Gulf Shores - Part 2

So in my last post, I said that we didn't spend all of our time at the beach and the pool.  While those 2 activities would have kept the boys happy for the entire week, we did undertake a few more ambitious outings and tasks while we there.  For example:

We feasted:

It wouldn't be a Bitler vacation without some gourmet cooking.  Each day we were there, a different family was designated to cook dinner for the group.  We dined on all sorts of seafood delicacies.  Dad made a delicious seafood paella, Katy and Ian brought us a little bit of the Carolinas with some shrimp and grits, and Tommy and I went back to his Cajun roots and made Crawfish etouffee.  Aunt Karen and Grandma thought we might need a break from seafood and made some yummy pulled pork. 

The boys dined a little earlier on a slightly less gourmet, but nonetheless delicious fare:

 

 

No Bitler meal would be complete without a pre-dinner happy hour!

 

The table set for a yummy dinner:

While all of the meals were delicious, Dad's paella definitely won the prettiest dinner award:

We saw dolphins:

One morning, we decided to gather everyone (except Aunt Karen who tends to get a little seasick) up and venture out on a dolphin cruise.  Anyone who knows me well won't find this too hard to believe, but I think I was more excited than the boys.  For much of my childhood, I wanted to be a cetacean biologist - specifically a biologist who studies marine mammals like whales and dolphins.  Despite this, seeing these beautiful creatures in person is something that has eluded me.  Katy and Ian even tried to take me on a whale watching trip when they lived in Seattle and the whales decided to hide on the day of our boat ride.  This is the other boat on our tour - identical to ours:

The dolphins definitely didn't hide on this day!  They jumped and played in the boat's surf and put on a great show for us.  We got some amazing pictures of the dolphins - first there was just one:

 Then, he was joined by his friend:

 

 The whole family had a great time:

Audra, Tommy and Jack



Ian, Katy, Evan and Ben



Grandma Dot, Mom, Dad and Evan

Jack watched the dolphins intently:

And Evan and Jack were even allowed to drive the boat!

We did other things:

Tommy and Ian took a break from the craziness of the condo for a few hours for a scuba diving adventure.

The girls had an afternoon shopping at the nearby outlet mall.  After the outlet mall, the boys met us for dinner at the Original Oyster House and some browsing in the nearby stores.  The giant alligator statue outside of one of the stores turned out to be the most popular photo spot:

Finally, we relaxed - isn't that what you are supposed to do on vacation?? 

We rented a beautiful condo, so we didn't have many reasons to need to venture too far.

After a long morning at the pool and beach, everyone was usually ready to relax after lunch.  Some more than others...

The I-Pad made Aunt Audra the most popular person in the condo:

Reading books was also a favorite activity:

I'd love to make a family vacation an annual Bitler family tradition.  As you can see by the looks on these little faces, we had a wonderful time!

Fun in the Sun!

Well, I added photos to this entry over 9 months ago and then, I know, I disappeared from the Blogger world.  Don't worry,we're all still alive and doing well.  We have had a busy 9 months and I have dozens of blog entries to write to catch up.  I promise, I WILL catch up.  I have also been woefully disasterous at updating baby books, so the blog is my main way to chronicle my kids lives as they grow.  And yes, notice that I said kids.  Our family of 3 became a family of 4 in May, 2012.  I'll get to that, but first I have a lot of catching up to do......

Way back in late July/early August 2011, our family (Mom, Dad, my family, Katy's family, Grandma Dot and Aunt Karen) took a summer beach trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama.  While the Davis family are pros at visiting the beach, Jack had never been to the beach, and we were interested to see how he would react.  The night we arrived, we all headed down to the beach after dinner.  Jack didn't even make it to the water before he decided that he was not fond of the feeling of sand between his toes.

"No Mommy, Yuck!

After a little coaxing from Grandpa and beach expert, Evan, Jack decided that the beach may not be so bad after all:

Ian managed to capture Tommy and eagerly snapping pictures of their Jack's first beach trip:

Pretty much each day began with breakfast, followed by a morning beach trip and a dip in the pool to rinse off any stray grains of sand.  Here are a few of my favorite beach pictures from the week:

cousins enjoy the sand!

Cuties in their beach chairs

Jack decided that he loved the waves

 

Grandma Dot and I enjoy a morning stroll on the beach - Matching outfits unintentional :)



Mom and her daughters



Playing with Grandpa is so much fun!

Three cousins play in the sand.  Notice the beginings of a sand castle in the background - the boys decided it was much more fun to play in a muddy water hole!

Sisters and their guys



Grandma Dot and Mom sunbathing by the pool

A family stroll along the beach at sunset

Pretty Gulf Shores sunset

Snack time!

This one was taken on our first night at the beach - Jack had already decided that the sand wasn't so bad after all

I love this one of Jack holding on to Grandpa's arm.  He loves his Grandpa!

The last morning we were there, we attempted to take some family pictures.  Not exactly the serene photos in the sand in matching outfits I had envisioned - those are a little tough with 3 toddler boys.  Nevertheless, I love these pictures anyway!

Audra, Tommy, Jack and the gator that Jack would not let out of his grasp that morning

Sisters!

Cousins (and a gator!)

Ian, Katy, Evan and Ben

Happy Grandma ad  Grandpa with their grandbabies

Grandma Dot and her two babies

And finally, the whole crew

We did do more than hang out at the beach (although not much more - it was a beach trip after all!) Stay tuned for the next post...