Travel - Our Alabama Life

California Vacation 2019

Posted on March 25, 2019 in Travel, 0 comments

Our 2019 Spring Break trip was a tour of Southern California. We had a 6:00 AM flight out of Nashville on day 1 and it was the kids first flight ever. We are BIG fans of the Bucket List Family, so we copied a page out of their book and kissed the plane for good luck!

As we were boarding, one of the flight attendants pulled the kids to the side and let them visit the cockpit. They LOVED being able to meet the pilots and see all the controls. Our sweet flight attendant even called us out over the announcements–he said, “I need to let our first time flyers, traveling to California, know that we are expecting turbulence and things might get bumpy for a minute, but that’s ok!” Then he came by and made sure they heard him! All the flight attendants on this first flight were extra-attentive to the kids and made them feel so special. We couldn’t have asked for a better “first flight” experience for them!

Libby was very nervous before this first flight. She was asking lots of questions to try to understand what was going to happen during takeoff. Right before the plane picked up speed on the runway, the intercom dinged. Libby looked at me and said, “Mama, what was that?” And before I could even acknowledge that she had asked a question, she said, “Mama, I really need an answer!” I got so tickled! The second we were in the air, she was totally fine. In fact, for every flight after this one (we took four flights, total), she was a professional!

Jase rode around multiple airports (and the rental car stop) on top of suitcases and I thought it was the funniest thing! I was also super jealous in Chicago when we had to walk what felt like four miles to our next gate!

From the airport, we headed straight to our hotel. We are HUGE Hampton/Hilton Inn fans, so for night 1, we stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites Santa Monica. We checked into our rooms, freshened up a bit, and headed towards the Santa Monica Pier and beach.

I’m not sure what I expected from the Santa Monica Pier, but it wasn’t what I got. I didn’t even get a photo of or on the Pier because I was just trying to take everything in. (Full disclosure– I missed a lot of great photo opportunities on this trip because there was just SO MUCH. I was afraid I was going to miss something if I stopped to take a picture of something else!)

We took the walkway from the Pier down to the beach. The views were amazing!! There were several vendors on the walkway selling Mexican street corn and churros and all sorts of other things. It was such a fun experience!

We enjoyed one of the best meals in Santa Monica at Casa Martin. It’s a locally owned Mexican restaurant and when the owner stopped by for a chat, we asked for menu suggestions. Based on his recommendation, we ordered the Mar, Cielo, Tiera Molcajete to share and it was, without a doubt, some of the best authentic Mexican food I have ever had!

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to let the kids swim in the pool for a bit. We wrapped up day 1 a little early Cali-time, but it was almost midnight Alabama time, so we were exhausted! We were all tucked in by 9 and ready for day 2!

PS: California Vacation Day 2 (Los Angeles) blog post coming soon! Subscribe over in the sidebar so you don’t miss it (or any other posts!).

Beech Mountain, North Carolina

Posted on January 2, 2019 in Travel, 0 comments

This year, we visited Beech Mountain, North Carolina for the third time. (You can find a recap of our first visit here.) Our family loves Beech Mountain and all the snow-activities we can get into! We hit the slopes as a party of 12, but some of us took to skiing better than others (wink, wink).

Our snow-skiing trips have been Christmas gifts from my parents, and we are so thankful that they gift us with experiences instead of things!

When we travel to Beech Mountain, our first stop is usually Fred’s General Store. There are several places in the area to rent skis, boards, and other gear, but Fred’s is by-far our favorite! The people are always so friendly and helpful!

As usual, we rented a house through vrbo.com. The house was super close to the slopes and even had a hot tub. It was so nice to hit the slopes during the day and come back and relax in the hot tub to warm up in the evenings!

Birmingham Zoo Birthday Fun

Posted on July 27, 2016 in Family, Travel, 0 comments

This summer should be nicknamed “Zoo Summer”. First, we visited the Nashville Zoo, then The Little Zoo That Could, and, most recently, the Birmingham Zoo. Both girls have birthdays soon and when we asked them what they would like to do, my animal-loving Kyndall decided to go to the zoo instead of having a party.

We woke up bright and early Monday morning and made the two-hour drive to the Birmingham Zoo. (Unbeknownst to us, the zoo was offering a discount for Pokemon Go players. TIP: Be sure to ask for any daily discounts at the ticket window!)

