After a year of no vacations after Violet was born, we decided to cash in a bunch of Hilton honors points and take a trip to Pensacola Beach for fall break. It was our first time at that particular Hilton, and we booked a 2 bedroom suite with full kitchen to make sure we had enough room for all the kiddos and access to an oven/fridge. The big girls had bunk beds and were so in love! The hotel was right on the beach and had a great kids pool as well as a larger pool.
We were most worried about taking a 10 month old to the beach. We took Emery to the beach for her first time when she was 13 months old, and it was miserable for everyone. She hated the sun, the sand, swimming, being in a condo....basically everything. We decided to chance it, and we were in luck because Violet loved EVERYTHING. She loved crawling in the sand, taking beach naps, eating a restaurants, and she tolerated swimming in the pool for brief periods of time. We all had an amazing time and I'm glad the big girls got to take this fun trip and enjoy some time away. Caroline's been working so hard in Kindergarten, but it's alot more intense than I think any of us thought and I know she needed a vacation just as much as the rest of us.
The Friday before we left for our trip, I primed a pop-up canopy from Amazon. I am SO thankful I did. It was the perfect amount of shade and Daniel said it was fairly easy to put up and take down each day.
Each day, we would start out at the beach while it was cooler and build sandcastles, cover each other up with sand, and hunt for seashells. The girls amassed a huge collection of seashells that we brought home in their beach buckets.
Violet would pass out on the beach for a nap around 9, and we would stay at the beach until she woke up and then we would head to the pool. Violet's bathing suit can be found HERE.
We always eat lunch at the condo/hotel, and then go out for dinner each night. We had the best dinners, eating lots of seafood and enjoying views of the ocean.
We had such a great trip, we've already discussed booking the same location for spring break! We usually vacation in Destin, but I think Pensacola Beach just might be our new favorite spot. What is your favorite beach vacation spot? I'd love to get inspiration for new vacation locations!
