Emee is ONE!

We were in New Orleans on Aug 11, Emee's first birthday- so when we got home we had a party fit for the occasion.  This is definitely the only time we'll allow her to party like this!

More of Destin and the trip home!

This was the condo where we stayed. It was really nice and getting the condo right on the beach is totally the way to go.  It was seriously so great to be able to go back and forth from beach to house so easily to put kids down for naps, make food, use a potty, whatever!  

 We literally spent all day every day in the sand and water!

The weather was perfect too.  Warm out, but kind of overcast so it we weren't in blazing hot sun all day.  The water was perfect and the sand soft and cool! 

I'd say we LOVE Destin!

Turning Jase into muscle man!

Then of course all the other kiddos had to have a turn being buried.

Here we have Merman Tobin and Mermaid Brynlee

Mermaids Kinslee and Maycee- and sweet baby Ruston in the background.

We did take one afternoon to go into town and visit the gators at Fudpuckers (terrible name I know)

 These silly kids!
The back door to our condo was so hard to open.  Which ended up being a good thing so the kids couldn't sneak out.  Maybe three kids can do it- pull!!!

Our walk along one of the piers was pretty cool.  We saw several dolphins, 2 sting rays, a giant sea turtle, and lots of fish and interesting birds!

And that was the end of Destin!  Until next year!

HEADING HOME

It's about an 11 hour drive to Destin from our house.  On the way back, we thought we'd take a few days to stop at some different places we haven't been yet.

First stop was a quick one in Alabama to tour the naval ship the USS Alabama!

This battleship was used in WWII and was officially launched on August 16, 1942

The tour is pretty neat you can explore all over in and around  the ship and see where the men slept, ate, had doctor and dental appointments, and even a small jail cell where they would be sent to cool off after sometimes heated fights would break out.  

I kept getting a little claustrophobic inside and it definitely gave me a greater appreciation for the men in service who lived there for so long.

Just as we were getting ready to leave- the rain started up!! Lots and lots of thick heavy rain.  This was the start of the storm that dumped for the next several days and caused all the horrible flooding in Louisiana.  

As you can see we got soaked and we never really were able to get dry again after that.
The rain pretty much never stopped and the humidity was insane. Our toes turned to raisins in our shoes and even after two days of hanging up our clothes to dry- they were still wet!  Not just damp, but wet.
So we lived in whatever semi-dry things we had left for the next three days.  We were all pretty stinky and desperate to be dry again after the trip :)

Anyway, after Alabama, we stayed in New Orleans for two days.
Our first outing was to the swamps for a really fun alligator tour- yes in the rain!

Hot Dog on a Stick anyone?!

The kids totally loved this!  

And the adults really did too!  

It was super fun. Being out on the bayou in a small boat with the drizzling rain just made the experience even more creepy and cool.  The cypress trees and swampy plants and animal life were beautiful!  

AHH, haha seriously isn't that crazy.  This guy was about a 12-16 foot gator.  The tour guide was extra excited when we ran into him. I get butterflies just looking at the picture!  

The next day in  New Orleans just happened to be Emee's first birthday too!

We thought it fitting to get her a Mardi Gras mask, but as you can see she didn't think much of it!

We took off on one of the street cars to get dowtown.

We had a picture on Bourbon St, but after walking down it only a block or two we quickly realized it wasn't a good place to be - especially with kids - yikes!

 So we wondered around other areas and ended up  in a shopping mall grabbing food and pralines and playing around.

I want to note here that while we did see some "bad" stuff in New Orleans, I was especially struck by all the good we saw too!  Most of the teenage kids we ran into were very respectful and even offered to take pictures for us and complimented our family or sang to and made faces at Emee on the street cars.  One young guy walking in front of us, who I sadly would have judged as a trouble maker (baggy pants, shirt with weird insignia on it, smoking), went out of his way to stop by two different homeless people and offer money and a shoulder pat. The kind lady who kissed Emee's hand and gave us all kinds of great suggestions for our kids.  The respect I noticed from young people to elderly people.  The kind conversations and smiles.  I expected New Orleans to be a scary, dirty, crazy place- and while I'm sure there is some of that, I am always impressed at the good that can still be found everywhere.   

The next day on our way out of New Orleans, we stopped at Oak Alley Plantation- which was gorgeous!  As one friend put it "Two Words:  Nicholas Sparks!"  haha.  It was dreamy!

Then it was a long drive home from here, but we stopped for a movie Pete's Dragon and that's when we noticed some flooding in parking lots and small side roads. We even saw some people wading through the thigh deep water to their car.  We pressed on through sometimes blinding rain, having no idea all the flooding that was about to occur.  We made it home that same night extra grateful for our safety, warm beds, dry jammies and  a washer and dryer!  The news the next day made us so sad and I wished we could have gone back with the Mormon Helping hands.  Our prayers have been with the people in Baton Rouge and other affected areas.