Thursday, June 5, 2014

Seaside, Day 1

After only 3 weeks at home we were already packed and ready for our next vacation...to Seaside, Florida. We had such high expectations of Seaside from all the friends that have gone before us that I was more than excited to see what it was all about. This is also our first vacation of just the 4 of us so I was anxious to see how that would go! If the kids were half as good as they were at Disneyland, it would be a success.
 
Happy kids waiting in line at the airport to check in. Once again, Hudson and Hadley were excited to have their very own luggage to carry. You would never know it was only 7am with their bright, happy faces.  
 



There was a little girl with her mom waiting to board our plane and they were taking pictures of themselves. Hadley watched them for a little while and then said, "Mommy, can we take a picture like they are?"

All set up and ready for the first leg of our flight. Thankfully, the flights were pretty smooth and all went well. They kids were happy as can be the entire time and just couldn't wait to get to the beach. They watched movies, ate snacks, but didn't sleep a bit!



We made it!!! Driving from Panama City to Seaside takes about 30 minutes but its such a pretty drive. Hadley and Hudson thought it was so cool to get a rental car and rental carseats. They giggled the entire way there. Unfortunately, Hudson thought the plane was going to land and we were going to walk right onto the beach. It's a good thing we didn't have anything planned for the day because we knew we must take the kids to see the sand and water TODAY! This first picture is right after we checked in and we were walking across the large central square to get to our house. The blue/purple wall they are standing in front of is the building our house was in. We were up on the 3rd floor.




Some views from our room as well as the inside of our house, Lido Deck. We were in love with the decorating! As much as we want to stay different places each time we go it will be hard to not want to go back to Lido Deck.







Hadley and Hudson were so excited about their room and trundle bed. Within minutes they had it all planned where each one was sleeping and Hudson was just so excited to sleep in a big boy bed.



We got all settled about 2:00 and as soon as we were unpacked the kids were in their swimsuits and ready to head down to the beach. We were all pretty hungry so we stopped at the first restaurant we saw which was Bud and Alley's taco bar. It was delicious and became a favorite of the trip. We ate there at least a couple more times.






Walking down to the beach the first time. I had been told about the white sand and blue water but this was more beautiful than I had anticipated. The sand was soft, with very few shells, and due to little rainfall this year the locals said it was the clearest and bluest the water ever is. 




Hudson and Hadley's first steps in the water were so fun to watch. Hudson was a little nervous to get far out in the water at first. But they both loved standing in the sand and having the waves come up and hit them. They would run from them, jump over them, and splash in them. It was so great to hear their laughter and giggles. We spent the afternoon soaking in the sun, building sand castles, and swimming along the shore. It was a perfect start to the trip.
















After cleaning off and taking baths we got dressed to go down to the central square. We wanted to walk around and see all Seaside had to offer as well as eat dinner and get some dessert. We ate dinner at a restaurant called Pickles and although the kids loved the corndogs, I loved the fried pickles even more. We watched the kids run and play as we ate and loved seeing the crowds gather in the square as the night progressed.



This post office is right in the middle of town on the main street. I thought it was such a cute building.

Frost bites became a quick favorite for sno cones. We may have had one every single night.



After playing for a while and letting our food settle we decided we might as well try some desserts as well. We stopped at Heavenly's shortcakes and Ice cream. The ice was delicious but after getting back home we were told we actually missed out on their specialty...the key lime pie. Good thing it gives us one more reason to go back!






After a long, fun day we were all ready for bed. The kids were so excited to climb in their "new" beds and we had no trouble getting them to sleep. We were all excited for the next days to come!




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