Vacation writeup (with piccies)
We left Houston on Friday, June 27, and drove to Covington, LA where we spent the night in a hotel to break up the trip. On Saturday we arrived at our beach house in Martinique on the Gulf in Gulf Shores, AL.
During the first half of our stay, we shared a house with xsands and impernious and impernious' sister's family. When not busy going to the pool or the beach or doing stuff with our families, we played boardgames! (In the category of "totally wasted": playing Apples to Apples with an 11-year-old and a 14-year-old when you have "chains," "handcuffs," and "underwear" in your hand.) We got in a routine of taking Corwin to either the beach or the pool every morning, which we kept up for the whole 10 days we were there.
Here's Corwin after he got himself covered in sand at the beach one day:
He also liked to play in the water, but I never managed to get any pictures of that (since both Andrew and I were making sure we were within arms reach of him whenever he was in the water). Corwin was very cute in that he'd walk down to the water's edge, let the waves wash over his feet, and then run back up the beach out of the water's reach. He'd do this several times in a row until he got used to the water temperature (it was always a bit cool), and then he'd start trying to go out further and further into the waves. We let him get somewhere between waist and chest deep, and occasionally a bigger wave would come through and get his face. He LOVED it! He's definitely my son in that regard.
We wanted to rent a beach stroller for Corwin, but due to a hiccup with the vendor, we had to settle for a jogging stroller instead. We found it to be incredibly hard to control -- to turn it, you had to lift the front wheel, as it didn't rotate at all. I ended up hating to push the thing as a result -- I seriously have no idea how someone jogs with one of those. That said, here's Corwin in the jogging stroller as we're about to head to the pool one day:
We found an inflatable baby "boat" in our house's garage, so decided to let Corwin give it a try. In spite of how happy he looks here (he saw Mom with the camera!), he wasn't all that fond of it so we never brought it back to the pool with us aside from this one time. Here are Andrew and Corwin playing in the pool:
This pic shows just how close to the beach the pool is:
And here's a pic of Corwin and me:
Midweek our housemates all headed back to their various homes, and we had the house to ourselves for one night. On Thursday, Andrew's sister asharperfocus, her new hubby Sean, and Sean's brother's family arrived to fill the vacated space. Sean's brother Jonathan and his wife Lauren have three kids -- Jane, 8 months; Henry, 2; and Miles, 3. We introduced Jonathan, Sean, and Lauren to Ticket to Ride, and they liked it so much we played it both nights they were there. And Sarah proved that she has a few gamer genes in spite of herself by winning the first night.
On the 4th of July I went down to the beach to read during Corwin's afternoon nap. I took a few beach photos while I was there:
Someone had built some patriotic sandcastles:
Here's a shot of the boardwalk that leads up to Martinique on the Gulf. The neighborhood of rental houses where we stayed is behind the condos you see here:
Around dinner time there was a 4th of July Golf Cart Parade through the community. We decorated the golf carts for both of the rental houses (lots more of Andrew's relatives were there staying in a second house) and participated in the parade.
Andrew's dad drove this golf cart with Corwin and me in the front seat, and three of Andrew's cousin's kids (Janna, Ellie, and Nathan) in the back:
Andrew's mom, scarlett_sage, drove the second golf cart with Miles and the fourth of Andrew's cousin's kids (Drew) as her passengers:
Corwin really loved riding in the golf cart, so we went on occasional rides around the neighborhood of an evening just to keep him entertained. He even liked to play with Andrew's cousin's kids on the golf carts when they weren't in use.
Andrew took this really awesome picture of Jonathan and baby Jane while they were watching the parade:
Beads were tossed during the parade, and Corwin ended up with lots of them. Here his is showing off his bling in true gangsta style:
Corwin is currently obsessed with touching people's noses, including his own. Notice how he has his finger alongside his nose in this picture -- it's a pose we see a lot these days:
Here's Andrew's grandma (his mom's mom), the matriarch of this family gathering:
After dinner on the 4th of July, we discovered a copperhead hanging out in the yard at our house. That was rather scary, but it didn't end up threatening anyone so we let it live to see another day. Here's the copperhead:
On Saturday, I went with Andrew's parents, Sarah, and Sean to the outlet mall in Foley. I bought two pairs of shoes and a white sweater for myself, and several outfits for Corwin. I'm getting really frustrated with Carter's, though, as I have been trying to buy cotton footed pajamas for Corwin in size 24 months or 2T for months now and they never have them. This Carter's had the cotton footed pajamas in question, but they were out of stock in all sizes larger than 18 months. I did pick up some fleece sleepers in 2T for this winter at least.
And of course I splurged on sweets at the Harry & David store. I have been munching on these chocolate mints ever since -- they are dangerously yummy:
That evening, Corwin stayed with his grandparents while Andrew and I went into town and had dinner at King Neptune's seafood restaurant. We had gumbo, shrimp etouffee, and some broiled fish, scallops and shrimp. Quite yummy, and it was nice to get away on our own for a little while.
We departed Gulf Shores on Monday, July 7, after opting to stay through the holiday weekend to avoid getting stuck in 4th of July traffic with Corwin in the car. On Monday night we had dinner with friends in Lafayette, LA and stayed overnight in a hotel there. We got a really crappy night's sleep so were rather cranky on the rest of the drive home and zombified on Tuesday evening after we arrived.
