Beach, Baby!

We had such a great time in Navarre Beach (Santa Rosa Island) this past week with my side of our family! We planned this trip before the J-man was born, and I have to say I was a little unsure as to how traveling to the beach with a newborn baby would be, but I figured we could handle it. It was super easy, and Jackson just went with the flow as usual. He was so cute on this trip, laughing and smiling more than ever before. However, he slept through his first adventure to the ocean shore, first time in the sand, and first dip in the swimming pool...but we caught it on tape and in pictures so that he will believe us that he went to the beach when he was just 9 weeks old! This was the first time our family has been able to go to the beach together since 2002, so the trip was special for a lot of reasons! We weren't all there at the same time, and some were not able to come at all because of summer school or work, but it was a great time. We can't wait to ALL be together again soon!

We left for the beach on Monday, July 21, which was my brother Mitchell's 22nd birthday! He has never really been home to celebrate his birthday because he's always been on a youth trip (either as a youth or as the youth intern), so it was special to spend his birthday with him! We met up at the Raising Cane's right near I-12 in BR, and I showered him with gifts...OK...it was just beef jerky and candy, but nevertheless...he was appreciative! Anyway, we headed on down the interstate with Benj (my other brother) & Jackson in the back seat. Benj is so much fun to talk to, so we really enjoyed that (when he wasn't listening to music on his headphones, of course.)

For those of you who have been to Alabama/Florida beaches, you know about the Mobile Bay tunnel and how everyone tries to hold their breath the whole way through the tunnel. It's hilarious how easy it is now that I'm older...but anyway...Believe it or not, Jackson held his nose through the tunnel at just 9 weeks old!...Man, I didn't do that successfully til I was at least 10 years old! Guess he has those "Shoumaker lungs"...
Ha...just kidding. And don't worry, I was not cutting off his air supply...

Our condos at the Inn at Summerwind were super nice. We had two that were right above/below each other, and we sort of congregated in the larger one. As Aunt Jan said, the food and Jackson were in the bigger condo, so that's where we hung out. =) We watched movies, ate...ate...and ate...! (I wish I had taken more pictures inside the condo...it was a gorgeous blue that was so relaxing!)
We had beautiful weather while we were there! It rained a couple of days in the late afternoon, but we just headed inside and watched movies or napped! Kyle got in a couple of days of golf while we were there, but he has requested that I not go into the details...=) Let's see, what else did we do while we were there?

Gran & Pap were quite the beach bums. They seemed to really enjoy listening to the surf and catching some sun. I saw Pappy catch a few naps, too.
One of our favorite things to do when we go to the beach (mainly us girls) is pull our chairs down to the water and "solve the world's problems" while the water hits our feet. OK really we just talk about a whole lot of nothing...like how 2% milk is supposedly better for you than skim. I still haven't read that article, Mom. I'm not buying it just yet. Anyway, we did this a lot in the late afternoon. Ah! If only we could do that everyday.

As I said before, Jackson really came alive while we were there. He started laughing and smiling responsively, and he really got a kick out of Mr. Moose, a stuffed animal that Granny hung from the ceiling fan. He stared at that thing forever. He is still enjoying it now that we're at home. I wonder if he'll always be so easy to entertain...??? Haha. (He looks a little chubby in this picture.)
Uncle Mitch loves to make Jackson laugh. He tempted him with a blueberry muffin one morning. I think Jackson really thought he was going to get to eat it! Poor baby!
We got to see Uncle Steve, Aunt Becky, Morgan, Hannah & Madeline (Silvio side) while we were there. They were staying near Destin, too, so we met at Fisherman's Wharf to eat dinner and had a good time looking at all the fishing boats down on the dock afterwards. One group had come back with a baby shark. I'm sure we looked pretty red-neck snapping pictures of people's fish lying on the dock, but we'll never see them again...haha.
We ate at Cocodrie's one night, which was right next door to our Condo. It was fun to eat outside in all the beautiful scenery of the beach. The restaurant was right near the ocean.
Kyle & Jackson got into a daily routine of taking a nap together on the couch. Kyle is such a good daddy. I know Jackson misses Kyle being with us all day. That was one of the best parts of vacation, seeing them together so much.
In fact, everyone enjoyed napping and just relaxing on the balcony and inside...of course playing with Jackson is always relaxing...
Gran watched Jackson a lot for us (on the beach and off), and it was sweet to see them bonding. They read, sang, looked at Mr. Moose, bathed, and all sorts of fun stuff. Gran even showed Jackson how to pray.
Kyle, Benj, & Mitch
Fun in the pool (Mitchell, Kendyll, me, Kyle)
On the balcony w/ Mom & Dad
As I mentioned earlier, Jackson slept through his first trips to the beach and the pool. We had so much fun getting him ready and lathering him up with 50 SPF sunscreen. Everyone stopped us along the way to take a look at him and of course they all wanted to know how old he was! Once we got down to the beach, we lay him in the tent that Nick & Jaime let us borrow, and he was OUT! I'm sure the breeze and the warm air felt amazing, not to mention the bed of soft sand he was lying on! I have this little mini fan that I bring with me everywhere, so I blew him off with that several times, but he stayed pretty cool. It was very relaxing! These pictures are from 3 different days. He didn't go out every day with us.
Our adventure to the pool was very similar...lots of sunscreen...lots of admirers...lots of sleeping!

On our way back through town, we stopped to have lunch at MawMaw & PawPaw's house with some of our family on the Silvio side. It was a nice break in the trip, and we got to visit with everyone on last time on our way back home! We had wonderful chicken spaghetti and enjoyed visiting. We also took a 4 generation picture. Jackson is the first 4th generation Silvio, so that was special!
I know this was a long post, but it was such a monumental occasion...the first of many beach trips to come for our little man! This was such a great and much needed vacation for all of us! Being with family is our favorite thing to do, and one of our favorite places to do it is at the beach! We so much enjoyed soaking up the sun, laughing, eating, watching movies, shopping, and just doing nothing...together. Can't wait to do it again!

Love to all,
Lindz, Kyle, & Jackson