We finally arrived to sunny, Panama Beach and met up with Uncle Steve and Tutu. We hopped in a minivan and drove 45 minutes to Mexico Beach. Our first impression was that Mexico Beach hadn't been updated in years and it exudes a quaint beach town feel without any of the updates that other towns embraced. There wasn't a McDonalds or Starbucks and only has mom and pop shops that adorn the highway.
We fo
und our cute little beach rental called Sis's Place and hunkered down for about a minute before hightailing it to the beach...which was a stone's throw from our back porch! 
und our cute little beach rental called Sis's Place and hunkered down for about a minute before hightailing it to the beach...which was a stone's throw from our back porch! 
Every day was wonderful and the kids only wanted to go to the beach. Uncle Steve and Ryan would head over to the Shell Shack - - a genuine shack - - and get steamed shrimp for the day and every morning started with shrimp and grits then the beach. Period. That was pretty much the plan - - and maybe find seashells but mostly it was swimming. We thought about deep-sea fishing but decided against it as the kids truly loved swimming every day. We even saw dolphins in the distance every day and that was memorable as well!
When we were indoors, we worked on puzzles that the homeowner had and ate picnic lunches before heading back out to th
e beach. I'm getting better at going to the beach as the kids love it so much. Eban started to swim on his own while we were there so that was a big milestone. Then Aunt Eileen and all the cousins came over for a day's visit and they hopped right into the water. They also brought water toys so the boys were in 7th heaven. Eileen busied herself with teaching Eban had to swim a stroke so that was fun to see that! She would use a Buzz Lightyear catch phrase, "Reach for the Sky." And Eban did. Shannon was huge with her twins so it was a BIG plus that she made the trip over to see us! 
e beach. I'm getting better at going to the beach as the kids love it so much. Eban started to swim on his own while we were there so that was a big milestone. Then Aunt Eileen and all the cousins came over for a day's visit and they hopped right into the water. They also brought water toys so the boys were in 7th heaven. Eileen busied herself with teaching Eban had to swim a stroke so that was fun to see that! She would use a Buzz Lightyear catch phrase, "Reach for the Sky." And Eban did. Shannon was huge with her twins so it was a BIG plus that she made the trip over to see us! 
There were some minor meltdowns - - due to the burrs on the wodden pathway to the beach, sometimes we would get some stuck in our toes or such. Eban would lose his marbles and yell about them. Jack would only cry. It was interesting to see how they reacted differently to the same issue.
View from our Beach - -
