Adams Family Vacation 2012

As you all probably know, The Adams Family took their first official family vacation. As many of you know planning a vacation can be very stressful, fun, hard, exciting, & very frustrating.

As Kevin and I were choosing a vacation location we were hell bent on NOT vactioning in Alabama. Obviously, because we are HUGE Tennessee Vol fans. Well, guess where we ended up- Gulf Shores, AL.

We chose June 2nd-9th and invited Kevin's mother to join us. 427 E. Beach Blvd. Unit # 464 in Gulf Shores, AL was our home for 6 nights, yes, it was rented for 7 nights. By Friday Thursday we were ready to come home. So, we left late Friday afternoon! Kevin drive all night and we pulled into our drive way at 5:28am.

Kevin, Hayden, Mattellen, and I left Portland, TN on Friday June 1st at 4:15pm. We met Patsy (Kevin's mother) in Dickson, TN around 5:15. The kids were beyond excited. My first question to Patsy was- Are you sure you are ready for a week of this???

We drove the majority of the night before stopping to get some rest at some small town hotel. The room had 2 full size beds. We had 5 people. None of us got much sleep but enough to get up the next morning and finish the drive. We pulled up to our condo at 1:30pm. The weather was awesome. The beach/ocean looked amazing. The kids were ready to get their swim on and I was ready to start baking my skin.

We all got ready and headed to the beach. We rented Chair #59. It shaded my husband and provided me a place to catch some sun & read Chelsea Handler (By the way, she is HILARIOUS!)

The water was very 'weedy' as I called it. Lots of sea weed floating around. The pocket's of Kevin's swimming trunks would fill up with sea weed. There was sea weed down the font of my suit, in Mattellen's hair, stuck to butt cheeks. It was every where. Along with sand. O-M-G. Sand. Sand. Sand. I had a huge fear of stepping on something. Jelly fish. Crab. Shark (Far fetched, I know, but true story.) Turtle. Fish. I squealed like a little girl several times. Finally, Kevin said 'Baby, just don't think about it and come on.' Ok. Ok. We have driven 9 hours, rented a condo on the beach for 7 days, I might as well suck it up and enjoy swimming in this HUGE body of water that I cannot see my legs in, right? So, I did it. Low and behold, I stepped on something squishy that jolted my foot a little bit and again I squealed. I attempted to run out of the ocean. That's a joke. I got out of the water as quickly as I could. Mattellen screaming 'MAMA STEPPED ON A JELLY FISH AND IT STUNG HER FOOT MAMA STEPPED ON A JELLY FISH MAMA STEPPED ON A JELLY FISH' I said 'Mattellen, HUSH. Stop saying that.' We get to our chair and I examined my foot. I looked at my foot, Kevin looked at it, the kids were amazed by it. Some black, sticky, gooey, gunk was caked to the bottom of it. What. The. Hell. My first thought was whale turds. You know, my brother warned Mattellen about whale turds being in the ocean. Just kidding. I really had no idea what it was. The gunk would not wipe off. I tried everything I knew to get it off. Nothing worked. The guy we rented the chair from walked by to check on us (My thoughts, he probably heard Mattellen screaming about a dang Jelly Fish and thought we were nuts) so he decided to do a walk by and see what was going on. I asked him what it was and he said more than likely a tar ball from the oil spill. REALLY. Of all the things in the ocean I step on a tar ball from the oil spill that happened in 2010. His solution to removing the oil from my foot was to walk around in the sand. My solution was to take a shower and scrub it off. That may have been the most sticky mess I have ever touched. It took a good 2 days for it all to finally come off my foot.

The next few days were spent at the ocean. Kevin worrying about getting burnt by the sun. Me worryin about not gettnig enough sun or stepping on some random sea creature.

The kids worrying about who can build the best sand castle. Patsy would go to the beach with us, but she read the whole time. She got in the water a little bit!

 Hayden enjoyed digging in the sand out of the sun!

Mattellen enjoyed aggravating him by trying to help dig in the same hole he had already started!!