The good news is that the plumber I called to fix the leaking sink that blindsided us zombies on Tuesday after dinner showed up in a timely manner this morning, confirmed that the problem was in fact the seal between the sink and the disposal, and efficiently fixed the problem! I'm $130 poorer, but I got a pretty painless repair out of the deal. :)
Here ends the vacation recap. For even more pictures, you can view the trip gallery here:
http://pics.livejournal.com/cifarelli/gallery/00066shy?page=1
During the first half of our stay, we shared a house with xsands and impernious and impernious' sister's family. When not busy going to the pool or the beach or doing stuff with our families, we played boardgames! (In the category of "totally wasted": playing Apples to Apples with an 11-year-old and a 14-year-old when you have "chains," "handcuffs," and "underwear" in your hand.) We got in a routine of taking Corwin to either the beach or the pool every morning, which we kept up for the whole 10 days we were there.
Here's Corwin after he got himself covered in sand at the beach one day:
He also liked to play in the water, but I never managed to get any pictures of that (since both Andrew and I were making sure we were within arms reach of him whenever he was in the water). Corwin was very cute in that he'd walk down to the water's edge, let the waves wash over his feet, and then run back up the beach out of the water's reach. He'd do this several times in a row until he got used to the water temperature (it was always a bit cool), and then he'd start trying to go out further and further into the waves. We let him get somewhere between waist and chest deep, and occasionally a bigger wave would come through and get his face. He LOVED it! He's definitely my son in that regard.
We wanted to rent a beach stroller for Corwin, but due to a hiccup with the vendor, we had to settle for a jogging stroller instead. We found it to be incredibly hard to control -- to turn it, you had to lift the front wheel, as it didn't rotate at all. I ended up hating to push the thing as a result -- I seriously have no idea how someone jogs with one of those. That said, here's Corwin in the jogging stroller as we're about to head to the pool one day:
We found an inflatable baby "boat" in our house's garage, so decided to let Corwin give it a try. In spite of how happy he looks here (he saw Mom with the camera!), he wasn't all that fond of it so we never brought it back to the pool with us aside from this one time. Here are Andrew and Corwin playing in the pool:
This pic shows just how close to the beach the pool is:
And here's a pic of Corwin and me:
Midweek our housemates all headed back to their various homes, and we had the house to ourselves for one night. On Thursday, Andrew's sister asharperfocus, her new hubby Sean, and Sean's brother's family arrived to fill the vacated space. Sean's brother Jonathan and his wife Lauren have three kids -- Jane, 8 months; Henry, 2; and Miles, 3. We introduced Jonathan, Sean, and Lauren to Ticket to Ride, and they liked it so much we played it both nights they were there. And Sarah proved that she has a few gamer genes in spite of herself by winning the first night.
On the 4th of July I went down to the beach to read during Corwin's afternoon nap. I took a few beach photos while I was there:
Someone had built some patriotic sandcastles:
Here's a shot of the boardwalk that leads up to Martinique on the Gulf. The neighborhood of rental houses where we stayed is behind the condos you see here:
Around dinner time there was a 4th of July Golf Cart Parade through the community. We decorated the golf carts for both of the rental houses (lots more of Andrew's relatives were there staying in a second house) and participated in the parade.
Andrew's dad drove this golf cart with Corwin and me in the front seat, and three of Andrew's cousin's kids (Janna, Ellie, and Nathan) in the back:
Andrew's mom, scarlett_sage, drove the second golf cart with Miles and the fourth of Andrew's cousin's kids (Drew) as her passengers:
Corwin really loved riding in the golf cart, so we went on occasional rides around the neighborhood of an evening just to keep him entertained. He even liked to play with Andrew's cousin's kids on the golf carts when they weren't in use.
Andrew took this really awesome picture of Jonathan and baby Jane while they were watching the parade:
Beads were tossed during the parade, and Corwin ended up with lots of them. Here his is showing off his bling in true gangsta style:
Corwin is currently obsessed with touching people's noses, including his own. Notice how he has his finger alongside his nose in this picture -- it's a pose we see a lot these days:
Here's Andrew's grandma (his mom's mom), the matriarch of this family gathering:
After dinner on the 4th of July, we discovered a copperhead hanging out in the yard at our house. That was rather scary, but it didn't end up threatening anyone so we let it live to see another day. Here's the copperhead:
On Saturday, I went with Andrew's parents, Sarah, and Sean to the outlet mall in Foley. I bought two pairs of shoes and a white sweater for myself, and several outfits for Corwin. I'm getting really frustrated with Carter's, though, as I have been trying to buy cotton footed pajamas for Corwin in size 24 months or 2T for months now and they never have them. This Carter's had the cotton footed pajamas in question, but they were out of stock in all sizes larger than 18 months. I did pick up some fleece sleepers in 2T for this winter at least.
And of course I splurged on sweets at the Harry & David store. I have been munching on these chocolate mints ever since -- they are dangerously yummy:
That evening, Corwin stayed with his grandparents while Andrew and I went into town and had dinner at King Neptune's seafood restaurant. We had gumbo, shrimp etouffee, and some broiled fish, scallops and shrimp. Quite yummy, and it was nice to get away on our own for a little while.
We departed Gulf Shores on Monday, July 7, after opting to stay through the holiday weekend to avoid getting stuck in 4th of July traffic with Corwin in the car. On Monday night we had dinner with friends in Lafayette, LA and stayed overnight in a hotel there. We got a really crappy night's sleep so were rather cranky on the rest of the drive home and zombified on Tuesday evening after we arrived.
The good news is that the plumber I called to fix the leaking sink that blindsided us zombies on Tuesday after dinner showed up in a timely manner this morning, confirmed that the problem was in fact the seal between the sink and the disposal, and efficiently fixed the problem! I'm $130 poorer, but I got a pretty painless repair out of the deal. :)
Here ends the vacation recap. For even more pictures, you can view the trip gallery here:
http://pics.livejournal.com/cifarelli/gallery/00066shy?page=1