Vacation in October!

Last week we headed to the beach with my family for a week.  It's been awhile since I have been to the beach in October, but it is by far my favorite time of the year to go.  The weather can be hit or miss, but if you hit it right, it's pretty perfect.  We hit the jackpot with weather.  The highs were in the 80's and the lows in the 60's.  Low to no humidity and the sky was clear most of the week.  It was beautiful!

We went to a more remote part of Florida this year, Port St. Joe - also known as the forgotten coast.  That is so true.  Besides our neighbors, we were the only people on the beach anywhere close to us.  Our neighbors were not out most of the time, so the majority of the time we were by ourselves.  My parents got us a house on the beach with our own pool.  I have never stayed in a house on the beach with a pool (heated) and it was wonderful.  We could walk straight out to the beach, no steps, or just go out the back door and swim in the pool.

Our little water bug loved being in the pool.  She has gained a lot of balance since our last trip and was able to swim in her little float.  It was so nice.  Nate and I had a little bit of freedom.  She could putter around the pool or play on the steps and she loved it.

The beach was a different story in the beginning.  She clung to us and cried again if we tried to set her down.  But one day we decided to go out by ourselves and just sit her down and let her cry a bit.  After awhile, she LOVED it.  Once she figured that out - we couldn't keep her out of the ocean.  She is a pretty fearless child and loved the ocean.  She also loved looking for shells, which there was plenty of.

Because of the remote area - my brother could do the thing he loved the most - fish.  Most days, he would fish right out the back door on the beach.  They charted a boat one day and went fishing in some other places, but it was a neat experience.

We all experienced 2 firsts on this trip.  We were able to have a bonfire on the beach one night - that was pretty neat.  Then one afternoon, we took dinner down to the beach and ended up staying down there until after the sun had set.  That was probably my favorite day of the trip.

Being in a remote area was so relaxing.  The house also had a screened in porch - which was a refuge from the biting flies that finally left after the first 2 days.  We didn't feel the need to come in each night and get ready for dinner.  We came in when we wanted, I didn't put on a stitch of makeup or even dry my hair all week.  It was pretty amazing!  A nice relaxing trip just when it was needed.

Here are few pictures from the pool - I'll post other pictures tomorrow.

Pure joy being in the water!