Iphone Vacation Pics

I have been wanting to read this book all summer!  I picked it up at Lemuria when we were in Jackson.  It is a memoir about growing up in Mississippi, mostly about HSK's father, Lanny Key, who we went to church with when we lived in Madison.  I loved the book!  It was funny and sad and heartwarming all at the same time.  And I loved knowing who Mom and Pop were, Mrs. Emily and Mr. Lanny.  I highly recommend it!

We left for vacation on Mary Ella's birthday, August 7th.  We spent that Friday night in Ridgeland and had breakfast at Broadstreet before driving on to Alabama.  These pictures are all mixed up, but I'm not taking the time to sort them out.  I'll just explain with captions.

Every day at 3:45 you heard the drums and these two began marching around the resort.  At 4:00 they fired a cannon into the bay.  The Grand served as a confederate hospital in the Civil War and a training center for troops in WWII.  There is a confederate cemetery nearby.  They say the pledge of allegiance, give a little history lesson, honor any current or former troops that are present, and fire the cannon.

Selfies after supper...we love the food at The Grand!

This was on our walk to the dock after our yummy supper at the hotel.  She was all into posing in front of the sunset.  It was amazing!

ME driving for the first time...she did great!  Mom and Dad raced too, and I may have gotten a little too into it.  Of course, Rhett and I won!

Every morning I got up with the kids and we had adventures on the grounds while Daddy slept in.  When it got too hot, we went back to the room and got our swimsuits on.  They had all kinds of activities to keep us busy.  A playground, bikes and kayaks to rent, golf, croquet, horseshoes, we did it all and had so much fun!

First night...our view for the week

Horseshoes with Daddy after supper

A little golf

Playing at the arcade

Playground time

Serious at the cannon firing ceremony

Kids joining in the marching

Rhett in timeout on the playground for throwing sand.

Look at this place!  They have sailboats!  I was a little scared to try that on my own.  We did kayak in the bay though!

The grounds are fabulous.  The trees and hanging moss...and all the houses on the bay.  It is so old southern and beachy at the same time.

Bird with a funny pose

Lots of pool time

Ahhh

Climbing in the treehouse

We found lots of shells.

Sleeping one day on the way back from the beach...it was only a 30 minute drive

Love the hanging moss

A little croquet

She got to pick a birthday dessert.

We loved biking around the hotel.  I rode Rhett around behind me.

Last night after supper by the pool

Fishing from the dock

Waiting for the cannon fire

Sleeping on the way back from the beach

Found a little lizard...the kids also got after a possum in a tree

The pool was amazing!  Rhett and ME both made friends at the resort, and they played in the pool and beach together.

For some reason they gave us a room with 2 queen beds.  Brad and I are used to our king and don't sleep great in a queen anymore...so I made pallets on the floor for the kids, and Brad and I got our own bed.  That sounds terrible, but it was glorious sleep, and we're all about getting our rest on vacation.  The kids thought it was fun to camp out on the floor anyway.

Hanging by the pool

What is it about sunsets on the water?  So perfect!

There were hammocks everywhere.  More on that later...

Rhett at LuLu's

Our last night after swimming and supper.  We went back to the room after, and I started packing...the saddest part of vacation.  Mary Ella helped me carry a load out to the car, but we got so distracted by the sunset we had to sit and swing and enjoy it until it was all gone.  I will never forget that memory with her.  So special.  In just 3 days, I would be dropping her off at kindergarten.

The duck pond

Hammock time

Look at that old tree

So, this happened.  It was our last day at the resort.  We had yummy brunch at the hotel restaurant and then played horseshoes.  We spotted the bird with the funny pose, and the kids chased it on the beach, and then ME asked if they could swing in the hammock.  The kids and I had been doing it all week.  Well, Brad went to sit down in one and immediately went flying over backward landing on his head/neck.  He didn't get up for a long time, but he could move his arms and legs, so he wasn't paralyzed.  The kids asked if Daddy was dead.  I didn't know what to do, but let him have a moment.  Part of me was like OHMYGOSH he's going to have neck surgery from falling out of a hammock what are we going to do we're in Alabama, part of me was like if you are okay you better get up and walk, and part of me was trying not to laugh because OHMYGOSH I just saw him flip out of a hammock at mock speed all lead by booty.  It was awful!  He finally got up, and we walked back to our room.  He was in a a lot of pain, lying on the bed.  I thought it was best to take him to the hospital and have him checked out.  I envisioned xrays and MRI and bad news and 2 kids loose in the ER.  We loaded up in the car with snacks and things to draw on. The Fairhope ER was so nice and clean.  We got right in, and his xrays looked great.  They gave him pain meds and sent us on our way.  Brad stayed in the room in bed the rest of the day, and the kids and I got out so he could rest.  We did beach and pool until it was time to go up and pack.  He was very stiff and sore for a while, but I'm thankful to say he has made a full recovery from the hammock incident.  Never a dull moment.  I will say that I didn't snap the above picture until we knew he was ok.  The Dr. was so nice and brought the kids Sprites and popsicles.  I think he probably sees a lot of weird vacationer injuries.  Oh trip home was very uneventful.  The kids watched movies.  We left at 8 Friday morning and got home at 9 that evening.  Mama, Cole, and Jenn were at our house by 10.  We moved straight onto ME birthday party prep!