4th of July

My mom and daddy work harder than anyone I know. Since they opened Charlie's (when I was in 5th grade), they only take vacations when a holiday happens to fall on the right day of the week. Since Zachary was born, we've made 4th of July the time for our family vacation. What we do usually depends on the day of the week it happens to fall on. Two years ago, we went to Orlando. Last year, we went down to the Beau Rivage because Zachary & Marla were both taking a class in summer school. This year we planned a trip to Destin. My sister's husband was in a wedding and Mark had a lot going on at work, so they couldn't go. My daddy isn't a beach person, so I knew we should stay somewhere with lots of things to do. I found a 4 bedroom condo at the Emerald Grande in Harborwalk Village located right at the Destin bridge. They have all of the ammenities of a hotel such as maid service, room service, valet parking, etc. It's on the harbor, but they have a ferry that takes you on a 5 minute ride to the beach. In fact, the beach is really on Holiday Isle at the very tip facing the harbor. You could order lunch or drinks and the ferry would deliver it. While we were there, one boat came up selling snow cones and another boat selling boiled shrimp.

The highlight of the trip for the kids was parasailing. Mom and daddy stayed with my niece and I went on the boat to take pictures. Well, the guy talked me into doing it too. I loved it as much as the kids did! We snorkeled the next day and they really enjoyed also. On our last day, we rented a pontoon boat for 4 hours. All of these activities left from right downstairs of our condo, so we picked the perfect place to stay for this trip. All of the shops and restaurants haven't opened yet in the village, but it's going to be incredible when they do. Commander's Palace opens this week and it's connected to the Emerald Grande. Harry T's is opening soon in the village and...... PAT O'BRIENS!!!! I love the piano bar in Pat O's, so I'm excited about that. I think they said it's scheduled to open in December. I would suggest staying here if you are only staying for a few days or you are planning on fishing, snorkeling, parasailing, etc. The view from our condo was incredible! It was the best fireworks show I've ever seen!

We had such a great time with my family. I'm so blessed to have both of my parents healthy and able to enjoy doing things with my kids. I have wonderful memories of vacations with my Nannie & Papaw and I want the same for my kids. It was great spending time with my sister. Even though she lives close by, we are both going in different directions and aren't able to see each other much. I loved being able to spend some time with Dalton and Marleigh too! They are both sweet, precious kids!