We always have a fabulous time there, but this was our first Christmas visit. The entire resort was decorated beautifully! In the Grand Dining Room there was even a gingerbread replicate of the resort...
We all enjoyed looking at all the tiny details they put into it and trying to find our room.
The weather was beautiful and we spent most of our time exploring the resort and all it had to offer during this time of year. Our room was located in the Spa Building overlooking the lagoon.
Each morning we strolled around the lagoon on our way to the main building. There were so many great spots for photo ops...
I wish this had been my Christmas card but it was too late [the cards went out last week]. Owen was ticked because I took away his pink Princess sippy cup for the picture. [Don't ask...it was the only sippy cup I could find the morning we left. Everyone called him a girl the entire trip because of it.] He never quite recovered!
After our stroll, we made our way to the front desk for bags of duck food. Then headed back to the lagoon to find some friends...
Banks and Owen loved feeding them. If you look closely, you can see Mary Reese hidden behind the stroller. She was terrified of them. They were friendly ducks and ate right out of our hands.
Owen made fast friends with them. He tried to speak their language...
Quack!
Then he got brave and started petting them...
He talked about the DUCKS the rest of the trip. Good thing we had a birds-eye view of them from our balcony.
After feeding the ducks, we headed to the lobby in hopes to hit story time. We must have spend too much time feeding the ducks, because we missed the story. I tried to get a group picture in front of the lobby Christmas tree...
Owen refused to stand near the other two. When they moved to be by him, he ran! Oh well, maybe next year.
I did manage to get this cute one of Banks and Mary Reese...
The tree was spectacular.
We borrowed board games from the front desk. Banks and Mary Reese opted for the dominos...
I tried to teach them mexican train dominos...they got the basic concept but I think there was a little cheating on both parties. Owen just thought he was playing. As long as he had a few dominos, he was good to go.
We spent some time at the craft station making a little jingle jewerly...
It makes me sad that Banks is too old to make a bracelet for himself. However, he isn't too old to make one for his mommy [which makes me happy].
We wondered to the fishing pier and found some baited cane poles...
We didn't catch anything but it was fun trying!
Banks and Jody didn't get to join us on our beach trip this summer. Banks opted to stay home and play on a Rookie Baseball team. So he wanted to dip his toes in the sand and his hands in the ocean...
Maybe next summer they can join us for at least part of the trip!
We explored the Chef's Herb Garden...
It was neat to see broccoli, carrots, herbs and all the varieties of lettuce growing. I could have made a fabulous salad if I didn't think I would get caught!
We spent some time at the croquet court...
Owen cracks me up. He thinks he is as big as the rest of the bunch and can hang pretty well with them.
We tried our hand at some good old fashioned horseshoes...
...and ping pong...
Not to mention the hours we spent on the putting green.
Each afternoon at 4:00, we made our way here...
to see them fire off this baby...
They do a parade from the lobby, around the grounds to the cannon [complete with American flag and drums]. They honor the vets, give a brief history of the resort grounds and then...
READY, AIM, FIRE
After the cannon firing, we made our way back to the lobby for afternoon tea [coffee & hot chocolate] and cookies...
It is so fun to visit with all the other guest. It just adds to the old-fashioned feel of the resort.
Each afternoon, we witnessed the most beautiful susets over the bay...
...in front of the most fabulous fire pits.
Of course we had some fabulous meals! One night, Daddy treated us to a delightful meal at Felix's Fish Camp. One day, we ventured into Gulf Shores one day for a meal at Lulu's [we never go during the summer because I refuse to wait that long to eat]. We even hit our favorite Davenport's Pizza for a late lunch on the way home.
It was a wonderful holiday get-away and [hopefully] so many memories for these three
I love getting to experience things through their eyes!
I think we were all kind of ready to get home and into our beds with our own pillows. I know Owen was [his "bedroom" was a portable crib in the bathroom so our later night tv watching didn't disturb him].
We did find a nice surprise when we got home...
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1 comment:
What a fun trip! Looks like you all definitely made the most of what they had to offer! And will you please give me details on MR's boots? That's ALL Towns wants for Christmas and I've yet to find any!!
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