Orange Beach Summer 2012

We got to take a vacation on our vacation this summer and headed to Orange Beach, Alabama with my family.  We had 7 kids and 8 adults in 2 condos and had a blast!!  

We spent a lot of time at the pool swimming, enjoying the lazy river, and of course the slide!!  With the kids there was never a dull moment.  We spent one morning at the beach, brought lunch down, played in the sand, and chased waves. The kids entertained each other and us parents had fun watching our kids play together.  They loved throwing water on each other, splashing around, and seeing who could swim fastest.

My mom found this neat little tent online and thought it'd be a great idea to have for Brooklyn while we were outside so she didn't have to be stuck in a stroller or carrier... it was an awesome idea and she loved lounging around in the sun. 

okay, now how cute is this picture?!?  just wish B was in it. 

On our first morning in Orange Beach it rained so we looked up a local museum to take the kids to and found the National Naval Aviation Museum.  It was really, really neat.  Actually, I might even say it was awesome.  All the kids were entertained.  They loved running around to all the different exhibits and seeing all the different types of planes from various eras.  There was something there for every age.  I even enjoyed learning some of the history.

As you can imagine, with 7 kids under the age of 4, we spent a majority of our meals at our condo, which was mainly for the parents sanity, but nonetheless, it was a great idea to bring prepared meals (thanks mom and dad) and just eat without all the fuss.  Our mornings were spent like this!

We did manage to go out to eat twice (maybe 3 times) and everyone did awesome and the food was delicious.  The kids had their breakfast together every morning and most of the time we'd feed them then we'd eat while they played.  It made for more adult conversation time and more enjoyable meal times for the adults!  Our kids LOVE being together and really have a fun time... they are wild and crazy and make each other laugh non stop!!!

One night we all headed to one of our favorite restaurants and had a nice, relaxing, enjoyable dinner on the water and decided to take advantage of the beautiful view outside.

My new favorite pic of me and my man!

My parents took the 3 oldest grandkids out to the beach one night and let them search for hermit crabs and other stuff in the sand.  They wore their new flashlight helmets and had a ball!  What a fun way to make new memories.  

Of course after long days in the sun there wasn't many better things to do then relax and chill!

Overall, we had a GREAT trip and a much needed vacation to just have fun as a family!  

As we were leaving Orange Beach we drove past this huge land area filled with American Flags.  It kinda made me tear up.  You just have no idea how wonderful the USA truly is until you live somewhere else.  We're proud to be Americans!