Our Vacation at Orange Beach June 2010

Jacob, Elijah and I left for my mother's house on Friday afternoon. She lives in Marshall, TX. We stayed the night and then left for Mobile on Saturday morning. We arrived in Mobile and got checked into our hotel. We then went to my grandma Ruby's house. I have not seen her in two years and was looking forward to seeing her. She had hip replacement surgery about six weeks ago and was still recovering. Several of my aunts, uncles and cousins came over that evening. Grandma Ruby surprised all of her great grandsons with a joint birthday cake and cards!



This is a video from that evening.

A little bit of chaos, but fun! We crashed hard that night at a hotel and got up the next morning to Krispy Kreme donuts! We then went for another short visit with my grandmother and then headed to Orange Beach!

We have had a great time so far and got two and half days of NO oil and were able to swim. Elijah has NO fear at all went way out into the water with his boogey board. He loved riding the waves in. If he flipped off of the board he just got right back on it and tried again. I have learned to let go a bit and let him have his freedom but also keeping an eye on him. I don't want him drifting too far down the beach with the current pulling him down. He did well though and kept an eye on me too. Now Jacob only made two short vists to the beach. It really isn't his thing. He did spend a lot of time at the pool. My nephew Trent was quite brave and went out in the water quite a few times. He and Elijah have had a good time together!!

There is a video of a sand castle that Elijah and I built today at the end of this blog entry. He is wearing his backup "ears". Oh I have really liked having two sets of ears for him. He wears his new gray "ears" most of the time, but when we go to the beach he wears his back up beige "ears" that have the earmolds. We didn't go in the water today due to the arrival of the oil so he kept them on while we built the sandcastle. The other night we took him and Trent down at night. It was so nice to see him playing at the edge of the water with his ears on. He was able to communicate with his cousin quite well and enjoyed hearing the sounds of the waves! Elijah has still had his tics, but they haven't been that awful. His cousin Trent tried to tell us one of his mad faces was a tic. It was sort of cute. Overall, he has done well. A few spats with his cousin, but typical BOY stuff!

I think Elijah has enjoyed the beach the most. I have really enjoyed it myself. There is something about making a sandcastle and having NO other worries while you are building it. Listening to the waves with the wind off the water keeping you cool. It is so theraputic. I also rode the waves with Elijah and felt like a KID again! My legs let me know the next morning that I wasn't still a kid, but I did it again that day anyway! We have had crab claws for three nights. My mom cooked for two of those nights. OH they were so GOOD! She is such a good cook. We went souvenier shopping today and I got t-shirts for the boys and myself. Tomorrow we are going to go and see my Aunt Peggy! It should be a nice visit. We will swim some more and probably make one more walk down to the beach. We leave for Marshall on Friday morning. We will spend the night with my mom and be home on Saturday. It has been a great trip so far, but there is no place like home. Elijah is missing his kitties and I think Jacob is too!