Babe in the Big D

We started our trip to Louisiana on September 9th.  We had planned to get up around 5-5:30 and get an early start on the road.   We pulled out of the driveway at 8am and sat in Dallas traffic for about 20 minutes.   We stopped in Forney, TX for breakfast (drive through Chick FilA) at 8:30.   Oliver had fallen asleep so he ended up eating his breakfast around 10:30.  We stopped at a Starbucks in Shreveport around 12 and stretched our legs and Ollie’s too.  We were making such great time that we only stopped for gas and a quick diaper change.  We had some snacks in the car and Ollie was happy as could be.   We arrived at Seb’s parents house around 4pm.

Andrew made us a delicious feast with grilled chicken mole, lentil soup, Spanish rice, grilled quesadillas and chicken vegetable kabobs.   Seb’s aunt Beth and uncle Don joined us for dinner.  Oliver was such a flirt, laughing and sitting with everyone.  We had trouble getting him to sleep, but it was a change in environment.  Honey had all sorts of cool toys for Oliver to play with.  He spent a good amount of time pushing around Andrews steel tractor.  

Thursday morning we headed to  Lacombe to see uncle Don’s trains and pick scuppernong.  They also have a giant windmill in the yard.   Oliver’s eyes lit up when he saw the trains zooming by.  The engines are antiques and several of the parts are from the 40’s and 50’s.  One of the engines smoked and choo choo’d .  Aunt Beth gave Oliver his very first chair that is just his size.   Around  11:30we hit the road to Florida with Honey in the back with Oliver.   It was about a 4-5 hour drive to Destin, FL.   Oliver slept and we made a quick stop at a McDonalds for lunch.  The last 40 miles to Destin has stoplights and Oliver figured out a way to blow spit bubbles and irritate all of us for 40 miles with stoplights.  

We arrived at the Emerald Grande and after Chloe checked in we decided to carry our luggage up ourselves rather than use a bellman.  We parked in the west wing area right next to the elevator.   We piled all the bags (the shoe bag, the beach toy bag, the suitcases, the baby’s diaper duffle, the video camera, the camera bag, my diaper bag, the portable high chair, the stroller with Oliver in it, the books and magazines, the car snack bag, the wine for the condo, the Ergo carrier, the toiletries bag, the McDonalds trash bag) into the elevator.   The elevator didn’t have any floors listed????  So we took the elevator to the Lobby level and there were still no floor numbers.   We switched elevators and ended up outside by the pools????  We marched all of our crap through the lounge chairs (excuse me, excuse me).  Chloe and I were laughing so hard, because Seb kept dropping the portable high chair and tray at every elevator entry and exit.   He had so many bags strapped all over him, that each time he bent over something else would shift and fall.  Oliver was laughing because we were laughing.    His newest little quirk is that when we would laugh, he would pause and then he laughs as though he is in on the joke.  It is too cute, I think I caught it on video.

We got settled into the condo which was really nice and had a great view of the gulf.  The weather was a little rainy so we didn’t head down to the beach.  We had dinner at the condo, rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes and vegetables.

Friday morning we awoke to a nice sunny day (unfortunately Oliver’s sleep pattern was still off so we were dragging a little bit).  We loaded up the beach bags and cameras and headed to Fort Walton beach which was just a couple miles away.  The water was a red flag level which is high rip tide (I think).  Oliver was completely overwhelmed by the sound of the crashing waves.  We put on his swim trunks and slathered him up with SPF 50.   The sand is so beautiful white and soft, it really is like sugar.   He was not sure about the sand and the water scared him.  He cried and would not stand up.  I immediately wrote his name in the sand and took the picture even though he was crying.   It took a good ten minutes for him to feel more comfortable.  He sat on the towel and touched the sand only with his shovel at first.   Then he took a little taste of it (only once) and then touched it a little more.   Grandpa Jeff showed him how to work the sand castle components and how to dig in the sand.  He started to really enjoy the sand.   I took him back down to the water and I made a fun noise each time the waves came up and touched his feet.   He then sat down and let the water come up on his legs and he would slap the sand each time the water receded.  Unfortunately, with my pale skin and his baby skin we couldn’t camp it out on the beach for the afternoon.   We headed to the shower area to rinse off and I was walking with Oliver on my hip and I slipped and fell on my tailbone.  He just looked at me.  He was fine and luckily I didn’t drop him on the way down.  We headed back to the condo for showers and a nap.  Oliver and Sebtook a long nap.   I pulled out my New Moon book (that I started and never finished before I was even pregnant) and read a few chapters on the balcony.  I headed down to the coffee place, had an iced latte and scone. 

