Mother's Day Beach Trip

This year, we celebrated Mother's Day in a very special way by taking a last minute trip to the beach. On Mother's Day, Grandma Marsh, mom, Matt, Molly and I drove all the way through Alabama (which included a mandatory stop at Peach Park in Clanton- can you say fried peach pies !?) and ended up in Watersound, Florida (the 30A area, in between Panama City and Destin), where we spent the following week relaxing, eating too much, and soaking up some sun. It was fantastic! The condo where we stayed had an amazing view to watch the Florida sunsets...

The weather was perfect the entire time we were there. We even got to watch a small storm (complete with purple and pink lightening bolts) roll in over the ocean on our last night.

Warning: below you will find exceedingly cute photos of a baby in swimsuits...

After swimming in the pool on the first morning, we napped (well, Molly napped), ate, and took a moment to get a few photos on the balcony. I was insistent on getting a good picture of all four generations and I am so glad that we did!

Pictured above: Fredda Ruth, age 87. Rebecca Ruth, age 60. Jillian Ruth, age 29. Molly Ruth, age 14 months.



Molly had lots of fun practicing her new walking skills!

On the second day, we packed up the (massive amount of) gear needeed to play at the beach with an infant/ toddler. I guess MR is a toddler, but referring to her as an infant/ toddler is somehow less shocking. (This mama isn't ready for her baby to be a little girl yet!)

Initially, I was afraid we lugged the 3 tons of gear down to the beach for nothing because MR was not happy...



But, Matt pitched the tent (insert Butthead's laugh here) that we brought and the much needed shade bought us a little more time.



Molly apprehensively played with the sand...



...and laughed as daddy buried her legs.





Note: MR had the most amazing hair days while we were at the beach. The Florida humidty is her best friend, I tell you!







After our beach adventure, Molly took a much needed nap. Then, daddy dressed her and snapped a few shots out on the balcony...



I think this next picture looks a lot like me when I was a child:











And, I couldn't resist putting her in a dress and taking some pictures on the beach ;)
















On the last day, we took a late afternoon swim...















It's safe to say that we had a great time. Honestly, I have a great time being a mother every day, no matter where we are or what we're doing. I am forever grateful to God for giving me the gift of motherhood.