For a typically sweltering summer day in the south, the animals were out and about a lot more than I expected. The baby bears were running and playing, a giant hippo was out of the water catching some rays, and a rhinoceros lounged about, napping in the sun. We didn’t make it to the big cat exhibits on this trip, but we did catch a peek of them prowling around as we rode by on the zoo’s train!

The Birmingham zoo’s resident camel, Hope, gave the girls a quick ride. (Speaking of camels, and in case you haven’t seen Zootopia, let me entertain you with a camel joke: What do you call a three-humped camel? Pregnant!! Ha. Ha. Ha.)

And of course, my girls always have to take advantage of all photo props. How cute is that giraffe and gorilla?

Since it was such a hot day, we took advantage of the Birmingham zoo’s super cute splash pad area. The zoo has two huge splash pads, complete with variating water sprays and a bucket that dumps water. It was the perfect way to cool off in the middle of our zoo exploration.

The girls made fast friends with Leo the giraffe. He loved the lettuce they fed him and the keeper was great at encouraging the girls to interact. She had them hold the lettuce behind their back so they could feel Leo’s tongue, over their head so he had to reach out and get it, and up close so they could pet his head.

The lorikeet exhibit was one of our favorite things about the Birmingham zoo. We were able to feed them nectar and they kept landing on us. At one point, Kyndall had four birds lined up across her shoulders. She was in Lorikeet-heaven!

After a super fun-filled day at the zoo, this is exactly what we ALL felt like doing!! Since we didn’t have a super comfy stroller to ride in, that wasn’t an option.

The Birmingham zoo also has a huge zip-line course that looks amazing. On our trip, the zoo’s scales were not working properly, so we weren’t able to participate. I definitely recommend giving that a go if you are at the zoo, though.

My future animal scientist/birthday girl was able to talk to several of the zookeepers about what she could do as a future career. While she is still leaning more toward marine biology (so she can work with dolphins!), her second option is to study animal science and become a keeper for the elephants!

Gulf Coast Zoo

Posted on June 27, 2016 in Life, Unscripted, Travel, 0 comments

While we were on our Orange Beach vacation, we drove over the bridge to the Gulf Coast Zoo. The Gulf Coast Zoo, also known as The Little Zoo That Could, made up for all our disappointments over our last zoo trip. They had so many animals—bears, tigers, lions. The zoo boasted multiple opportunities to feed and interact with different animals.

We saw so many babies. If you look really close at the photo below, you’ll see that this little monkey has a baby monkey riding on its back.

There was one particular monkey who “conversed” with us for almost thirty minutes. Libby would say something and he would look at her and open his mouth and scream. I’m not sure if his scream was friendly or sinister, but it entertained us, for sure.

For a small additional fee ($5 or $10, depending on the animal), you could have encounters with some of the animals. The kids loved playing with these baby kangaroos. One little kangaroo really took a liking to Kyndall–it stood up and wrapped its front legs around her waist. I think it was trying to eat her hair, but we really couldn’t be sure!

Jase wasn’t quite sure what to thing about the kangaroos! They would follow him around the pen and sniff at his shoes and he would just giggle! He liked their tails the best—thank goodness they were too fast for him to get a good grip!

We also chose to interact with the lemurs. Apparently, the lemurs really loved my girls too and kept going in for kisses. (At the Gulf Coast Zoo, the keepers let about five people into the lemur house at a time. All three of my kids, plus Mallory, Hannah, and Paige were able to go in together. The keepers really made sure to make the experience enjoyable for everyone.)

If you are ever in the Gulf Shores area, I recommend visiting the Gulf Coast Zoo. In about three hours, we had made our way through the entire zoo and encountered almost 500 animals. If you have an animal-loving bunch like I do, a visit to the Gulf Coast Zoo is definitely worth the time on your next beach trip.

Orange Beach, Alabama

Posted on June 22, 2016 in Life, Unscripted, Travel, 0 comments

Last week, we escaped to Orange Beach, Alabama, for a little rest and relaxation. We travel in packs around here, so there were a total of 15 of us in our condo. We booked a four-bedroom, four bathroom condo at Phoenix West 2 and it did not disappoint. When we were searching for a cart to carry our luggage up to the room, I turned around to find this nonsense:

I don’t even know those people. What are they doing with my kids? (Wink, wink!)

We hit a stroke of bad luck when Jase and I shared our stomach bug from the week before with the rest of our vacationing partners. People were dropping like flies in our condo–Gra-Gra, Mallory, Libby, Hannah, Justin, Meme, and Robin all wound up sick. I’m not going to lie, it put a little bit of a damper on our vacation.

