on the road again

We are now back from this year's vacation, which was to Florida with my in-laws.  It was a fun few days and nice to get away.  The drive, however, was KILLER with two kids.  Actually, Drew did amazing, but the baby was not happy about being stuck in his seat, staring at nothing for 17 hours (just the driving time).  I spent much of the trip on the floor in between the boys two seats and Brandon did all the driving.  Let's just say we were elated to get out of the van and will probably not attempt something like that again.  Ever.
I will put out there that we stayed at the coolest hotel I've ever seen on the way there in Birmingham,AL.  We'd never heard of it and we got it pretty cheap through hotwire.com, so I was anxious to find out whether the room or our van would be a better option.  It ended up being an excellent gamble.  I wish we had more time because the little area where it was looked absolutely adorable- very trendy, unique looking stores around.  I learned that these hotels are all over, so maybe we're the last to know about them- but in the future I will be on the lookout for them whenever we are in need of a hotel.  Here's the link to their site:  aloft hotels.  We stayed at a Sheraton in Nashville on the way home and it kind of ...stunk. - literally, between the smoke smell and old banana peel left on the nightstand.  I asked to switch rooms and that was a big help, but we will be avoiding that one in the future.
Ok, so back the actual vacation-
FUN and beauty in Destin!  Here are a few pics from the most memorable activity of the week- a ride in a  pirate ship with Calico Jack!