Sandlin Vacation 2008 Part 3: The Beach

It's good to be home! We really did have a great vacation though. I left off in Memphis so I have a lot of updating to do. Taylor and I left Memphis early on Saturday morning and met my family (parents and sister) and the kids. It was so good to see the kids again. We made it to Gulf Shores by late afternoon. The kids were so excited to see the beach. The Hamiltons all pulled in shortly after us. For those of you who don't know the Hamiltons, they have been close family friends since we were kids. Pat and Sharon have 2 girls, Carol and Julie. I can't count how many vacations we went on together growing up. This is the first one we have attempted with kids, but it was so much fun. We stayed in a duplex right on the beach, so each family had their own space, but we could share meals together. Julie is married to David and they have Tate (almost 5) and Grant (15 months). Grant and John Curtis ignore each other, but Tate and Sophie are pretty much in love (most of the time). Carol is married to Jimmy and they are expecting their first baby, little Chloe in October. Most of us stayed the entire week, but Julie, David and their kids, and Taylor flew back home on Wednesday. All the kids loved the beach the first few days. John Curtis would have stayed out there all day and night if we would let him. He loved the waves, the sand, the sea shells, all of it. Sophie loved it the first few days. After Tate left she wasn't as thrilled to be out there all day. She didn't like the sand in her swimsuit. She said she wasn't "comfy". We could usually get her having fun though and she would forget all about that. One day Carol and I took Sophie and Tate on a dolphin cruise. We lucked out because we saw a lot of dolphins. They were right beside the boat and easy for the kids to see. Everyone had a great time. Thanks Mom and Dad for a great week at the beach!