On the Road Again/We Made It!

First step onto the beach. He was so pumped

They didn't run for the waters immediately-they took time to roll and romp in the sand. They instantly noted how soft it was.

Take note of the wet pants. Once they saw the ocean there was no holding them back.

Pumped to find his first seashell

This is what we saw from our balcony on day 1. Interesting.

Our balcony view was PERFECT!

This is our condo. The bed we all shared for the entire trip because the boys decided they did not want to sleep in the bunkbeds in the other room. Thank goodness it was a KING!

Bunk-beds that were left untouched the entire time we were there. They may have crawled up them once or twice but only for a few seconds at a time. This surprised me-thought for sure they would love these. I think it was because it was so far back in the condo and they would feel alone or something.

One of the boys most favorite thing to do on the trip was to snack. They loved eating out on the balcony with the view of the beach below. This one is apparently of Lane begging for more. Lol

it was such a nice place to stay -very modern, fun and accommodating. 

On the Road Again- Day 2
We were on the road again by 7:30ish still just heading south. We made it to Florida and it started to rain on us...which didn't make driving/riding as much fun and scenic. It really started to pour in some places which had me kinda bummed out as I thought, "well, great...we'll get there and the boys won't even be about to enjoy their first day at the beach..son of a beach!" But it cleared out and ended up fine. The closer we got the more and more anxious the boys (and myself got). We finally made it to Panama City Beach and the scenic drive down the beach front seemed to take an eternity. Cars were moving at turtle speeds in front of us. Still drizzling rain at this point. But then.....we see it! THE OCEAN (which is technically the Gulf) and white sandy beaches!!!! Grant freaks out! He immediately starts jumping up and down in his seat and screaming, "We're at the beach, we're finally here, I see it I see it!" And of course Lane being the little parrot his always is...repeated every word Grant said. Word for word while using the same tone and volume. Needless to say...it was extremely exciting and LOUD in our car for a while there. They kept wanting out of the car but we had to explain to them that we had to keep driving so we could find our condo and park our car. It was so hard for them to understand this concept- I felt them though. I just wanted out of the damn car too. We arrived early around 12:45ish and our check in wasn't until 3 but Jason pulled some strings and got us an early check-in.Grant begged us to go out to the beach first before doing anything else. So we left everything behind int he car and ran for the beach. The boys were smiling so big I really think I may have seen each and every one of their little teeth. They charged into the water fully clothed and frolicked and laughed like I have never seen or heard before.  The moment made me tear up because Grant has wanted to see the ocean/beach for several years now and talked about it often and NOW the the moment was here! He was so happy! I was also very relieved as I had a thought in the back of my mind the entire time that there may be a chance that we would arrive to the beach after 13 hours in the car only for him to get there and respond something like this: "this is it? this is all it is?" and be disappointed. But it was completely opposite of disappointed. It was utter bliss and joy form not just Grant but from Lane as well. I felt blessed that we arrived safely and for the first time in two days I exhaled! I was ready to start this party and so was the rest of the Fricke family.  We went to our room (1508- on the 15th floor) and checked the place out, changed into our suits and spent some time playing in the waters. Day 2 of vacation/Day 1 at the beach were in the books.