Destin, Day 2

Our 2nd day at the beach was great...just about any day is great at the beach...even a rainy day...that theory would be tested on our 3rd & 4th day, but we'll cover those later! (And the theory proves true!)

On to the 2nd day!
We began with some random pictures...this bowl of strawberries was beautiful! We used them to make smoothies every night and we had lots of fun with those. Claudia was very into figuring out what she could put in and learning to run a blender. We don't even own a blender so she has never seen one work until this trip. She is hooked on strawberry, orange, banana, pineapple smoothies and I think Chad and I are as well!

Before we headed out that morning, Claudia and Cooper took my camera into the bedroom. I found a couple of pictures later...

Sadly, I have no beach pictures from our 2nd day. Due to sand trying to attack and injure my BFF on day one, I left the BFF in the condo when we went sunning on our 2nd day. I cannot risk the life of my BFF!

We went to the pool early in the day and swam until Cooper was starving. It was super hot and I tried to sun but you just could not stay out of the water. We decided to go out to lunch and hit the beach in the evening when it would be a little cooler. Before lunch, we went to one of our Destin traditions...

BUILD-A-BEAR

Cooper made his decision quickly...he loved the Safari monkey. It was so cute!

Claudia had a little more trouble making a decision...so much like her mother in that area! We went back and forth but she finally decided on this cheetah. Cute, cute, cute! She made a great choice!

After the stuffing and the bath area, it was time to choose outfits. This is my favorite part...at least the first 10 minutes of this part. Choosing the outfits can become grueling after awhile! I thought I had Cooper ready with the vest and safari hat...WRONG! Of course he changed his mind and wanted to have "real clothes" for his new friend. He went back and forth but finally decided he wanted his monkey to be a baby. He chose jeans and the "It's a Boy" baby tee shirt. Claudia chose much faster than usual. She got a cute little summer outfit in pink for her friend. Chad helped Cooper print his birth certificate. He named his monkey "Baby Monkey". Claudia did all of the paperwork by herself. Kalee is her new friend.

They have new friends to love!

We found coupons for free backpacks! How exciting!

Then it was finally time for lunch. Dewey Destins is one of our must-eat places in Destin. Yummy! They have a pretty courtyard outside for pictures.

Mommy & her sweet girl

These two are big buddies!

I didn't get my lighting just right on these pics so they have lots of shadows.

That is the end of our 2nd day pictures. We went back to the condo and got ready to hit the beach. We love going out in the afternoons when the crowd is usually heading in. Sadly, this year, there just isn't a crowd anytime of the day on the beach. I was so upset that I didn't take my camera down to capture the kids playing. I also would have taken pictures of the tar balls that were not there the first day. They were in a line where the surf washes up. The kids were still able to play in the water and have fun...until Cooper noticed something "black and sticky" on his feet. It was all over then! We used sand to scrub as much off as we could. It was in black clumps on the bottom of their feet where they had walked on it. They were completely disgusted. It was so hard to clean their feet while I laughed myself to death! When we got to the pool, there was soap and a brush to clean their feet. We got them cleaned up and decided the pool sounded better to us!