Long Trip - Gulf Shores, AL

In preparation for our trip to Alabama, we kept telling the kids they'd have to be in the van for a very long time on our trip (14hr).  So to the kids, our vacation became known as "The Long Trip."  We rented a condo on the beach at Gulf Shores.  I was thankful for the closeness to the beach because we ran into some not-so-perfect weather while we were there. I think it rain/stormed every day but one.  And they received 5-8 inches of rain while we were there.  However, in between rains or storms we could run out and spend some time on the beach.  The weather was still warm (but very muggy) and the water was mid- to low 70s.  In fact, the day the sun came out Alex complained how hot he was and he wanted the clouds to come back!   Even with the poor weather, we really did enjoy this beach (and cant wait to go again).  It had good waves to play/ride in and the sand was great to play in.  Adam keeps asking when we are going back to the Long Trip Beach.  :) 

To the beach! --as long as the thunder doesn't get too close...

the condo we stayed in.

the waves made a little ledge in the sand that was fun to play on.

Our view from one of the bedrooms in the condo.

Looking west

Our sand castles that got rained on overnight.

Looking east.

Long Trip - Battleship

We took a spring break trip down to Alabama in April.  Frankly, I was not looking forward to 12+ hours in the car, but the kids did great!  We were headed to Gulf Shores, but we stopped in Mobile to see the USS Alabama.  We spend a few hours walking on the self guided tours throughout the ship.  The kids (mostly the boys) had a whole lot of fun exploring the many different decks and levels of the ship. Erin enjoyed it, but the stair (more like ladders) between levels were rather intimidating.
Alex is into anything and everything army right now.  He loves guns, ships, planes, helicopters and tanks.  So he was loving every minute of this stop. There was also a hanger with planes and helicopters in it at the park.  And a US Submarine too. 

Alex's favorite gun on the ship. It could fire the missles (next to Andy) accurately 21 miles away.

There were volunteers all over the ship dressed in their uniforms.

This plane flew up near the edge of the atmosphere.

A US submarine that we went in too!

Driving the sub!