Day 12 - Gulf Shores

Everyone woke up excited for the beach! The girls were a bit hesitant after reading about shark sightings last week at our beach, but the waters are so clear it has put their minds at ease. You can see your feet almost 5 ft down. Our coolest realization today…right before the waves break you can see the fish swimming inside them! It was so awesome!

Let's find some waves!

 Mark and the littles love having the waves crash on top of them, but Grace and I swam out a little further so we could just enjoy a relaxing float in the Gulf. It was the most relaxing morning and the hours passed away without us even realizing it. 

Daddy's girl.

We decided to head in and build some sandcastles and start to dry off for lunch.

Norah spent most of her time collecting shells to outline her castle.

Grace's "summer cottage" sand castle.

Emma tried really hard to make a moat around her castle, but the sand wasn't having it.

Daddy's castle won the vote.

when we spotted a fin in the water. My heart sank as it was so close to where Grace and I were just floating, but then we saw a bunch of fins. A whole pod of dolphins were swimming and playing and for the next 30 minutes we got to watch the dolphins swim. It was incredibly cool. 

Ummm...fin in the water? Yikes!

Half of the dolphin pod...there were so many of them!

We had planned to take a dolphin cruise in the Gulf, but we have seen so many dolphins on this trip, it seemed pointless. They are everywhere in the Gulf. We stopped back to the condo for a bite of lunch and a second (twentieth) sunblock application and then it was back to the water. This time to check out the pools. With 7 different pools on property, we didn’t want to waste a minute finding our favorites. From large to small, deep to shallow, heated to cool there is something for everyone here. We dove for a bit in the 9 ft. pool, then decided to play a little catch in the shallow end of the 6 ft. pool. Before we knew it, it was time to clean up for dinner. 

A little 500. Though Grace had the height advantage, Emma had the win.

Our grocery supply was struggling since we didn’t stop anywhere on the way in, so we decided another meal out wouldn’t hurt…it’s vacation! J We went for seafood again because, why not?! We headed “Beyond the Pines” and Mark and the girls had some delicious shrimp dinners but I went for the fish tonight. The food was, once again, incredible. I could eat seafood every night. We grabbed a few staples at the grocery to get us through breakfast and lunch and then headed back. Grace and Norah wanted one more swim before calling it a night, but Emma was pretty tired so we cuddled up for a quiet snuggle while everyone else was gone. 

Full bellies and tired girls. 

It was the perfect end to a perfect day. 

Cuddled up on the couch Emma and I had the perfect view to say goodnight to the sun.