Fleshman Beach Vacation

The Fleshman family decided to head to the beach this year and boy was it fun! We stayed in Blue Mountain Beach, along Florida's "Emerald Coast" between Panama City Beach and Destin.  Andrew and I have enjoyed vacationing along the Emerald Coast for several years now and just absolutely love the beaches there.  The coast gets its name from the water's color.  It truly is emerald, turquoise, and very clear similar to the tropical waters of the Caribbean.

April 25th:  Matt, Sarah, the boys, Andrew, Alana, and I arrived around lunch time.  Check in at our rental wasn't until 4:00 pm, so we ate lunch at La Cocina in Rosemary Beach and took our time getting to the rental. The boys and Alana played and laughed through lunch. They acted like best buddies, even though they hadn't seen each other in a long time.  That was great to see!  We later got into our rental, which was big and beautiful and a great place for our large group. We got unpacked, swam, and rested.  Wayne, Jolene, Eric,and Kelly arrived later in the evening.

 

April 26th:  Everyone enjoyed the beach and pool.  The forecast had been predicting rain, but the weather was beautiful all day.  The infinity pool was steps from our back porch with unobstructed views of the beach, which provided the feeling of being on the beach. I think most of us hung out at that pool all day with occasional trips down to the beach.  Blue Mountain Beach is known for high sand dunes, so getting to the beach requires stairs, which meant it was just more convenient to hang out at the pool sometimes.

April 27th:  Well, the rain decided to come, which was fine for several people who were recovering from pretty bad burns from the day before!  Luckily, it didn't pour the whole day, so we got to have some fun outside biking, playing in the pool, and taking walks on the beach in between the rain showers.  We ate dinner at a place Jessica, Grant, and us went to last year called the Hurricane Oyster Bar.  Look for our "family" picture below of Andrew and me standing in front of a palm tree with Alana in the background.  We took a similar picture at the exact location last year and decided it would be fun to make this an annual thing.  After dinner, we enjoyed ice cream and a relaxing night.

  

April 28th:  Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. For anyone who knows me, you know I love the beach and sun. There's really no other place I'd rather vacation than at a sunny beach somewhere. One day of rain was already more than I would have liked, but those who got sun burned welcomed one more day of healing.  The nice thing about going on vacation with family is that there is a lot of fun to be had even on rainy days and we definitely found things to do, one of which was shopping at the Destin outlets.  That was a fund girl's outing for sure.

April 29th:  The sun came back and it was a beautiful day. By now, most of the people who got burned were feeling much better.  Alana, Tru, and Henry enjoyed playing on the grassy area outside our condo.  Alana particularly liked digging in the sand, blowing bubbles with Mimi, helping fetch Papa's drone, and eating Doritos.  The views and scenery were gorgeous.

April 30th:  Another great day hanging out at the beach and pool with the family.  The girls went on several walks on the beach.  Wayne and Jolene treated us to a wine tasting that night.  They brought several wines and we had to guess the type of wine after tasting it.  I can't remember who won, but it definitely wasn't me.  I didn't get a single one correct.  Some of the guys also watched the NFL draft.

May 1st:  Did I mention Alana loved the pool?  This was the first time she wore a puddle jumper - which is a type of life vest with floaties.  We got it from Amazon right before the trip and I'm so glad we did.  By the end of the week, she loved floating around the pool by herself.  I think she enjoyed the independence.  She also had a great time with Aunt Ka-lee (Kelly) and Uncle Ay-gik (Eric) who were helping her swim.

May 2nd:  Well, as the saying goes: "all good things must come to an end."  It was a fun, relaxing week and I'm so glad that the Fleshman family finds the time to vacation together each year.