Orange Beach 2013

 

 

This was our third year in a row vacationing in Orange Beach, Alabama.  We are starting to become regulars.  The past two years, we've gone in the spring, but now we know that September is the best time to go!  Everyone else just went back to school, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves!  

 

The condo complex we stayed at had it all: tennis courts, indoor & outdoor pools, hot tub, and of course the beach!  

To the first worker we encountered at the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola,

Florida, Kade (3) decidedly stated, "Excuse me, we need to fly the jets."

These photos and memories make me so happy, I could burst!  Family vacations get more and more fun each year as the kids get older and more independent.  We really are in the "sweet spot" when it comes to raising our kids.  They're young enough to still need us and want to be around us, but old enough to run and play and use the potty by themselves (hallelujah!).  Eden and Kade are still little, cute and cuddly.  Brock, Austin and Brandon are developing their own ideas and humor and keeping us entertained with their antics.  I love this time with my family.  No chores to do.  No school assignments to complete.  No laundry to fold.  Just being together, laughing, playing, relaxing, enjoying.  I know it can't last forever, which makes the moment all the more savory while we are in it.

One favorite memory that I didn't get a picture of: Our beach condo was on the fifth floor of the complex. At one point, we all piled into the elevator to go up to our room and noticed that Kade was missing. I rushed out of the elevator to find him. He was standing outside of the complex' main entrance automatic sliding doors with a horrified look of abandonment on his face. He had fallen behind and wasn't heavy enough to open the automatic doors by himself! I wish I would've gotten a picture of his face! Sweet, sad adorableness.