Destin Beach Trip – Days 1 & 2

After a super chill summer hunkering down here in Kansas, we finally busted out of here last Monday and caught flights to Destin, Florida! Jamie and I planned this trip months ago and were excited to knock out so many birds with one stone: we would get to meet our two-month-old niece (and Hadley and Sadie’s very first cousin!) Carly, my brother-in-law Josh would get to meet his new niece Sadie, I would get (always much needed) time with my sister, Jamie would get some guy time with Josh (who is one of his best friends), and we would get to play at the beach (the prettiest in the country IMO). We. Were. Pumped!

We bought Hadley a few weeks ago, and she enjoyed rolling it around the house toting all of her toys in it as good practice for rolling it through the airport. 🙂

Despite having a suitcase full of her favorite toys and loaded with movies, she spent half of the first flight intently studying the safety card and drink menu. It was weird, and hilarious.

Sadie is a super happy, chill baby, so I wasn’t too worried about flying with her. She still likes to eat and/or comfort-nurse every two hours (or even more often), so I made sure to wear a nursing-friendly top (new from my most recent Stitch Fix box) and had my cover handy.

Our only small travel hiccup while heading down there was that our already dreadfully long, 3.5 hour layover turned into a five hour layover thanks to bad weather. By 8 p.m. I could feel myself getting pretty cranky, but I tried to keep in it check and keep the girls content until we could get to Florida. Hadley honestly handled the long day better than anybody else; She had no clue that we were delayed and thought playing around the airport was the coolest thing ever. I love her.

After a long travel day, we got to my sister’s house around 11 p.m. and got the girls ready for bed immediately. I couldn’t go to sleep without peeking on my niece in her crib, and I definitely teared up when I finally saw her in real life sleeping soundly in her crib. I half expected my sister to shriek when I picked her up to snuggle her, but thankfully she let me spend some time rocking her before we all called it a night.

Hadley loves sleeping on air mattresses (she thinks it’s a total treat), so she was happy as could be camped out in the living room. 🙂

The cousins all met Tuesday morning. When I took this picture below of Sadie and Carly I commented about how this is surely their first picture of hundreds that they’ll take throughout their lives together. I hope they’ll become the best of friends just like their moms.

Around 10 a.m. the rain cleared and we ran out to the beach as fast as we could… literally Hadley was running! My sister’s house is a quick five minute walk to the beach, and it blows my mind that she actually calls this place her home (at least for now until the Army says to go some time next spring.)

We spent about four hours at the beach, and the babies spent their time either nursing or snoozing. Sadie woke up a couple times when I tried laying her down on a towel so that I could have a break, but once she crashed, she crashed.

Of course we made sure the girls all had matching swimsuits (insert all the heart-eye emojis). These little flamingos made us smile so big!

This place is magical to Hadley. She has zero fear of the water (which is super scary to me as her mom!) and thinks frolicking around in the sand is the most fun thing she’s ever, ever done. I had numerous people around us make comments to me about how much they enjoyed watching Hadley; She truly was in her happiest place.

She spent her time in the water with either Jamie or me (while wearing her little puddle jumper floaty), hanging by our tent making sandcastles, or standing on the shore throwing handfuls of sand into the water. Pure bliss for our two-year-old.

My brother-in-law made sure we had a very comfortable set-up. Any time we weren’t in the water we were camped under the tent because the cross-breeze felt fabulous and that sun was unforgiving.

Who’s ready to call it a day?

Around 1:30ish we packed up, headed home, gave the girls a bath, got some food in everybody’s bellies, and took naps!

Hadley crashed hard and didn’t wake up until almost 7 p.m. (despite several attempts trying to wake her earlier), so my sister cooked dinner and we enjoyed a relaxing evening hanging around the house. After the girls woke up we took them outside to swing before throwing some decent clothes on and heading to an 8:30 Mardi Gras parade that happens weekly at the HarborWalk Village.

The adults all felt like the parade was kind of a bust, but Hadley was entertained and it wore the kids out once again just in time to hit the hay around 10.

I’ll be back this week with lots of pictures and stories from days #3-5. Day three was my absolute favorite! Have a great week, friends. 🙂 xoxo