Family Vacation 2017: Perdido Key, Florida

This year we went on a family vacation to Perdido Key, Florida. It's right in between Pensacola, FL and Gulf Shores, AL. It was Max's first visit to a beach with big waves and fluffy sand -- lots of fun!

View from the balcony of our condo:

First afternoon on the beach!

Loving big waves! Max would "karate chop" the waves and also stand with his feet apart and yell, "I'm surfing!!"  :-)

"Camping" out in his sleeping bag next to Mommy and Daddy's bed!

Daddy made a cool sea turtle in the sand!

Epic 2.5 hour nap after hitting the beach before 7:00am.

One afternoon Max buried his toys in the sand (we were playing frisbee and didn't totally see what he was doing). Unfortunately we couldn't find one of the matchbox cars that got buried, but Max was okay leaving it behind in hopes that another kid finds it and enjoys it. :-)

Max enjoyed scooping sand in his net more than trying to scoop up little fish and crabs. Oh, well!

Going to visit a heron on the beach while we went for a walk in the rain.

Rainy family photos!

Wet and sandy, but oh so happy!

Max read his chapter book to Daddy while Mommy cooked dinner!

Swimming in the pool and showing off his tattoo!

Crazy car seat boy!

Awesome playground about 15 minutes from the condo.

Despite the look on his face in these photos, Max was excited to see a lighthouse for the first time! Max isn't tall enough to climb the lighthouse, so we just hopped out for a quick photo and didn't go in to tour around. Looked neat, though!

Posing with a Navy pilot statue at the National Aviation Museum!

Unfortunately the Blue Angels' practice got cancelled the day we went to the museum, but we got to see these replica planes and watch a really interesting movie about the Blue Angels (that Max fell asleep in -- hence the tired face!).

 

"This one has a mouth!"

Flying a helicopter.

Another from our rainy walk on the beach! We hadn't packed anything warm, so Max wore pajama pants, two t-shirts, and a baseball hat to stay warm. Have to get creative! Ben was smart and packed one long pair of pants, and I pilfered the long sleeve shirt he packed. Glad I married a guy who thinks ahead. ;-)

A rainy visit to Big Lagoon State Park! We were hoping to see some wildlife, but unfortunately it rained during our visit so most critters weren't out and about. We sat in a picnic shelter to let some heavier rain pass over, and got to see a barge and a few fishing boats which was fun!

Easter and Other Fun!

Feeling a bit under the weather, so he snuggled up on the couch with a pile of books!

Our neighbors have chickens and Max's job is to collect a big bag of leaves to deliver and spread in the pen. He LOVES doing it and looks forward to it each week! Rich and Lisa (neighbors) pay him $2 a week. Fun!

Pep talk at t-ball from Coach Sean!

Bought a strawberry ice cream cone with his OWN money!

Celebrating Abigail's 4th birthday at Monkey Joe's!

Driving the race car video game (with no quarters in it -- haha) with one of his best pals, Pavara. This is his "tough guy" face. :-)

Wheeee!

Some of the Montessori friends! Left to right: Pavara, Max, Yajur, and Abigail.  This crew are all in the same class and all attend after-care, so they have fun together all day long!

Neighborhood "Egg-stravagana" celebration!

The Easter bunny came!

Being silly at Grammie's house!

Happy Grammie, sweaty boy. :-)

Fun with school friends at the Spring Festival at school!

Left to right: Max, Grant, Sophie

Fielding at t-ball!

Sometimes the sun is so bright you have to wear ALL your sunglasses. (Hard to tell in the photo, but Max is wearing three pairs of glasses.)

Easter Bunny at the neighborhood egg hunt! Poor Max was super worn out after a full day of t-ball, birthday party, and egg hunt... with no nap! Hence the sleepy face. :-)