We did make it to the beach though, even if it was in shifts.

We even hit up the Keith Urban/ Brett Eldredge/ Maren Morris concert at the Wharf while we were there. True to form, Kyndall enjoyed the music from her seat while Libby and I shook our groove thing. (If you are considering a concert at the Wharf, go for it. It is outside, so it’s totally dependent on the weather. {Which in our case, was super hot.} However, the seating is really great and it’s a smaller venue, so you feel up close and personal with the artists!)

Jase decided naps on the beach were the best kinds of naps. I really loved them, too, because it meant a little rest and relaxation for Mommy 🙂

We didn’t get to eat many places, thanks to our friend the stomach bug, but we did make it out a few nights. One thing we always do when we are in the area is order out from Lartigue’s Seafood. We go for the cajun-steamed shrimp and crab legs and it always hits the spot.

We went to Bubba’s Seafood House, mostly because it was close to our condo. The food wasn’t bad (I had the fish po’boy) and the atmosphere was neat. It’s definitely not on my top ten beach-eats list, but it’ll do in a pinch.

Another favorite of ours is The Oyster House. They have something for everyone–seafood, steak, chicken….a huge, awesome salad bar. I ordered blackened snapper and it was quite possibly the best meal I ate all week.

On the recommendation of some friends, we drove a few miles into Bon Secour to eat at Tin Top Restaurant, and it was definitely worth the drive. It’s a local favorite, so it has this cool peachy-vibe. The food was super good. We ordered the crab claw appetizer, blackened-grilled shrimp, and fish. (Tip: If the menu says market price, it is wise to ask what that price is. We really enjoyed our crab claws, but we paid dearly for them.)

We love visiting the Orange Beach/Gulf Shores area. It is one of the prettiest beaches you’ll find, is home to several great restaurants (because if you don’t go to the beach to eat, what do you go for?), and has tons of fun things to do. In addition to the concert at the Wharf, we went shopping at the Foley Tanger outlets and explored the Gulf Coast Zoo. (Also known as The Little Zoo That Could, that trip deserves its own post. Stay tuned to hear about all our adventures with the monkeys, lemurs, and kangaroo!)

If you’ve not visited Orange Beach lately, you should definitely add it to your travel list. If you have, I would love to hear what your favorite things to do are!

Nashville Zoo

Posted on June 6, 2016 in Travel, 0 comments

A few weeks ago, we volunteered to babysit our favorite nephew, West. (He’s our only nephew, but he’s still our favorite!) They live outside of Nashville, TN, so we decided to take all the kids to the Nashville Zoo.

Nashville is only about a two hour drive for us, so we loaded up the car early on Saturday morning and headed out. After stopping at Kristi’s for lunch and to pick up West, we headed straight for the zoo. We knew it would take around three hours to make our way through the entire Nashville zoo and we wanted to have plenty of time to check out all the animals.

We made it to the zoo and had the littles all buckled into their strollers. That lasted all of two minutes 🙂

Isn’t that just the sweetest? I’ve decided that little kids are easier to raise when you have big kids. The big kids are great entertainment!

Our favorite thing about the zoo was the kangaroo exhibit. They had several miniature kangaroo’s moving around, available to be pet. All the kids thought this was just the coolest thing ever. I mean, it’s not everyday you get to hang out with a ‘roo.

The monkey area was pretty awesome, too. The monkeys were awake and active and swinging all over the place. The kids were amazed!

Unfortunately, right now the Nashville zoo is working on TONS of renovations. Several of the exhibits we were really looking forward to were closed. There were no bears, lions, tigers, elephants….none of the big animals you typically see in a zoo. If you plan to visit the Nashville Zoo, you may want to give it a year or so. They need time to update their exhibits before it’s worth your time and money. When all the updates are finished, it will be perfect once again!

My other recommendation? Stay at a Hampton Inn…..it’s by far our favorite. We lucked up this trip and was able to get a suite–complete with pull-out couch, separate bedroom, and kitchenette. Plenty of space for our little party.

Even though we were a little disappointed to not see some of our favorite animals, the trip was a success. We spent time with our favorite nephew, spent the evening in a comfy room, and enjoyed some time away from our 24/7 fixer upper/new home. And we can’t wait to go back to the Nashville zoo when all the exhibit renovations are complete!

