After partying it up all day Saturday, we headed to the beach early Sunday morning. We couldn't wait to play in the sun and sand for a whole week! John Turner's official birthday was on Monday, the 13th. Here is a picture of him standing on our balcony on his official birthday! He looks so handsome and so grown up!
We started a tradition on his first birthday of having a "birthday breakfast" on the official birthday morning. This year it was more special because he got to have it on his first morning at the beach! He wanted us to keep relighting the candle so he could blow it out again!
We of course had to have a family picture made on his birthday! Don't you love that smile!!
This trip was so much fun for John Turner. We stayed at Phoenix West this year. It is a new place that we had never stayed before. We will be back again! It was a perfect place for families with young children to stay.
John Turner loved the zero entry pool. He could walk in all by himself and just play and play. It also had a waterfall that he spent many hours playing in.
Another attraction that made this condo fabulous was this awesome slide! I couldn't tell you how many times John Turner and Carlton went down this thing! I made it down with him once and that was it for me!
HAHA! That thing was super curvy and super fast! As soon as they hit the water John Turner would be out of the pool climbing those stairs again saying, "more slide, please."
The beach was absolutely gorgeous this year. I was expecting the total opposite after all of the oil. John Turner liked the beach better than last year, but he still didn't want to stay there for long periods of time. After he dug in the sand a while, splashed in the water, and touched the waves with Carlton he would say "all done, pool now." That was just fine with me because I would much rather be in the pool than in the sand!
Another thing that our condo had was a lazy river. John Turner would say he was floating the "crazy river." This was where Mommy stayed while John Turner and Daddy had nap time!
One of our favorite things about going to the beach is deciding where we want to eat each night. We still enjoy that. But now we choose places to eat based on how kid-friendly they are rather than the best food.
The Hang Out is a great place to take children. This was our first time to eat here. John Turner enjoyed climbing the big sand mountain. The food and atmosphere is also good there. It is all open to the outdoors and located right on the water so you can feel the ocean breeze on you while you eat.
The Crab Trap is a place we usually eat at each year while we are at the beach. They have an awesome playground for children to play on while they wait on their food to arrive. They are also known for giving children buckets and a shovel to take home. John Turner was very entertained by the bucket and the playground!
Lulu's is without a doubt one of our favorite places to eat at the beach. It is very kid and adult friendly. They have lots of cool sandy places for kids to play. The music and food are always great there too!
And then there's Scoops, the ice cream shop. I have been enjoying ice cream from Scoops since I was a little girl. John Turner seemed to really enjoy it too! He wanted blue ice cream. He enjoyed it so much that he ate it straight out of the bowl with his mouth! Silly boy!!
My parents came down on Wednesday and stayed with us for the rest of our trip. Carlton and I got to have a date night while they were there. We got to eat at our favorite place, Louisiana Lagniappe! It was so yummy!
Our idea of a beach vacation has changed quite a lot over the past two years. But it is now even more fun and more memorable than before. I have so many fun memories of family beach vacations each summer growing up. I am so thankful that John Turner is going to have those memories too!
