Point Clear Alabama..

We are back from the first beach trip of the year, and I am happy to announce, no oil was seen, or smelled.. Benton and Bailey overheard conversations about the oil spill and were very concerned we were going to see it while at the beach. Bailey described it as "disgusting" and Benton was concerned about the animals that have died as a result, and that are going to die if it is not contained soon.

On a lighter note, we took them the battleship in Mobile, and they could have cared less. I was pretty sure they were not going to be interested, but Man loves history and wanted to take a tour and used them as a reason to go. Having been there many years ago, and realizing battleships DO NOT HAVE AIR CONDITIONING, I knew it would be a short lived tour. The kids didn't care about it, and Man doesn't like to sweat. We were back on the road shortly thereafter and headed to our destination which was about 20 minutes away.

As soon as we arrived at the hotel, me and the kids put on our suits and headed to the pool. The kids were excited about getting to go down the super slide until we realized the rules had changed since our last trip to The Grand and they no longer allowed small children to sit in on an adult's lap and go down the slide. If they weren't 4 feet tall, they could not go down. BUMMER!!! Both were disappointed, but were appeased by the fact that G will stand in the "deep" water and let them swim to her 99 times each, and to them, this was fun times. The only time I got to rest, was when the nice people at the pool offered tattoos of the kids' favorite cartoon characters, and when they realized they sold popsicles at the pool. Four dollar popsicles to be exact.. times 2! But it was money well spent, because it meant I got to undulge in an adult beverage, or two.

And let's not forget the time Bailey jumped in the "deep" water while I was helping Benton look for something in our beach bag which was sitting on the pool deck, and when I turned around, she was swimming back to the steps. Hopefully none of my goods were exposed as I ran back to the pool, jumped in and grabbed her out of the water. She came up smiling. I told her to NEVER jump in the pool again unless I was already in the water, and she said "OK G"... and she was good to go. Then there was the older lady who was standing in the middle of the pool who actually witnessed Bailey jumping in the deep water, and was doing her best to get to her, but it is hard to run in chest deep water. It just doesn't work very well. I thanked her for her efforts though and hoped she believed me when I told her I had warned Bailey to NOT go in the deep water when I am not in there.

We had lots of fun doing whatever the kids wanted to do. When they wanted to swim, I did, and when they wanted to walk around the resort and explore, I did. Outside one of the restaurants they have a putting green and the kids are welcome to play on it. I was able to sit outside, in the shade, while being waited on by Sophie, and watch the kids play to their heart's content. It was perfect to me. We also walked on the beach, looked for tar balls, didn't find any, and then we would go back to the room and talk about renting 14.00 movies. I only agreed to this one night.

When Benton discovered we could actually have breakfast brought to the room, he requested Fruit Loops. "Room service" Fruit Loops are expensive at resorts. $6.50 a bowl to be exact. But, since he had never had room service, I caved and ordered it one morning and $51.80 later, they had ingested one bowl of Fruit Loops each, Bailey ate a few berries off the fruit bowl I ordered, and both mostly ignored the two glasses of orange juice I had ordered. Lesson learned. No more room service. The next morning, we went to the dining room to eat and they both had Fruit Loops, FOR FREE!!!! You live and learn.

We had fun, and look forward to the next beach trip to Sandestin in August. I don't look forward to the laundry, but I do look forward to the trip!