Family Vacation 2011 - Seagrove Beach, FL

Last week, we took our first family vacation to the beach. We had been counting down the days to our departure on Wednesday morning. That morning we made our first stop in Auburn so that my parents could keep Gracie for us (thanks Mom and Dad!). It was nice to break up the trip a little so that Braxton wouldn't be so sick of the car - it ended up being about a 6 hour drive. We couldn't believe that we made the second leg of the trip without stopping. Braxton did great and had fun watching his "Cars" and "Toy Story" DVDs on the way. Once we made it to the beach, we settled in at the condo (which we loved - highly recommend Dunes at Seagrove complex) and then headed out for dinner. After dinner at Bud and Allie's in Seaside, we decided to take Braxton out on the beach for the first time. We were a little nervous that he wouldn't like the sand, so we were excited when he proved us wrong. He just giggled on our walk all the way down to the water. I think his favorite part was being able to run free wherever he wanted. It was so much fun watching his excitement...

The next few days were filled with multiple trips to the beach (per day). We had bought Braxton a "Cars" beach toys backpack set prior to leaving and surprised him with it on our first day. He was so cute walking down to the beach with it on his back. It was definitely worth every penny - it gave him hours of entertainment on the beach. One of his favorite things to do was filling the bucket with water (or having us do it for him) and pouring it out in the sand. He was a little timid when it came to walking out into the ocean, but by the last day he was sitting and playing in it. If we had more time there, he would have probably gotten even more brave.

We had a wonderful week of fun on the beach, delicious dinners, and even a stop to play putt-putt. It definitely was not easy leaving on Sunday morning to head back. The thing that broke our hearts the most was that morning when Braxton put on his sand toys backpack and went to the door. We hated to tell him that we were leaving and couldn't go down to the beach again. It was a great trip and we can't wait to plan our next one down there! Here are a few pics for your enjoyment...