Big Birthday at the Beach

I had a BIG birthday the last weekend in October, and my family gathered at Sandestin to help me celebrate. My husband and I arrived on Wednesday morning and headed straight to the outlets, as we couldn't get into the condo until 3:00 p.m.  I had fun using my birthday bonus at Talbots, on top of their great sales!  We had a lavish late lunch at Cuvee Bistro before heading to the condo.  We usually rent the same one-bedroom condo when it's just the two of us, but for the family weekend, my husband rented a three-bedroom, 3.5 bath one with a huge wraparound balcony that seated 20!  Here's one view of the balcony, where my older granddaughter and I were enjoying the view.

The condo was beautifully decorated, but after we all moved in, it tended to look more like this.  (Baby Emily brought a lot of her favorite toys!)

It was Emily's first trip to the beach.  Here we are hanging out under the umbrella with her mama.

Emily gets her toes wet.  The water was still warm, and the older grandchildren were in the water almost non-stop.

Except when they were playing in the sand.

Emily preferred the heated pool!

It was wonderful just spending time together.  Here my two granddaughters are enjoying one another!

On the morning of my birthday, we scheduled a dawn photo shoot at the beach.  Yes, my family members are all good sports!  It was 55 degrees, so our photographer worked quickly!

Here are some photos that we took ourselves.

Here we were all trying to get Emily to smile.  No doubt she was thinking, "Why am I freezing in this strange chair at this hour of the mornings??"

Here I am, helping to keep her warm! 

We did get some great photos, and I highly recommend Amanda at Jubilee Photography.  Here is one of the whole group.

It was definitely a memorable birthday!