The Beach

For our summer vacation this year we headed to Destin, Florida. It is every bit as beautiful as we remembered. This is the view from our room, definitely worth the extra time in the car.

It's hard to say who was most excited to be there. Tessa ran onto the balcony, jumped for joy and kept hollering "BEACH!!!" She could hardly contain herself while we changed into swimsuits and, of course, took pictures.

Our days were spent playing, swimming, relaxing and just soaking up the warm Florida sunshine.

Daddy built wonderful sand castles that Tessa took special delight in demolishing.

I loved letting the waves lap at my feet while sitting on the sugar white sand.

Occasionally Tessa would lounge in her very own beach chair.

But most of her beach time was spent convincing one or both of us to take her in the water. "Momma let's go water!" or "Daddy turn, come on!" were sentences we heard over and over. Tessa was delighted to ride the waves on her boogie board or sit on a float and look for dolphins.

She and I took a pretty serious dunking one morning. A wave caught me off guard and we both went down and rolled in the surf. Thankfully, I had a nice tight hold around Tessa's middle and there was no real danger. Can't say that was a very fun experience though. Miraculously, this didn't diminish her love of the ocean and the brave little thing went back in the water the next day.

Tessa was a fantastic traveler this year. She slept in a big girl bunk bed and did great at restaurants. Ryan and I were able to enjoy a very romantic anniversary dinner on the balcony after she went to bed one night. Happy 11 Years!

Walks on the beach, photo shoots and trips (yes plural) to Whataburger made me a happy girl.

We took a sunset dophin cruise one evening. I was thrilled to see so many dolphins swimming and jumping with the boat and these two were excited to "drive" the boat.

One of Tessa's favorite things to do was throw sand or shells into the surf. She would gather handfuls and wait for a wave to crash before sending things out to sea. Absolutely adorable to watch her darting around at the water line.

Picking up a seashell.

We were lucky to visit before any oil damage occurred. The beaches and water were pristine. A thoroughly enjoyable vacation.