Panama City Beach

Posted on April 18, 2016 in Travel, 0 comments

For our spring break, we took a trip to Panama City Beach with the Hodges’ family. Anna’s family owns a condo at Edgewater Beach and Golf Resort, so we bunked with them for the week. If you are looking for a place to stay in Panama City Beach, I definitely recommend Edgewater. They have several different types of rooms– golf villas, regular condos, etc.–plus tons of amenities!

In March, it was still a little chilly (especially for swimming). Luckily, Edgewater has heated swimming pools!

For the month of March (aka Spring Break season), Panama City Beach had passed some new ordinances that banned alcohol on the beach. It was calmer and less crowded than I have ever seen, and I’m assuming it was because of these new ordinances. Great for us, not so great for those who earn their living from the tourist crowd.

In addition to the heated pools, Edgewater Resort has a nice little shop that sells Starbucks. It was a short walk from our condo and we got our Starbucks fix quite a few times during our stay.

The condo we stayed in was a one bedroom, two bath. (The bedroom had two queen beds and the kids switched up between the pull-out couch and an air mattress.) We designated one bathroom to the kids, one to the adults. Getting ready was an adventure, for sure. I took this picture after Brandon and Brady had stepped out. At one point, there were six of us sharing that mirror.

On one particularly cool day, we ventured out to GulfWorld. (I wrote an entire post on that awesomeness last week.) After GulfWorld, we ate at Finns. It was the cutest little beach restaurant and delicious. The fish tacos were divine. Justin wanted to go back for lunch several days.

We had a few really pretty, warm days when we felt brave enough to attempt the ocean. The kids captured sand crabs and tiny fish and tons of seashells while Anna and I soaked up the sun. (Like, literally. Our pasty skin fried.)

My diva girl soaked up a little sun, too. She became Anna’s best friend–those two would’ve stayed in the hot tub our entire vacay. I had to make them (Anna included!) get out before they melted their insides.

Favorite Instagram post of the week:

#Heygirl, because Jase (and his daddy, cough cough!) spent a lot of time looking “for the ladies” on our trip.

Restaurants visited on our trip:

Captain Anderson’s Seafood and Marina. Must try: sauteed crab claws. Eat early to beat the crowds. After eating, take a walk through the marina and see the fishing boats coming in.
Finns. Must try: fish tacos. Finns has an outdoor eating area, so you can easily walk over in your swimsuit or cover-up for lunch. No need to shower and get all fancy 🙂
Oceans. Must try: ceasar salad and grilled shrimp. Oceans is Edgewater’s resort dining option. With beach-front seating right next to the pool, this was our go-to dining choice for the week. The food was delicious, the prices were great, and it was oh-so-convenient!

Entertainment:

GulfWorld.
Pier Park. We took two entire evenings to walk through Pier Park. There are so many shops to explore and good things to eat. (Anna bought the same shirt twice because the first one was lost/stolen during our trip!)

We owe a big thanks to to Anna and her family for hosting us! Love you BIG, Hodges!

Panama City Beach: GulfWorld

Posted on April 15, 2016 in Life, Unscripted, Travel, 0 comments

We ventured over to Panama City Beach for Spring Break and had the opportunity to visit GulfWorld. (Disclaimer: I partnered with the Panama City Beach tourist center for this post and they gifted us with park tickets, but all opinions are my own.)

This wasn’t our first trip to GulfWorld, but it had been several years since we have been. We enjoyed our last few trips, but there have been lots of new animals and shows added in the past few years. GulfWorld is like SeaWorld’s little sister. It has all the ocean animals and several amazing shows, along with awesome interactive programs. It’s just a smaller park than SeaWorld, which actually helps add to its charm!

My girls are major animal lovers, so this was right up their alley. We arrived at Panama City Beach’s GulfWorld just in time for the sea lion show. Libby happened to be picked to participate in the show with Otto the sea lion.

She was able to feed Otto. (Which totally cracked me up. She is such a girly girl and she grabbed that fish without a seconds hesitation!) She even gave him (well, showed him) the command to jump, and they did a few exercises together!

I was so amazed at the relationships between the animals and their trainers. With just a simple hand movement, the animals knew what was expected of them. The sea lion was amazing, but it was also hilarious. We all stayed after the show to soak up some sea lion kisses.

Following the sea lion show, we spent some time exploring the other animal habitats. GulfWorld is home to penguins, sharks, sea turtles, and stingrays. They also have a large exotic bird habitat and several other animal areas. Our last show of the day was the dolphin show.

Justin was chosen to do a little pre-show entertainment. GulfWorld does a great job of including the audience in everything they do.

