Vacation Part 2

We got back from vacation late Saturday night. We had a wonderful time, but it was nice to be back home (once I got everything unpacked and put away, that is).
We ended up leaving for Florida at 1:30 am on Sunday. Keira slept and Shawn drove. We stopped for breakfast and gas and then were on our way again. We arrived in Destin at about 2:30 pm on Mondah and checked into our condo at 4:00. The Gulf was really choppy because of the effects of Tropical Storm Alberto. It was also really windy. So, that evening we just went to dinner and then back to our condo to relax and unwind from the drive.

On Tuesday, we got up early and took a walk along the beach. Keira seemed to really like it. Then after breakfast, we went to Big Kahunas waterpark for the day. It was a lot of fun! We put SPF 50 sunscreen on Keira every 45 minutes or so. Unfortunately we didn't think as much about ourselves. She didn't get a drop of sun, but Shawn and I got kinda toasty.

Wednesday we decided to spend some time inside, so we went to the Gulfarium in Okaloosa Island. It was great! We saw a dolphin show, which was really neat. I'd never seen dolphins that close before. After that, we drove out to the shopping center. We were stopped by a woman who offered us a free 3 day vacation and 2 free tickets on a sunset dolphin cruise if we'd take a tour of their resort (and listen to a talk about timeshares). We decided we had nothing to lose, so we did that for an hour and a half. We knew going in that we weren't going to buy anything, but we did get our free stuff. So, that evening, we went on a dolphin cruise with Olin Marler Dolphin Cruises. We actually saw several dolphins in the Gulf. And, it was pretty relaxing.

Thursday was our last day in Destin. We just relaxed on the beach and at the pools on Thursday. We left Friday for Alabama to see Kenji. He took us to see the sights in Birmingham. Then on Saturday afternoon, we began our long car trip back home.

Overall, we had a great family vacation! Next year we'll have another baby to take with us. We'd better start planning now!