We did it! Our first family road trip was a success!

We were packed in tight but it worked. Next time we will definitely do some packing differently... we may need a car topper to decrease the amount of stuff inside the car. {The ride home was just as full!!} Best part is all three girls did GREAT! I was so worried about the long car ride, {about 17 hours total} and they all really surprised us. Thank god for ipods, endless snacks, new activity books, music & drive thru restaurants. We made a pit stop & spent the night in Nashville on our way down. The girls enjoyed swimming in the pool & getting some energy out. 

Day two we arrived at our destination... Orange Beach Alabama! 

We had a great condo that was right on the beach with a big balcony overlooking the ocean. Perfect home for the week. It didn't take long for the chicks to put their suits on & we were enjoying the sunshine. Marin loved digging & playing football or soccer, although she spent most of the week vertical doing summer salts and flips on the sand. Total beach child.

 Day two, Margaux developed a heat rash of some sort, so she spent most of the week with a hat on to protect her face. She didn't mind though, she has become a hat girl. So cute!!! All three dug lots of holes on the beach & really loved playing in the sand.

 Maeve surprised us the most. She can be funny when it comes to water & swimming, but apparently not at the beach! She was a little fish. She LOVED jumping the waves & playing in the water.

90% of our days were spent on the beach. We packed loads of snacks, drinks & toys and just made ourselves comfy on the beach. We rented chairs most days so we had a place to call home throughout the day. The kids just loved playing & being outside. We also spent a LOT of time digging for shells.

There were a ton of shell pieces on the surface of the beach/sand but the really good ones you had to dig for. It became a game for us all, we were constantly digging trying to find the biggest/best shells. We brought home some really great ones! All three were very eager to share with their friends.

 Mid-week we did a dolphin cruise with a big group of our friends that were all in Orange Beach as well. We spent lots of time together doing many fun things, but the dolphin cruise was one of the best!

Look at this group of kids! Our group filled the whole boat. It was nice to have the whole thing to ourselves. Marin said the other boat was no fun because they weren't singing & dancing. Gary had to explain to her that was because the people on the other boat didn't know each other!

It only took about 5 minutes for the dolphins to show up. Such a fun experience for the kids, we were so happy that we did it. It was pretty amazing to see the dolphins that close & having so much fun!

The adults had a pretty good time too! We brought snacks & drinks. It was a really nice night.

 The next day it was Gary's turn for some more fun. The guys went out deep sea fishing. They got up really early & headed out to catch some fish. Gary said it was also a very fun experience. I think they were all happy they did it. 

 They caught so much fish! Enough that they gave some of it to the deck hand & the rest was cleaned up & brought back in a cooler. Later that night we took it to a local restaurant & they prepared it for our group of 30! I don't eat fish, but the others said it was amazing. I enjoyed a pretty great salad! ha!

 Lots of exciting stuff & WAY too many photos to post them all. 

 So hard to choose favorites when we had such a great time & snapped so many fun photos.

Love these girls so much. We are so happy we were able to take them on this vacation. They will have so many fun memories of this trip with family & great friends. We are already looking forward to another trip to the beach next year.

Definitely hard to leave the beach after such a great week. xoxo