Beach Bums

We enjoyed our 6 days in Orange Beach. Each day, we hit the beach early and stayed until lunch. These mornings were filled with building castles in the sand, collecting shells, riding the waves, and looking for fish and jellies. Judd became a champion net fisherman and spent many hours trying to catch those slippery little suckers! We would then switch gears and go to the outdoor pool where we would swim a little before eating lunch in the condo. Soon after lunch, we headed back to the beach and stayed until late afternoon. We made it over to the outlets in Foley one afternoon. Cole was as miserable as could be having to shop, so we tried to make it as quick and painless as possible. We still made it back to OB to get some beach time in that afternoon. I think the real reason Judd liked Foley is because it had a Milo's restaurant! We always made a stop to the indoor pool before going back to our condo. This was as much to wash off the sand as it was to relax in the hot tub! Getting ready to go out was always so much fun- washing away the sand, salt, and sunscreen. We each had sunkissed faces and brown bodies to show for our day in the sun.

Days at the beach...

 
Ready to swim!

 
Building the fort

 
The MCM Fort, complete with moat!

 
Daddy's catch

 
Back to work

 
Looking down at the gang from the condo

 
The Phoenix V pool

 
Our view of the beach from the 15th floor!

 
An aerial view of the fort (in front of our umbrella and chairs)

 
 
No trip to the beach is complete without a few pictures

 
Enjoying snowcones poolside!

 
Helping Daddy fish

 
 
 
 
Cole's method of building sandcastles from start to finish

 
A joint effort

One night, we went to the Track, a place to drive gocarts. It was girls versus boys on the "Wild Woody" wooden track. As Mary Conlee can attest, the girls beat the boys, however the boys are claiming disqualification. We'll just let them keep whining...we know the truth!

Another night, we ate dinner at Calypso Joe's. This was located on the marina in Orange Beach and we saw many nice yachts and fishing vessels as they were coming in from a day at sea. The hermit crab races were fun at CJ's- but mainly because the kids both won! Thanks to our friends, Causey and Bounds, for the great tip to go there. We will make that one of our usual spots. We headed over to the Wharf to ride the ferris wheel. To put it mildly, Judd didn't enjoy the ride too much. This made the kids and I laugh because he would have never made it on the parasail.

But our favorite nightly excursion was to go "crabbing." We brought flashlights and nets, but the water was much too rough to catch the blue crabs that are found at the shoreline. However, we found a much better kind of crab--the sand crabs. These white creatures built their shelter in the sound and were spotted by the whole that they made with their bodies. A hole in the sand was a good indication that a crab was hiding there. We found two the first night, but it became harder to spot the next few nights. Judd was convinced that the moon was partly the reason. The first night, we had a full moon. But the rest of the time, it must have been a "new moon" because it was nowhere to be found. I need to go "Google" his theory!

One night, we went to Pensacola for dinner at the Wilson's. Mama Charlie fixed the best pot roast and veggies for us. We enjoyed time with the cousins and brothers/sisters-in-law. The last night we were in OB, Bob Bob and Mama Charlie came over and we went to LuLu's in Gulf Shores. The owner, Lucy Buffett, is the sister to singer Jimmy Buffett. The hour-long wait was definitely worth it because our table was right up front near the stage. Judd especially enjoyed the live entertainment by island local, Brent Burns. We had a great time visiting with family!

Nights on the town...

 
Getting ready to eat at Calypso Joe's

 
Feeding the fish in the marina

 
Getting ready for the crab races

 
Game on!

 
Do you think Santa would bring us one of these?

 
The Wharf

 
Waiting to ride the ferris wheel

 
Having fun at the Wharf

 
What is she thinking?

 
For some strange reason, Judd never let us go to the infamous FloraBama...but I did get my photo!

 
Playing games outside LuLu's

 
Mama Charlie and Bob Bob made a trip to Orange Beach

 
Enjoying the music of Brent Burns

 
Looking for blue crabs

 
We loved crabbing until 10:00 at night!

For our last day in OB, we went to the beach before coming home late that afternoon. As much fun as we all had, the kids were ready to come home and check on Brody. We think he missed us, too. We are already talking about all the fun things we are going to do next summer. But Judd says that parasailing is still out of the question. We'll see...

 
Picking up Brody from the vet

 
So excited to have him back with us!