A Family Beach Trip

From Wednesday of last week through Labor Day weekend, our family took a little beach trip to Orange Beach, AL with some friends from our church, Morrison Heights Baptist Church. It was obviously Hayden's first trip to the beach, and he had a great time being a little beach bum! My brother and sister-in-law donated the SPF tent; we donated a bouncie seat and a portable fan from Wal-Mart (only $10 by the way); and Hayden donated lots of peaceful sleep on the beach in his tent with his little personal fan. He was a great baby and gave mom and dad some time to just relax.

We had a pretty large group with us - consisting mainly of people from my brother and sister-in-law's Sunday School class and their children and extended families; Chris, Hayden, and I; and my mom (Gran). Gran and Chris were both a huge help to me with Hayden and often volunteered to give me some time to myself. Now, don't get me wrong! I love spending time with Hayden, and he is the joy of my life...but every mom needs a little break every now and again.

For the most part, our activities consisted of hanging out on the beach and crab-hunting, but Saturday included lots of college football games - including LSU, Mississippi State (our alma mater, of course), and Auburn (boo!). Dad and Hayden both got dressed up in their game day outfits and enjoyed a day of watching games together. The Mississippi State vs. Louisiana Tech didn't end in our favor, and as you can tell from the pictures, Hayden had just about all he could take and spent the rest of the day sleeping.

The weather was beautiful and couldn't have been more perfect. The sun was shining; the beach was calm and peaceful; and the ocean wildlife was plenty. The crabs were huge down there...literally eating size. We also managed to catch a sting ray, several skate (which I was not familiar with until this trip), a starfish (a real live one...not the dead kind you see in souvenir stores), and several little fish. Anyway, the trip was so pleasant...until...Hurricane Gustav. That's right...we were down there when Gustav hit. We were those crazy people you see on the Weather Channel, and you are like, "Why are those crazy people still there?" Although Gustav didn't make a direct hit at Orange Beach, we got plenty of action...they even had mandatory evacuations about 10 miles down the road. Did that stop us from staying? Absolutely not. :o) When we woke up Monday morning, it was amazing. The waves were breaking even with the walkway from the condo to the beach, and the waves were so high. The wind was also very strong, and we had tornadoes popping all around us. In all seriousness, I was extremely glad that Gustav was not as strong as had been originally forecasted and that we were kept safe.

You'll notice the strength of Gustav's winds from the video, but you can't reallly get an appreciation of the water or the white caps in the swimming pool! I apologize in advance for my video attire...I was in my pajamas still! I'm adding an appropriate song to my playlist in honor of Gustav.

A Video of Hurricane Gustav