach Park a pit stop for your family. It's at Exit 205 on I-65. Delicious BBQ, fresh fruit for the kids and lots of ways to burn off some energy!

We had a wonderful vacation! I loved it all but my favorite part was getting to spend so much time with Evie and Carl without the everyday interruptions and stresses of life. We just enjoyed being together at the beach for our last time as a family of three.

It was amazing to see how much Evie's vocabulary changed over the week as new words were introduced. There's not too much of a reason to words such as shell, pier and wave in Nashville. It makes me want to try more new things with her while her brain is ready to soak it all up.

I loved hearing Evie talk to the beach as she walked down the path -"Beach, here I come. Evie's coming. Get ready, set, go!"

We were a little concerned about the restaurant part of vacation but Evie really amazed us with her behavior. I had a bad experience with her at McDonald's before we left town so I was just sure that she'd have a total meltdown in a restaurant. She played with her magnetic dolls, doodled in her notebook and ate when she was hungry. Evie loved all the lemonade at the restaurants and has had enough lemonade for very long time! She had her first shrimp which she stole right off my salad. We were a little worried that she may be allergic but she was fine! Shrimp is one of our favorite foods and we certainly had our fill this past week. Carl is suffering from a serious gout attach from too much shellfish. OOPS, we both forgot that shellfish is a major trigger for gout.

   Evie thought the beach was just magnificent. She loved it all sand, surf and people. Kite flying was one of her favorite things along with long walks on the beach. She loved the "hills" in the sand and dug lots of holes. Water made her a little leery unless we were with her but that works just fine for us. She had no fear at all last year which was much harder.

Stick sunscreen is our new friend and we only use the spray in dire straights. It's back to the bottle even for the legs and arms. Evie has a sunscreen phobia after our little experience with it getting in her eye. I did notice that the brand does matter. We used the brand with the little girl and the dog on it - not the best for the eyes! Even the rub-on type stings when it runs in the eyes. More natural sunscreen works way better for Evie and does not cause her to have a rash. I am avoiding using the companies name on my blog but the brand that caused two hours of screaming starts with a C and ends with an E. We have never had this issue before so perhaps it was just a bad bottle just think before you spray!

Navarre has an absolutely beautiful beach with sand that resembles sugar and  calm, turquoise water. We chose a quiet beach and there were only 3 restaurants in our immediate vicinity without crossing a bridge. May is a nice time to go to the beach because it's cheaper, cooler and not crowded at all. We did not have to wait anywhere for anything! Service was tremendous. Not to mention we could not have gone any later! Baby Boy is getting more active and is getting more difficult for me to get around. We saw his foot go swimming across my belly tonight during dinner.

Our week went by so quickly! Vacation always goes by faster than real life. It's good to be home too. Evie is glad to be home too. She was thrilled to see her toys!