Gulf Shores, Alabama

Once again, it was that time of year when we go to visit my grandmother (who is a Snowbird from Illinois) down in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  We checked Li out of school half an hour early so we could hit the road for the four day weekend.  This had to be one of the hardest weekends ever!!  

5 Firefighters hold a ladder for one to go up and check the crawlspace

Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures and video - it was from my phone...

Lilah coughed almost entire drive down and we arrived at 7pm local time.  Once the kids were in bed, Matt went off to go find Lilah a humidifier and Grandma and I started to catch up.  I faintly heard a buzzing/beeping sound and opened the door to find the fire alarm was going off for the entire condominium complex.  I found the fire was in a condo at the end and offered help, but was told the firemen were on there way.  So, what do Grandma and I do? We watch and talk with other neighbors of course! I was shocked in how long it took the firemen to arrive.  (Funny thing though, the ENTIRE weekend, we continued to see the firetrucks on call where ever we went!)

Friday morning began nicely-ish.  Grandma made us breakfast and afterward Matt went for a run while the kids played in the sand - until Wyatt thought it'd be cute to throw sand onto Lilah and have some wind up in her mouth. 

Wyatt is chasing a bird

Lilah is looking for pretty seashells

She found some pretty shells

He is playing in the sand while she is digging for shells

My beautiful children!  Just before the sand eating incident...

We went back up into Grandma's condo to get cleaned off and calmed down.

There he is...that black speck in the middle - running by the water!

He's back!

So, Matt and I end up believing Lilah has an ear infection.  She hurts and has "that cough" that always signals she has an ear infection.  We called around EVERYWHERE and no one takes our insurance.  I call her doctor and they won't prescribe anything.  Matt calls his Uncle, who is a doctor, and he is busy, but will call us shortly.  Uncle gets back to us and sends out a prescription to the local Walgreens...and while we wait and wait we decide to SHOP!

We got eaten by the shark!  YIKES!  

We finally got the medicine, but by then, Li was so hot and shaking we took her to the ER.  3 hours after waiting and I was about to pack up and head back to Atlanta so my child could get taken care of the doctor's assistant came over - looked in Li's ears and said she had a double ear infection.  He prescribed cough medication (because our amazing uncle had already gotten her on antibiotics and ear drops for the pain) and sent us home.  We got back at 9pm that night.

So, we aren't going to let a double ear infection keep us from doing touristy things...

We went to the Naval Air Museum!

My beautiful family

Pilot L. Bailey and Pilot W. Bailey

President's helicopter

She is trying to eject herself out of that seat

This is the plane that one of Matt's customers flew.  Amazing, huh?  

Backdrop of the White House for the helicopter.

Taking off on the runway

Blue Angels

Wyatt is flying

Lilah is flying

The Haunted Pensacola Lighthouse!

Lilah and I got to go together this time while Daddy stayed in the van with Wyatt.

Looking south from the outside of the lighthouse.

Inside the lighthouse's living quarters.

Peeking out the first window we came to while we were climbing upward.

The stairs we climbed

Looking out one of the windows on the way up

Lilah taking a look at how high we are

View from the top!

Another look from the top

Daddy is way down there!

See his hand waving at us from the sun roof?!  I can't believe he spotted us!

Looking northward

Hear her poor cough?  She remembered that we climbed 177 stairs up (which means 177 DOWN!)

Lilah is pointing to where we just were - THE TOP!

The entire way down, folks kept complimenting Lilah on how pretty her shoes are (and how pretty she is), how well she is doing on the steps and what a big girl she is.  I am so proud of her!  On the way up, she was beating me up the steps!

Pretty sunset

Daddy went running again - this time he kept going until he did have any further to run!  I was watching him on the iPad (through his iPhone) to see how far he was and I was amazed he KEPT GOING!  What a machine!  I'd have died after the first 15 steps!

The kids playing in the sand the first day

Daddy running the first day

We fed the birds the last afternoon we were there and the kids loved it!

One of the birds snatched the bread right out of Li's hand!  Look at it!  It is folded in HALF!

I love Lilah's reaction!

We went to Fort Morgan.  This was an amazing place - SO MUCH HISTORY!

In THIS world, Daddy is really TALL!

It was really cold and windy!

Daddy running the last day we were there.  He wore bright orange so we could spot him WAAAYYY down the beach.  GO Daddy go! 

THE FOLLOW UP:

SOOOOO....the afternoon we get back (Monday), Lilah begins to throw up throughout the night.  My baby girl now has the flu (or so we believe) and continues to get sick for the next 36 hours.  She stays home with me for 2 days and by then I am about to go nuts.  Thank GOD she went back to school on Thursday - just in time for her 1st grade musical!  Matt has lost his voice and now Wyatt is running a low grade fever and vomiting from the drainage (b/c he doesn't know how to properly blow his nose).  Wyatt had me up for most of the night last night and I am PRAYING for a solid night's sleep tonight...and I've just jinxed myself!  CRAP!  Needless to say, I want this "weekend" to end and a new one to start tomorrow!  

(I am, however, very grateful that I got to see my grandmother and that my daughter is much better!)