destin ~ 2011

What an awesome vacation we had this summer! It was much needed and so much fun. Keith and I were looking into where we wanted to go on vaca this year and decided on Destin, FL. Several of our friends had been and said it was very family friendly and a great place to go. We were looking into some condos and got the crazy idea of asking my parents to come too. :) Which led to many siblings, then my Gram, and my amazing Aunt Tracy too. Derek and Courtney couldn't come. :( And...poor Austin had to stay behind too since he is in aviation school and couldn't miss that much time. We all called and texted him VERY often though. He even got to fly for the first time while we were gone! We told him to just keep coming down south with that plane, but it didn't work out I guess. ;)

We got two 2-bedroom condos that could sleep 8 a piece and we definitely filled them up! We were right on the beach and had multiple pools and an awesome beach to lounge by daily. Ahhh...the life. :)

 
 


Beach and Pools

 

 Check out the height on that one!

 

 The kids loved the pools. We had awesome weather the whole time we were there...sunshine and warm temps every day.

 Payton was not a huge fan of the beach. She loved the water and the waves, but not the sand. We had a few short times there, but spent a lot of time at the pool. :)

 Kaden, on the other hand, was a beach-lover! He loved everything about it...especially the waves! No fear!

Sand castles were also a love of his. :)

 Just floating in the ocean. :)

 

 Pay with Aunt Natalie.

 My A-MAZING husband stayed in the room everyday while Kaden and Payton took a nap...which allowed me some 'relax and sun' time. Loved that...and he got to watch some movies in the peace and quiet. It was a win-win situation. :) 

 In love. :)


'Touristy Night' ~ Shopping, Eating, Etc.

  Quick family pic as we were walking around some shops one night.

 And...some with the whole gang as well.

 Not enough trees. :)

 My sweet girl.

My wonderful Grams...just love her!

 
 We met up with some good friends from Pensacola while there and had dinner.

 Playing on some playground equipment. :)

Breakfast One Morn

Heading to breakfast or anywhere was an ordeal with this group. 

Cramped on the elevator. :) 

 Ash and Al.

Baytowne Wharf

 We went to an awesome little place one day and just walked around...loved Baytowne Wharf!

 
 Keith and Kaden disappeared for a bit to check out the yachts. Keith actually saw Emeril Legasse when he was walking around the docks...kind of cooooooool!

 Some fish feeding.

 Toy store shopping.

 A tree house we found down by the docks.

 Humongous checkers.

 Love my kids here....just exploring.

 Kaden with thumb and blanket....and Daddy of course.

And...could not forget the talking parrot. Love Allie's expression here!!

Randomness

 Our trip to Build A Bear...they LOVED it!

 
 Her pick of the night.

 Kaden's pick...alligator with police uniform. ;)

 This became our fourth child for the week. :) Her name was 'Kitty Sparkle.'

 Dinner at Bubba Gump. Addison was not thrilled about this picture.

 Ice Cream one night.

 
 
 We saw a wedding take place on the beach. Kind of cool. :)

 Chillin' in the condo watchin' some TV.

 Nat, Stephen, Ash.

Me and kiddos.

The fam.

In love. <3

With my best friends...aka my sistas. :)

 Bath time.

 Ash made a cake...even on vacation. :)

So pretty...the cake and her!


Night Out!
Ashley and Natalie did some babysitting for us one night for just a little bit. Seriously, a little bit. We were all so tired that our 'night out' was very short lived...getting old! Even still, it was fun with just some adults. :)

 
 
 Dyli being silly.

 Dan, Chels, Dyl, and my wonderful Aunt Tracy.

 
 
 


Fudpuckers
Our last night there we went to Fudpuckers...good food and quite the experience.

 Natalie and Addison checking out some 'for real' gators.

 
 Kaden wasn't too sure.

 
 A little presentation.

 Kylie and Addison listening.

 Payton and Kaden were not too interested...so they played on the playground.

Beach pics!
The camera was pretty much attached to the hip the whole time we were gone. I didn't want to miss a thing. :) We all cameras out and ready to snap every second of our time there. We wanted some beach pics with everyone...literally everyone. We tried to round everyone up a couple different times to head down to the white sand. I also took about a million of just our little family as well. I just love pictures on the beach and with three kids, you have to take a ton to get some good ones. ;)

Richmer kids minus Derek and Aussie. :(

The Group!

Aunt and Niece.

 
 
 Richmer girls had a CrAzY photo shoot!!

 
 



love.

So happy.

love, love, love

just chillin'

on the boardwalk

 
I managed to get the 'Christmas card pics' while we were there. ;)
Such a good time away...so thankful for that. Hard to come back to reality, but very good to get away for a bit.