The Beach

We are back from our first vacation as a family of three. We went to Sandestin for a week. It was really fun and very relaxing. It took little A most of the week to "warm up" to the beach. By Thursday morning, she was having fun. She read her book, sat on her towel and played in the sand with her toys that Aunt JLo got her for her birthday and she walked along the water in the ocean with mommy and daddy. I really wanted her to like the beach because I grew up going to the beach every summer and I had so much fun! I could spend all day there, but Bear likes to play at the pool, so we spent mornings at the beach and afternoons at the pool. They had tons of fun playing in the water together!

Another fun thing about the week was that Allie and her family were vacationing in nearby Santa Rosa Beach, just twenty minutes away! So we met up a for a couple of runs and for a shopping date one night at Destin Commons. It was really motivating to have a buddy to run with on vacation! Each time we met, we ran a little over four miles together.

Allie is actually training for the St Jude Half Marathon and is running as a Hero, which means she is raising money for St. Jude. I will post details on how you can donate soon! She is doing awesome in her training!

We ate out a couple of times and had awesome experiences at both places! I know many of you have been to Destin and know where to eat, but I have to plug these two places, just in case you haven't been there. The first place we went was Dewey Destin's Harborside Restaurant. We were able to sit on the dock overlooking the marina and the bay. It was really rainy that day, but it was still really neat to be able to sit outside. I got a pecan crusted grouper and it was wonderful. Probably one of the best fish entrees I have ever eaten.

The other night we went out to eat, we went to the Back Porch. Again, we were able to sit in a spot overlooking the water. This place is right on the beach! It was beautiful! I usually like to try things new and don't usually get the same thing twice, but I got grouper again and it was amazing again! :)

If you follow me on Facebook, you may remember Bow Bootcamp from earlier this year. You will know that I was so happy when Amelia wanted to wear her bow to the beach! 

This was a cool idea that we stole from a fellow vacationing beach bum. We put our phones in little baggies while on the beach, so they wouldn't get wet or sandy. It worked well. Sadly, we learned the hard way, because Bear's 3 got wet and we went and upgraded to the 4. We are not the folks that are waiting on "the next big thing". We are the ones that wait for the SALE. We were able to trade in each of our phones for $74 and only had to pay about $25 for the new ones. Pretty cool! 

 Cline family vacation 2012 was a success!  We look forward to many more!
We really enjoyed staying at the Maravilla in Sandestin.  A sweet family from the Memphis area owns the condo. We highly recommend it!