One last hurrah as a family of three....

We took our last vacation as a family of three this past week. I begged and pleaded with Adam for months to go on one last trip with just Ella. He finally came to his senses back in January and said we could go. We decided to go back to our "happy place" and vacation in the Ft. Walton/Destin area. My friend's parents have a condo right on the beach, and they were kind enough to rent it out to us. 
We decided to take Ella out of school for a week to go in this trip. Let's be real, it's just kindergarten. I don't think any real harm was done missing a week of school. She was thrilled to have no only one but two weeks off since this week is spring break. 
We loaded up our new minivan (that we were so excited to drive to Florida) and hit the road. This was our first trip to Florida minus my parents and our dogs. We missed them all greatly and reminisced a lot of trips we have taken in the past. The nine hour drive down to Florida went perfectly. My back did hurt a little bit.  Ella did ask what town we were in 100x over, but other then that it went great. 
Once we arrived Ella had to check out the beach! 

The next morning we enjoyed our coffee and breakfast with a lovely view!

First up on our list (Ella's list) of things to do was the Gulfarium:
This is by far Ella's favorite part of the trip.  She loves dolphins.  Every time we go we tell her she should be a dolphin trainer when she grows up. I love them just as much, but my favorite thing this year was the sea lion show. 

 After the Gulfarium I was starving (of course), but Adam offered to take Ella to the Disney Store (another thing on her list). I went along with it in hopes that we would eat at the outlet. We did a little shopping and left without lunch. By this time it was 1:00 and everyone knows that a pregnant girl can not go this long without food. I ended up having a small break down over food that afternoon. The joys of pregnancy I tell you. :)

That afternoon I talked Ella into some beach time. I love the beach and could stay out all day. Ella is the opposite of me. She can only handle it for small amounts of time. She is always a afraid of the waves at first. Once I got her in I couldn't get her out. 

We had dinner at Harry's T's that night. It was so good. I love eating right by the water. I did miss having my usual margarita though. 

We stayed at the condo on Monday almost all day. It would have been relaxing, but there isn't much relaxing with a six year old around. 

I love staying right on the beach, because you can typically spot dolphins in the morning.  We watched a group of three dolphins swimming around for a long time. 

 I walked down to the pier and back, and then we played on the beach for awhile. There were shells everywhere so we had fun finding shells that morning. 

 I couldn't go without getting a picture of myself at 31 weeks pregnant on the beach. It was a first (and last) wearing a maternity bathing suit. 

Ella made about 10 trips to the pool daily. The water was a little too cold to swim in, but she had to try multiple times throughout the day. 

That night we got cleaned up to go eat and play miniature golf at the track. 

Nothing brings out Ella's competitive side like miniature golf. We never keep score, and Ella usually wins. 

Tuesday was another "lazy" day. We sat around most of the morning. We had THE BEST lunch at a place called Tijuana Flats. I was all about the food this trip, and we ate there twice. It's a little hole in the wall with the best Tex Mex. We ordered the biggest burritos I have ever seen, and I devoured the whole thing. Needless to say we didn't need dinner that night. 

That afternoon, Ella and I played on the beach for about twenty minutes before she was ready to hit up the pool again for about ten minutes. It was a beautiful beach day. It was hot enough to be out in our swimsuits but not hot enough to sweat. 

That night we attempted beach pictures with my tripod and self timer. It was so windy. They did not turn out as I had hoped. The Florida air makes my hair frizz up faster than you can even imagine. This was the best we were able to get. YIKES! 

On our second to last day we made plans to go back to The Track to play games, ride go carts, and the little carnival rides. It was a lovely day out, and we had a great time. 

Ella had a lucky day playing games. Adam won this ty beanie baby out of a machine, and Ella won a lot of tickets. 

 Ella and Adam went on the go karts. Ella was SO serious. She thought everyone was racing. I don't know who she gets her competitive nature from. 

On our last day we ended up at the Gulf Breeze Zoo. We had never been before or even heard of it. I just happened to google "fun things to do", and this came up. It was a short 25 minute drive. It was totally worth it. It was a small zoo, but there were a lot of things to do. We were able to feed a lot of animals and ride a train. 

 One of our favorite things was feeding these Budgie birds. We thought Ella would be afraid, but she fed them like a champ. These birds really loved Adam. They were all over him. They also loved nibbling on our shoe strings. We had to be extra careful where we walked so we didn't step on them. 

A lot of the animals were sleeping. I can't say I blame them. It was a beautiful, breezy day. It definitely made me want to nap too!

That night, Ella and I, went out to enjoy our last sunset. I always hate the last trip to the beach. Even though we typically go every year, I never know if we really will go back the following year. I usually wonder what will be going on the next time we come. The last time we were here I was thinking of Ella starting Kindergarten. Now she is in about to finish up kindergarten, and I am about to have another baby. Things can change so fast!

I am so proud of Ella for taking this picture below. She does pretty good for a six year old. :) 

There you have it! Our last trip as a family of three. We have come a long way the past six years. We went from packing bottles, diapers, formula, a pack and play, and a portable high chair to Ella just having one suitcase of clothes. We have had some crazy car trips with her screaming and crying. She can now make it the whole nine hours with only a few stops the entire day.  We have come so far, and now we are starting all over again. I can't imagine what our future trips will hold, but I'm sure they will be nothing short of an adventure!