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Staying at Rendy’s Hidaway in Gulf Shores for a while to get rested up- as much as possible with 4 small kids! Jenny, Jill, Corey and Cole have stayed with us all week, with Matt, Ben, Lacey, and Lindsay joining us periodically. The kids have had a great time so far in spite of being sick with colds. The sunscreen is working wonderfully too- I’m the only one burned to date (forgot to get my back done in the scramble to get everyone ready for the beach).
We met a family with 6 kids on the beach, one of which was from China, and saw another family with adopted kids. Seems like families with adoptive kids from China are every where, or maybe we are just so much more aware of them these days. It is nice for the boys to see other families like ours.
We rode into Orange Beach last night and ogled Publix- just love that store and it was nice to get out in the evening a bit. The produce section just makes you want to eat it- such a sensory overload. Of course, the bakery was really cool too- they had the onion bagels Matt has been asking for. We also stopped at a souvenir shop and picked up some flip-flops for the girls and a hermit crab for the kiddos to torture. Jill was so funny, she kept insisting his hand was broken. It took a lot of reassuring and a physical exam to convince her that her nurse-Mimi was credible and the crab was fine.
The kids have built sand castles galore, and Jenny made ‘snow’ angels too. The boys floated stick ‘boats’ in a shallow pool that had formed on the beach. Jill stopped every few steps on our surf side walk to pick up even more seashells, and found a rusty nickel that she hopes to spend. The girls kept drawing an ‘X’ in the sand to mark the spot to dig- they are generally entertaining to watch while they search for treasure. The kids have all had a wonderful time gathering up small clams in their buckets of brine and watching the bi-valves siphons extend. They spent hours gathering the clams and walking the beach for seashells.
We happened on a sand 'jacuzzi' someone had crafted so the waves would fill it up sporadically, and were shocked when a massive wave overfilled it and tumbled Cole kit over caboodle. The surprised faces would have been a great picture according to a nearby beachcomber.
We did make it back out to the state park in Orange Beach a couple of times since we stayed at the beach house where the pics in this slideshow were taken. Every time we take a longer drive Corey asks if we're going to the beach, and if we'll be going into the tunnel that takes us that way. The pavilion there is great and there is a shallow sandbar that is perfect to swim with the kids on. The boys were so content they all fell asleep while we were holding them in the surf- might have something to do with the ocean waves disc they've been listening to every night for ages.
