My husband is in home security sales, which is a seasonal business. He works six days a week during the months of May through September. An upside to this long, hard summer is that he has a lot of free time the rest of the year. The downside is that Sunday is our only day together as a family and sometimes we don’t even get that. But as long as the summer can seem, it is his job that allows me to work part-time and therefore, spend more time with our son.
So knowing that we would not be able to take a summer vacation, we decided to sneak in a quick family trip to Destin. It was great! Besides it being a tad bit too cool to swim, the end of April is a wonderful time to go to the beach. It is between spring break and the start of the summer season, so you can get great deals.
We arrived Thursday afternoon. Little Buddy was not too bad on the way down. A potable DVD player with video selections from Baby Einstein to Elmo to Word World kept him occupied for most of the trip. My husband, being the “salesman”, got us a great deal on a beautiful condo. It was spacious and had an awesome view. Sterling Shores is the name for anyone interested. http://www.sterlingresorts.com/ The pool was great, the walk to the beach was a breeze and we were right across the street from one of my favorite places – The Back Porch – great food and atmosphere. http://www.theback-porch.com/
We enjoyed a great Thursday evening, just the three of us. Then Friday morning we took it easy and eventually made our way to the incredible pool. Our son was less than thrilled with the water temperature, but after a little while, he decided that it wasn’t so bad.
My awesome sister drove down to stay with us for the weekend. The four of us decided to stroll around Destin Commons and have a bite to eat. The relaxed atmosphere was perfect for our son. He could run around and just be a little boy without being an annoyance to others. http://www.destincommons.com
The next day we played in the sun between naps (of course) and enjoyed the cool breeze and warm sun. Saturday night my sister was kind enough to babysit for us. Jason and I had a blast. We actually had the opportunity to dine at a restaurant, have a real conversation and take our time eating. It was great – no taking turns entertaining our son or shoveling food in our mouths at warp speed in hopes of bailing before a tantrum erupts.
After a long, lovely weekend, we headed back home on Sunday. It was bitter sweet. We had this great family weekend full of relaxation and fun, but knowing as soon as we returned home (back to reality), the hard work was going to begin. Jason would be working his butt off selling alarms, and I would be working solo with our rambunctious toddler all summer long. BUT, I’ve got lots of activities in the works to keep that little booger busy!