We had a happy hour in the condo before dinner and some family friends came by and went to dinner across the street. Ciao Bella was the name of the restaurant and we had amazing calamari and a delicious, spinach, feta, artichoke, olive pizza.  Oliver was demonstrating his stellar signing skills (hee hee).   He kept smiling at some people at the table behind us.   We decided to head back to the condo for bath and bedtime.  I showed Oliver how to blow a kiss to the table goodbye.  He took his hand and blew kisses over and over and over to the table.  It was really cute.   It is a little foggy but I think this is the night we roamed the hallways and went down to the docks with him in the Ergo carrier trying to get him to go to sleep, and no it didn’t work.  Honey took over and got him rocked to sleep.  He was up and down through the night. 

Saturday morning we woke up to a very rainy day.  It was nice and cool (low 70’s) and we had a lazy morning at the condo.  We went for a little drive to a shopping center.  Oliver climbed on the playground toys (no fear).  Late in the afternoon we took the ferry to the private beach which had low tide and beach chairs.  It was drizzling a little but Oliver enjoyed the water even though it was really chilly.  We walked down by the docks where the fishing boats had returned from a day at sea to see their catch.  Oliver signed “fish” and we saw some really big tuna.  Saturday night, Chloe watched Oliver and Seb and I went to dinner.  We had two dozen oysters and split a bucket of steamed seafood, lobster, two different crabs, mussles, clams and shrimp.  We sat outside right on the marina and enjoyed feeding only ourselves.  Of course we still picked the food apart with our hands.   After dinner we drove to a beach area a few miles away and Seb took some great picsof the ocean at night.  We picked up a key lime pie on the way back to the condo.  We walked in and Oliver said, Dad!!!   I forgot to mention that each night until about midnight we could hear the band at one of the restaurants even from the 10th floor.

Sunday morning we woke up to a gorgeous bright sunny day.  We packed our beach bags and headed back to the Fort Walton beach.   Oliver was ready this time and started playing in the sand.  I walked him down to the water to watch Chloe, Seb and Jeff jumping waves and he walked in up to his waist.   Seb came to the shore and walked him out to jump some waves.   We couldn’t stay too long because of the sun and because we had to get on the road back to Louisiana.  Oliver took a nap and then we all had lunch at the Camelia Grill.   We loaded the car in several trips this time J.   It was about a 4 hour drive back to Louisiana and Oliver wised up to the fact that he was going to be in his car seat longer than he wanted to be.  He whined and cried and I tried every toy, snack and song in my trick bag.  Finally the Yo Gabba Gabba soundtrack and some Goldfish crackers in his sand pail did the trick.  We had some really intense rain storms on the way back and it was a looooooong drive.  We stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things and when Seb tried to put Oliver back in his car seat he was stiff as a board.   He wouldn’t bend his waist and just arched back super straight.  We made it to Seb’s parents home and Oliver started walking all over the house.  He didn’t walk very much in Florida.  He even crawled up the staircase all by himself.  He has never even been exposed to stairs since he has been crawling.  

We planned to get up at 5AM and get on the road.   We got on the road around 7AM and found a Starbucks in Baton Rouge – yippee!!!!   Oliver slept for the first couple of hours.  We stopped at a Chick Fil A for breakfast again.  We had more rain storms and Oliver was very tired of being in his car seat.  It was a lot of different toys, snacks and songs but nothing worked well.  We made it home around 3PM.  Overall he was a great passenger.    I was still a little stiff from my fall. 

We had a really great time and it was so fun to show Oliver all of the new places and things.  We are thinking of making it an annual beach get away.  It was great to see Andrew since we haven’t seen him in almost two years!   Oliver had fun wearing his sunglasses and playing with the tractors.  This post is a bit dicey because I have been trying to type it for the last three hours while we have been working to get Ollie to sleep.  We still haven't settled back into our sleeping routines.