I never finished my posts about Florida. Basically we  hung at the beach. All week.  BEST.VACAY.EVER. Wait, no… my cruise with Sei was the best ever, but this is the best vacay with the kids.

We got to go out a couple of times sans kiddos for some adult conversation… Here we are at Pompano Joe’s with my parents…

And I still need to make a montage of Alec and Sei skimboaring…  I should have it up by next vacation.

All thru out the week Sei kept calling the hotel in Biloxi to see if they had found Livie’s missing blanket.  Then one  morning, at 6:42 am, Sei’s phone started ringing. It was Jessica from the hotel. She was getting off work at 7 am, but wanted to call to let us know she had FOUND THE BLANKET!! She had searched in the laundry and asked the head housekeeper if she had found an old blanket. The lady said, “No, but I found this…” and held up Livie’s poor, abused, but dearly loved blankie!! Jessica even took it home to wash it. You have to understand that this blanket is IMPORTANT. All thru out the week Livie cried to go home and cried for her “white blankie.” We had bought a replacement pink blanket and it worked for a lil while, but it wasn’t the same…

So, on the Friday we left to head home, top priority was going to the hotel in Biloxi to get Livie’s blanket. She was so happy. And if you look at this pic I look like I’m on drugs. I’ll never tell if I actually was on  drugs or if I was just worn out… It’s funny how on “vacation” you are so tired and worn out. Sei and I didn’t even make out the entire trip. Seriously. I wish I was kidding. 

Anyway… that’s the story. We had a great trip. Livie got her blanket back. We didn’t beat or lose any kids. We made it home safely. It was awesome and I can’t wait for next year when we go to California baby!! (We must be insane.)

….So, where was I? Ah, yes… I was at the beach. Everyday. For hours. It was so wonderful. That’s what we did the entire week. The resort was nice with a little village that had a park with swing sets and slides. We did visit the Gulfarium one day which is like a very mini-Sea World. The kids- especially Liv- loved the dolphins and petting the sting rays. We also ate great sea food, but I don’t really like fish, so I got more chicken than anything. We went to this cool restaurant called Fudpuckers. Yeah, say that fast 3 times…  They had alligators in a swamp area right there surrounding the restaurant. Taj pet an alligator and then 6/7 of my kids and 1 sister got to take a pic with an alligator with Kelsea holding the head, Taj holding the belly and Isabel with the tail. It was really neat. Later Taj and Livie fed the alligators with a fishing pole. Most of the alligators were so stuffed they ignored all the dangling meat, but Livie and Taj actually had a biter!! It was really a fun nite at Fudpuckers…

I attempted to skimboard on the beach. Yeah… I suck. I tried though, even after biffin’ it good a few times. And I pulled my groin muscle too. One time I fell so hard that all the kids came swimming towards me “Mom are you ok?!?!” Soooo embarrassing – especially since I wasn’t even hurt. They all thought I hit my head, but I only hit my shoulder blade. Then I noticed the people sitting near us on the beach were being entertained with my falls. Not cool. I should have faked like I was knocked out and floated out to sea…  I didn’t do too badly a few times.

Sei already knew how to skimboard- of course- and was bustin’ 360s. Alec was awesome too. He skimboarded all week with Sei and by the end of vacation could do a 270. I LOVE watching them interact together. They are like twins in the personality department for sure.

And Omar- I already told you on Twitter, but I had to let everyone else know that you were remembered while on vacay. Tristan bought Crocs- and we all know how much Omar LOVES Crocs.  Tristan picked some out and said, “Now I can have Crocs like Omar…” Thanks for setting such a great example Omar by wearing, to use your phrase “The Mullet of Shoes.” (*rolling eyes*)

During all this beach and skimboarding and eating Sei called the hotel Biloxi where Livie left her blanket and spoke to a few different people. Finally a girl named Jessica took an interest and said she’d check with housekeeping and search in the dirty towels… More later… I still need to tell y’all the crab leg story too…

Our vacation to Destin was so great. I really don’t know where to start. We left on Friday to make 9 of the 13 hour drive. Driving with 100 kids wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. That’s probably because Livie rode with my parents over 1/2 the time and it was wonderful. We drove thru Louisiana Swamplands which Taj thought was the coolest and we crossed the Mississippi River.  We stopped in Biloxi, Mississippi for the nite. The next morning we visited a memorial park- I can’t remember the name. But it had the USS Alabama Battleship, Air Force helicopters and more. The kids LOVED it!!

After checking out all the cool stuff we headed on. We stopped in Crestview or some other town that starts with a “C” to eat and that’s when it happened… Livie asked for her blanket. I knew at the hotel she had insisted on carrying it along with her “Gameboy” (aka V-tech toy.) But I didn’t remember seeing her with it in the car. CRAP. I dug thru the suitcase. Nada.  Looked thru my Yukon, my parent’s van… nada. Livie started to cry. I started to cry. I cried because it had been “her blanket” since she was born. I cried because I had all of my other children’s “fave blankie” from when they were little, but now I had lost Livie’s. She was more attached to this blanket than any of my other kid’s had ever been. I cried because she was sad and now we were going to be in an unfamiliar place and she wouldn’t have her comfort. I sat at the table in Arby’s and tried not to look like a crying dork, but Sei even said, “Babe, everyone’s gonna think we’re fighting…” Sei called the hotel and the desk clerk didn’t see it anywhere.  I cried some more. It was horrible.

But we continued on… and made it to Destin,  Florida. I tried not to think about the blanket at all. We unloaded our stuff- which I must brag… I was able to pack for a family of 9 in ONE big suitcase and a big duffle bag. I pretty much rock. When you know you’re gonna be in swimsuits and have a washer and dryer there’s no need to pack a lot. Anyway… we unloaded at our fancy resort with walk in tubs, changed into our swimsuits and headed to the beach. White sand, clear water… I was able to stop thinking about the blanket for a lil while….

I could soooo be a beach bum. Totally. I’ve always believed this, but it was confirmed this past week. Sei and I took the 7 kiddos to Destin, Florida. My parents and little sister went as well because they have a timeshare and let us use some of their points to get a condo for our family. THANK YOU AGAIN!!!! Our resort was awesome. Our family had 2 bedrooms and a sofabed, a kitchen, 2 bathrooms, washer and dryer… PER.FECT. And the beach… oh, the beach. In Destin it’s white sand and clear water. BEA.U.TI.FUL. I would have posted while I was there, but I didn’t bring my laptop. I will give a ton more details in my next few posts- I took notes on things to blog about. But I will say that I am brown, except for 2 huge places on my back that are peeling. (Yuck.)  And I have a pulled groin muscle from attempting to skimboard. I pretty much suck. I also wanna give a SHOUT OUT to Jessica at the Best Western in Biloxi, Mississippi for going above and beyond in her search for Livie’s lost blanket. That’s a whole post in itself, so stay tuned…