Beach Vacation

Hello again! For those of you who wondered if my little darlings had tied me up and set me on fire, or perhaps that I had met some other unfortunate end, let me assure you I am alive and well. My life has been moving at the speed of light the last few weeks, and I simply haven't taken a moment to sit down and write about it. I've been too busy living it!
At this very moment I'm sitting in one of my favorite places on the planet, a balcony overlooking the beach in Orange Beach. My husband is not a beach person (we went snow skiing on our honeymoon, for crying out loud) so I haven't been down here for at least 11 years or so. Even though this hasn't been the lazy, lie around and nap/tan/write/cross stitch beach vacation I had in mind, it has still been wonderful. My fabulous, hard-working husband has a very difficult time relaxing. Doing nothing is not really his thing, so in thirty minutes we are going parasailing.
I can't put my finger on just what it is about the beach, but sitting in a chair listening to the water just makes something in my soul happy. People watching reminds me that I have nothing to be self-conscious about, as anyone down here will rock a bikini, no matter what her age or size. (I however, will not.) I needed an extra swimsuit, and your choices down here are dental floss bikinis or plus size. Since I am not currently in either of those categories, I decided to just wash and dry the suit I already have.
My babies are seeing the beach for the very first time. My big girls went with their cousin and grandparents, so the baby has had her dad and me all to herself this weekend. I have to say that yet another thing I love about my husband is his willingness to let a three year old plan our day. She slept until lunch, we went to the beach, and now we are about to go on a dolphin cruise. I know she won't remember this trip, but it has done us a lot of good to spend some one on one time with her. Mom and Dad's undivided attention can be hard to get at home.
I had grand plans about writing a bunch of blog posts, but I think I'll go enjoy my family instead. I could come here alone and write for days. Something about this place just lends itself to creativity. But my baby girl will only be little once...