The above picture was more than likely one of the times Mattellen got out of the ocean yelling SHARK! Yes, she did that more than once.

Again, they are digging a hole in the sand.

The kids enjoyed getting up each morning to see what color the flag was for the day. The flag colors were dictated by the 'roughness' of the water. It was yellow the majority of the week which meant the water was a little bit rough but ok to be in. The last few days the water very rough and the flag was red. The kids wanted nothing to do with the water when the flag was red and I cannot say that I blame them. Mattellen was knocked down by a wave on the first day we were there and it scared her and I will say it was not a pleasant feeling for me either. She was a little skeptical from that point forward, but she loosened up a little bit when Patsy bought her a boogie board. Hayden wouldn't use his boogie board, I think he was a little leary of the water/waves. It can be very intimidating. Knowing that you have no control over the waves and where they crash. I did not attempt the boogie board, no one needed to see all that and I am not real sure how to 'ride a wave.'

Kevin and I decided to brave the red flag and get in the ocean again. We were both knocked down and swept under water. One of the scariest moments of my life, ok that's a little over dramatic, but it was not fun. That was when we decided we were over the red flag & the Gulf of Mexico!

Kevin wanted to drive over to Mobile, AL and visit the USS Alabama. A very large battleship used during World War II. Off we go, 50 some odd miles away from Gulf Shores. I have a rather large huge fear of bridges. I am convinced one is going to collapse as my car is going over it. It's possible. Anyway, the trip to Mobile included a bridge. No, not a small bridge. A bridge that crossed over the Mobile bay. Swampy areas. Low to the ground. Forever long bridge. The kids thought it was hilarious and I just reminded myself to breathe and not croak while we crossed it. My heart was pounding, my hands were sweaty, and there was nothing I could do to fix it. Yes, we made it across.

 Mattellen on the USS Alabama. (See the bridge in the background. That is not the entire thing either......)

 The USS Alabama

Mobile Bay

The bridge and again, this is only a portion of it. Scary business.

 Another day, we decided to take a walk on the Gulf Shore State Park Pier. Yes, I am afraid of bridges, but I am ok with walking on a pier. Don't ask why, because I really don't know.

We witnessed a man trying to fight with a sting ray he had caught. He was fishing off the pier and hooked a sting ray. Apparently, they are rather fiesty, strong, and tough creatures to reel in. We watched him fight with it for about 10 minutes before he finally cut his line and released it- hook and all. I know, all you animal lovers are saying awwwwwwwwwwwwwww and so did I, but I think he did the right thing. He would of had to do the that any way and there was no point in him continuing to fight with it.

 School of fish off the pier!

 Sting rays off the pier

 Mattellen & Hayden on the pier!

And, our trip including lots of shopping. There were several surf shops and we visited the majority of them. FYI- Don't let your kids read the shirts hanging on the wall.

The shirt Hayden read out loud and then asked his daddy what a pink taco was...........................awkward silence as Kevin looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders and walked off. GEEZ!

Can't take these 3 anywhere!!!

My suggestions should you decide to take a vacation to Gulf Shores, AL.

1.Eat at the Shrimp Basket. Amazing seafood.

2. Walk on the pier - watch out for people fishing!

3. Go to Adventure Island in Orange Beach (about 2 miles down the road)

 

4. Enjoy your time in the ocean. Don't worry about the creatures. I am sure there are plenty out there and really you cannot stop them...

5. Visit the Hang Out! Kid friendly, live band, super fun times!

6. Take lots of random pictures...you never know what you will capture...hope you enjoy my family and all of our randomness!!!

Mattellen...hole digging.

Yes, that is a shovel in the air.

That is Mattellen and Hayden sitting together...

And last but not least...our attempt at family pictures...............................

Adams Family Duck Face Picture.....................

All in all, we had a great vacation! We laughed. I am pretty sure at some point we all cried. Hayden got pegged in the eye with a roll at Lambert's - home of throwed rolls. He is convinced he will never eat another roll! Mattellen screamed SHARK every time she was in the water.  



The Adams Family

Gulf Shores, AL

2012