We spent an AMAZING 3 days in Rosemary Beach with my family! It came QUICKLY on the heels of our Costa Rica trip but it proved equally as fun and never a dull moment! We packed into the rental like a can of sardines. We had every bed and floor space covered with kids and luggage. You'd have thought we were moving in for the semester at LEAST! We ladies don't like to forget anything. We had been planning photos shoots and coordinating clothing for weeks on end. The girls needed to match at every opportunity and they certainly did!
For the photo shoots, it's July in Florida. The temps were topping mid 100's on any given day. When it was just kids starring in the show, I was just a minor melting mess in my workout clothes. When WE were involved in the shoot, it was an EPIC all in MELTDOWN. I felt a little like the wicked witch when water was thrown on her. I was MEEELLLLLTTTING! While the pictures don't prove it, photographing these 5 is not for the faint of heart! It's like a 3 ring circus. Literally. Mom is the ring leader, she's the one with the camera! Tracie and I are her trusty assistants in herding our kittens while they bite and scratch at us. That place is truly beautiful to photograph though. The white sand, the sunsets and the architecture is amazing! Bucket list held photos of the girls in THESE amazing blue and gold dresses. I bought this one when Lillian was only 7 months with photos like these in mind, I knew it would one day be beach perfect and so it was!
Alys Beach is an amazing spot like none other on 30A. It has a distinctive Mediterranean feel. Lucky for us it was walking distance from Rosemary. Each little community on 30A has it's own charm, town center and activities for the week. We were close enough to enjoy them both at Rosemary and Alys!
These girls LOVED being together for the week. They don't get to see each other as often as we'd like but they make the most of when they do!
Sister, Sister.
We don't get to see each other nearly as much as we'd like to either but she's still my best friend and a day doesn't go by without talking to her. My babies love her as much as they love me. You see, Lillian calls her "udder (other) mommy" And will hardly come to me when she's around!
The boys loved the sugar white sand and playing in the clear water and waves. They got Pawpaw's daily workout in bossing him around in the ocean! They'd be out there for an hour sometimes!
It was a trip to see Tracie and I haul ALLLLLLLL that stuff down to the beach. It was about 3-4 blocks from the ocean and while it's walkable, it doesn't mean easy! We had a tent, 4 chairs, an umbrella, a pool and pump, buckets, sand toys and boogie boards. And as you'd guess once we got it down there and all set up, the kids wanted to go to the pool! Some days it would rain and we'd be caught in it trying to disassemble all our gear. It was humorous to see from afar, just not so much as being the one doing the work.
The oldest. He rarely stops for a photo with mom anymore but I love it when he does! He's nearly as tall as me now and he'll pass me before long.
Let it Goooooo!
We were all happy to have a "relaxing" few days on the beach!
(but seriously, what vaca with kids is actually relaxing?)
Two things: You see that lollipop? That's the size of his sweet tooth!
You see that mosquito? Yeah. Lots of them!
It's tough when you're potty training and your mom is forcing photos in 100 degree weather and you just GOTTA go!
Sorry about that residents of Alys beach! But there wasn't a potty nearby.
Air dried and still adorable! Lil is wearing a vintage shirt re-purposed into a cute tunic set for her by mom! It's details are sheer amazing and is most definitely a piece that we will keep forever!
Then there was THIS. This is what the beach looked like on Tuesday morning. We had set up our whole posse in the 50ft of beach they allow "personal umbrellas" to be placed on. We had 4 chairs, an umbrella and toys spread out. There were 2 kids digging a hole, 1 building a sand castle and one attempting a sandcastle destruction mission. (One guess where Baby Wyatt was at this time!{Tracie's lap.})
All of a sudden less that 10ft away, large umbrellas were being swept into the air by a micro burst of wind on the beach. Dad had the quick mind to GRAB ours while mom, Tracie and I LAID on top of kids. I mean we literally pushed them into the sand with our bodies as the umbrellas and a tent next to us was vaulted into the air around 30ft. Yes, 30ft! As quickly as it swept through it was gone leaving people running to our area of the beach to rescue us and grab the stray umbrellas and make sure no one had been impaled. These were heavy duty umbrellas with large wooden handles flying around. The lifeguard said he'd never seen anything like it as long as he's been there. Only one minor injury to the girl next to us as the pop up tent they had grazed the side of her head. Lots of people came to check on us and the kids but we were all perfectly fine except for Allie Gray's terror of what had just happened. It's not something that we will likely forget anytime soon. It came and went SO quickly!
Then there was what might have been the most terrifying moments of my life. We were wrapping up a fantastic day at the beach. The babies had all been carted off to naptime and Dad and Jackson had wandered off somewhere. Lincoln was left with Tracie and I and he'd been in the ocean playing in the waves as we sat on the shore. He went in to rinse off one last time (playing in the waves along the way) while Tracie and I packed up ALLLLLLLL the stuff we carted to the beach. It usually took us more than one trip even to get it all loaded back onto the stroller and ready to roll. As we were folding the last of the stuff, I went to recruit Lincoln to help carry things for us. We looked for him to yell and didn't see him. I went into the water while Tracie stood on the beach. It didn't take long for a little panic to set in. I was yelling in the water and Tracie on the beach. I kept looking out further and even under the water bc he's a fish and sometimes doesn't stay on top of the water long. No answer from him quickly led to full on screaming psychopath PANICKED MOMMA in the water as I yelled and screamed for him telling everyone that I saw to look for my 7 year old wearing a NAVY shirt. Tracie was also in Panic mode asking everyone on the beach to help her look for her nephew. I was shaking, yelling and my heart was beating beyond my chest. I was honestly afraid I may never see Lincoln again!
Then Tracie thought to run up the boardwalk to check there, we had checked the beach (along with everyone else on Rosemary at the time), we had everyone in the water on high alert. By the time she got to the top, she could see him, there at the gate. He was holding the door for others to get through. She told him he better RUN down to the beach and tell his Momma he was ok. When I saw him I was flooded with emotion. He knew what he'd done and immediately apologized. I physically sobbed for a few minutes after that and needed to sit down to collect myself before resuming packing up our beach situation. I'm almost certain he never left my sight the rest of the trip.
I might spend a week in a tiny beach house with these crazies, but there's no way I'd wanna be locked up in a jail house with them. I'd have to break out!
We had the best time in just 4 short days in Rosemary! I hope we can do it again before the kids all grow up and move a way to college!
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