Beach Trip recap

Well we have returned from our first trip as a family. Mary Elizabeth is a good travelling companion. On the way to the beach we stopped to see PaPa House's sister Jewel in Andalusia. She had not met M.E. yet so it was a fun visit. M.E. had a bottle and a diaper change, while Mike and I enjoyed some wonderful chicken salad and fresh fruit. We got back on the road again and arrived in Sandestin in the late afternoon. Mike got all of our stuff to the room before we went to Publix to buy some basics for breakfast each day. Wed. evening we went to the Village to eat at the Creole Cookery. We rode the tram and made it back to the hotel by 8:15. M.E. is cutting two upper teeth, but she slept well the first night. Thurs. we went for a big walk, then got in some pool time. M.E. had a good mid-day nap then we went to the Village to eat at Hammerheads. M.E. slept through dinner, but was awake and cheerful later. Friday we went for another big walk and then headed to the pool. There was a lot of activity at the pool since it was the 4th and M.E. took it all in. She was fascinated by a magic show for the kids. We went to Moe's for lunch, then headed to the room for awhile. We went to the beach for a bit Fri evening, then to the Market Shops for dinner. We ate at Beef O'Bradys and listened to some live music in the courtyard. M.E. slept through dinner again, but woke up long enough to enjoy some music. We headed back to the room and put M.E. to bed, then Mike and I watched fireworks over the bay from our hotel balcony. Saturday we made 2 trips to the pool and between pool time we went to a restaurant on the beach for lunch. Sat. evening we took it easy and ordered pizza and watched a movie in the room. Sunday it was time to pack up and hit the road. We left around 9 am and M.E. slept all the way to Andalusia. After that it was a different story! I think between her teeth hurting and just being plain overtired she decided to make her voice known! By the time we were able to stop in Greenville I think she had given up hope of being rescued and stopped screaming, she was just staring at the seat. After a hug and some milk we were good until Prattville, but the noise didn't start until we were pulling in to a stop, so that didn't last long. She was happy for awhile, then the final screaming episode resulted in a sleeping baby for the remainder of the trip. We really got the hang of how to operate in vacation mode with a baby on the third day, so I am glad we stayed a little longer than we usually do. More vacation photos are on our shutterfly page at http://www.mehouse08.shutterfly.com/.