Beach bums

Hunter and I headed to Birmingham last Wednesday and had a slumber party at Grandma and Pop's house prior to heading to the beach with Karen, Connor, Debbie, Carly, and Grandma on Thursday morning. The back seat was filled with kiddos ready for a long beach weekend. Karen pulled this trip together at the last minute specifically for Connor who loves the beach. His cancer continues to progress so making memories is a must! 

We always stop at Priester's Pecans which is about halfway to Gulf Shores. Hunter introduced us to each family outside with either a child or a dog during our break from the car. 

Carly is uber helpful with Hunter and rubbed his head until he fell asleep. 

We had a beautiful condo in Gulf Shores on the 25th floor which lends to gorgeous views and a sick stomach if one happens to look over the edge of the balcony. Hunter was not allowed to even venture onto the balcony. Debbie brought a play tent (which is now in my living room along with a slide and the red riding car) which Hunter loved and he would often disappear for a few moments to eat his snack in the tent. 

We had two wonderful days of beach and pool time. Hunter loves the water and was not frightened by the ocean. Of course, we ended up wandering up and down the shore while he made friends with various children and tried out their toys. The condo had a baby pool and a zero entrance pool with waterfalls as well as a lazy river and super slide. We made use of all of those, but ran out of time for the hot tubs and the indoor pool!

One evening we played mini golf or rather Connor and Carly sped around making up their own rules while Grandma and Hunter trailed behind them. I didn't even try to play as keeping up with Hunter was enough. Thankfully, the staff member let Hunter have a club and ball to hold as he just had to be like the older kids. The staff member tried giving Hunter a little plastic club, but he knew the difference and wanted no part in the baby toys. 

You may notice that all of the golfers are putting the balls into the hole by hand. Much easier and faster that way!

Hunter is very attached to me and doesn't go to many adults. However, he spots the other children and wants to hug them. He specifically wants to hug Connor, as in hug him all of the time! Connor does not love it and asks me to get "baby Hunter" off of him. Hunter is not to be deterred though and simply returns for another hug. 

It was very full couple of days and the minions were asleep about an hour outside of Gulf Shores. 

Hunter and I stopped at Grandma and Pop's house for lunch and a run-around break prior to heading back to Nashville. 

We are home and have taken it easy today. Hunter slept thirteen hours last night, took a two hour nap, and was ready for bed promptly at 7pm. He has some recovering to do from all of the playing. Vacation is exhausting. 

I am tired as well. It was a good trip, but it is always good to be home. September has been a busy month full of fun activities. I actually look forward to getting into a bit of routine with Hunter such as MOPS, library, and YMCA. We just hit various activities and places right now in between meals and sleepy times. Of course, I guess meals and sleepy times create routine!