GulfWorld is located in Panama City Beach, Florida, and is open 7 days a week, rain or shine. I would recommend allowing at least three hours to fully explore the park. There is a snack bar (with some really great nachos, in case you are wondering) with drinks and snacks. General park admission is $29 for adults, $24 for seniors 55 and over, and $19 for children 5-11. Children 4 years and younger receive free park admission. GulfWorld also offers several interactive programs (that my girls begged to participate in!) for additional costs. These interactive programs typically book quickly, so be sure to call ahead if you are interested in that!

If you are planning a trip to Panama City Beach anytime soon, we definitely recommend setting aside an afternoon to visit GulfWorld!

Hotel Room Tour: Hampton Inn in Dickson, TN

Posted on March 21, 2016 in Travel, 2 comments

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to Dickson, TN, to help my sister-in law and her family get settled into their new home. We are so excited to have them closer to us–before the move, they lived a whopping eight hours away.

They had just unloaded all their things from a moving van and we didn’t want to crowd them further, so we reserved a room at the nearby Hampton Inn. Hampton Inn’s are our absolute favorite places to stay–they are always super nice and have the best continental breakfasts. Justin adores their mattresses and swears we are going to have one ourselves one day.

Our room had two queen beds and a fridge. There was the cutest roll-out ottoman under the table. This Hampton Inn was a little older, but it was super clean and had been through some renovations. The beds were made nicely and they even left cute little chocolates on our pillows.

Jase loved the mattress, too. He is just like his daddy. I loved the fact that the beds were white–it just makes everything feel so fresh and relaxing and clean.

Of course, we had to hit up the indoor pool while we were there. I even bared my pasty skin and wore my swimsuit so I could get in with Jase. (Although honestly, he preferred playing with the girls over swimming around with me.) The pool and pool area were super nice. There were clean towels on a rack and the water was clean without smelling too strongly of chlorine. (I hate when you go to an indoor pool and the chlorine is so strong that it makes your eyes water. Ain’t nobody got time for that!)

The girls played a Cold/Hot challenge game, where they would go from the pool to the hot tub and back to the pool. That’s probably not the greatest idea, but they did it. We live life on the edge, man.

The beds were the perfect distance apart to play the Bridge Game. The girls took turns being the bridge and crossing over one another. Jase even took a turn crawling over each of the girls. (We can make a game out of any situation, I tell ya.)

I don’t know if it was the awesome mattresses, or the pool time, or the nice room, but I did get an unusually great night’s rest. Even Jase slept better than normal. Maybe Justin is on to something with that whole mattress idea…. 🙂

If you have plans to stay in a hotel anytime soon, do yourself a favor and choose a Hampton Inn location. The Wests give them all the stars. (This is not a paid advertisement, we just happen to really love Hampton Inn.)

What’s your favorite hotel chain?

Arctic Plunge, Nashville Fun

Posted on December 16, 2015 in Life, Unscripted, Travel, 0 comments

This weekend, Pops and GraGra surprised us with a getaway to Nashville. They had tickets for the new Arctic Plunge exhibit, on the lawn of the Opryland Hotel.

We left early Saturday morning and drove the almost-2-hours to Nashville. We checked into our hotel and let Pops rest for a while since he wasn’t feeling well. While he recouped, we went to the Opry Mills mall for lunch and a little shopping. And maybe some carousel-riding. (Originally, Jase wasn’t going to ride the carousel. He kept reaching both arms towards the horses, though, so we gave in and bought him a ticket. The entire time he was riding, he had the biggest grin on his face!)

Traffic in Nashville gets RI-DIC-U-LOUS in the evening hours. We had intended to visit the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and a few other things that evening, but we got stuck in some major traffic. We decided to spend the evening swimming at the indoor pool and hit up the Arctic Plunge the next day.

The Arctic Plunge is three large slides packed with real snow. (There are supposed to be six slides but the weather is unusually warm right now, so they were only able to have three operating.)

Each person carried a tube up the steps and then took the plunge. Each person was able to tube ten times. (If you didn’t want to tube all ten times, you could hand off your ticket to someone else in your party and go extra times!)

My girls were at a great age to enjoy the slides. I think anyone over 10 would get bored after a few slides. The workers were really great to make it more fun by spinning the tubes or sending them down backwards.

There was also an ice-skating rink, the ICE! display, a snowball toss game, and a vendor tent all set up on the lawn of the hotel. It was a regular winter fun land. For more information, visit the Gaylord website.

And a big shout-out to Pops and GraGra for such a fun weekend!