"Just Another Day in Paradise": Our trip to Destin for Labor Day

For Labor Day this year we decided to make one last trip to Destin as our grand finale of the summer. Our kids are finally at a good age where we can make long trips with them in the car without them going stir crazy. Plus we are always up for a trip to the beach. My mom and dad, Alexis, Sadie and Ben all made the trip too. Ben is only 2 1/2 weeks old but we all figured that was the best time for Alexis to travel with him since they sleep most of the time at that age. He will definitely be a "beach baby" being that he was on the beach a few weeks after he was born.

Sanders and I packed the kids up at 5pm on Wednesday afternoon and started our long trek to Destin. We've always left late in the afternoon to drive down there because we know the kids will sleep most of the time and make the drive alot easier. Plus Sanders likes to drive at night which is great b/c not many people can do that. We made our usual stop in Monroe and picked up Chili's "to go", put the kids in their pjs, gassed up and got back in the car to finish our 6 1/2 more hours in the car. We pulled into our house in Destin at exactly 1:05am which made it an 8 hour drive and our best time yet! We unpacked the car and put the kids back to bed and collapsed into bed! We were exhausted. It was a rough night though b/c Mae woke up and wanted to get in our bed, so i went to lay down with her in her bed, then she came back in our room and then Sanders woke up at some point. It was one of those nights where no one slept good. We were all pretty tired the next morning.

The next morning we got up and took the kids running in the stroller. We only did a 2 mile run b/c it was extremely hot and the 60lbs of kids in the stroller makes the run alot harder. It was fine though b/c it helped start our day off right! After that, we loaded up in the car and got some coffee at Starbuck's and then went to Fresh Market and Winn Dixie to get some groceries for the week. We sure do wish we had a Fresh Market here in Shreveport. They have the best produce, bread, meat etc. When we finally finished our grocery shopping we came back to the house, put our bathing suits on and headed down to the beach. We figured we'd wear the kids out a little more before we put them down for a nap. We knew they would take good naps since they were up so much in the middle of the night. When they finally woke up that afternoon, Alexis, Sadie, Ben and mom and dad had arrived. Everyone was so excited to see them!

We ventured out for dinner that night to Poppy's at Baytown Wharf. We love eating dinner there b/c you can sit outside and they have always have a fun band which helps entertain the kids. Before we ate dinner though, we took Sanders to the jumpy place and then all the kids to ride the carousel. Baytown Wharf is such a great place for families. They have a little bit of everything.

Some pictures of our first day on the beach

Sanders helping his sister get some water. He has potential

Daddy helping Mae get water

"juice break"

Daddy reading a book. He always seems to be able to tune everything out

Sanders building a sandcastle

Some pics with my new camera. I love it!

Sweet Baby Ben

Mimi, Bop Bop, Alexis, Ben and Sadie arrived! Mimi took the kids down to the water . . .

Mae is so excited to see Baby Ben

Sanders doing the jumpy at Baytown Wharf that night

Some more pics from Baytown Wharf

Sadie and Mae

The three amigos

Sanders and Mae

Riding the carousel

Sanders picked the car

Everyone wants to help push Baby Ben

Having fun at Poppy's

Mae and Sadie in their piggy pjs when we got back to the house

On Friday, Sanders and I got up and went running again. We made it 3 miles this time - plus the kids stayed home with my mom so we didn't have to push the stroller this time. After our run, we came back and suited up and headed down to the beach with the kids. The water was really pretty even though it had a little algae in it. Sadie, Mae and Sanders had a great time playing in the sand and building sand castles. They weren't too crazy about the water but we didn't care as long as they were entertained. That night we had a professional photographer come and take pictures of everyone. We got some great ones of our family and of Mae and Sanders. I am so excited! I am definitely going to use a few for our Christmas card. My goal is to have my card done before December so I'm not stressing about it last minute this year! After pictures, we had a babysitter come and went to the Beach Walk for dinner. It is a bed and breakfast with a fabulous restaurant. We sat outside and had a wonderful dinner!

Some pictures from the day . . .

They hit the beach as soon as they woke up

My mom bought Sadie and Mae some costumes to dress up in. They loved it even though they both wanted the "pink" dress. Obviously Mae won that one . . .

Sanders tried to participate by putting the straw hat on

but he was much more interested in playing with his cars

Mae and Sadie down on the beach

too cute!

Mae seems to always be eating when she is on the beach

I was helping Mae clean her hands from the cheetos

My sweet Mae

Sanders getting some water in his bucket

He finally agreed to take a dip in the water

Building a sandcastle

After naps, the girls played dress up again. Mimi got them some fun things at the store

Building a tower with leggos

Mae loves her daddy

Posing in her diaper on the deck

Mac and Cheese for dinner - Everyone's favorite!

On Saturday, the guys were playing golf in the afternoon so they agreed to watch the kids in the morning while we went to outlets to do a little shopping. Sanders actually took all three kids to the Destin Commons playground to play for a little bit. We were very impressed! We had fun shopping too! I got some great stuff for little Sanders at Crewcuts, a few polos from the Polo store and found myself a few cute things at Banana. We were back promptly at 12pm so the guys could leave for golf. We fed the kids and put them down for a nap and Alexis and I layed out on the deck for a little while. The weather had been great the whole trip. It wasn't too hot or humid which was SO nice! We cooked at home that night while we watched the LSU game. Dad made his yummy stone crabs and mom made pasta, fish and salad. We didn't end up eating until after 10pm when the game was over but it was still delicious! That seems to be the normal eating time in the Kayser household. LSU barely won the game which put the men in bad moods. It is going to be a long football season if we keep playing like this . . .

Some pictures from the day

Baby Ben is ready to go shopping with the girls

Mae and Sadie are helping Ben with this pacifier. He has no idea what he is in for with them!

The cute shirts and accessories we bought the girls at Crewcuts that morning

Mimi and Ben

Mae and Sadie reading books out on the deck

so cute!

Sweet Mae

Daddy got the kids silly bands that morning and Mae had somehow confiscated all of them

Playing leggos

Mae is not happy about something

Daddy

Bop Bop watching the game

Everyone watching an Elmo movie before bed

Both girls curled up in Mae's bed watching the movie. Too cute!

On Sunday, we woke up and Sanders and I did a 4 mile run. We had made progress since our first run a few days ago. That afternoon we rented a pontoon boat and went to Crab Island to swim and hang out. Alexis stayed back with Mae and Sadie while they napped and then we picked them up later and went back out. Crab Island was a hopping place that day. I had never seen so many boats out there. I guess it was so crowded b/c of the holiday weekend. Little Sanders did SO well swimming all day. He never whined or wanted to get in the boat. We were so proud of him. Mae wasn't too sure about it at first but we put her in the inflatable boat and got her a snow cone and she was happy! The Meldrums joined us on the boat for the day and we had a great time catching up with them! Little Sanders loved messing with Mr. John. Renting the pontoon boat is something we definitely need to do on every trip. Everyone had so much fun! When we got back from the boat trip we went down to the beach for a sunset cocktail. The kids ran around and had fun. We ordered pizza in that night to make things simple. And it was just that - delicious and easy to clean up. We were all exhausted after that - It had been a long fun day!

Some pictures from the day . . .

Sanders helping Mae put on her costume