Ben is lucky to have married into a family who loves the beach as much as he does. I have mentioned before that I love seeing Ben at the beach, he just can't wipe the grin off of his face. We arrived to see a beautiful beach, just beckoning us to spend lots of fun and lazy time in the sand. It was beautiful.
Wait! What is that? A red flag?? Oh yeah...the oil spill. Psh. Won't stop us. Honestly it was not too bad. There was oil on the beaches in a few places and I got a lovely stain from it on my (new) beach towel but it was nothing more than a slight annoyance. We didn't go out in the water, but a lot of people did. I was okay with this. It kept my jellyfish phobia from being as obvious as usual. 
Like I said, no oil spill can stop us! We made our usual first stop in Gulf Shores at Sea-n-Suds. Here Dad is preparing cocktail sauce for everyone at the table for our feast of crab claws, fish, shrimp and for Dad and Joe...raw oysters. Half the fun of eating here is watching my parents' faces light up knowing that we have arrived and it's vacation time!
Of course we had to get a "sisters on the balcony" pic. We just all happened to be wearing blue. I like to think that is partially my good influence on them. Aren't my sisters beautiful? Inside and out I assure you.
We were so glad to have Joe join us this year. I know that Dad is thankful to have more male support. Our family has been overwhelmed by girls for so long, it's almost scary to think that the guys are catching up. At least when you are around fun people like this an hour and a half wait at LuLu's doesn't seem so bad.
Jen and Joe - looking cute.
Jamie joked that she was surrounded by couples. I wonder how she really felt about the situation...?
For the 4th of July we made dinner at the condo. The guys grilled steaks and we had a few good sides to go with them. The steaks were SO GOOD. Here is the grilling team. Obviously Joe is pointing out something very important, ha. 
Jamie was responsible for the camera while the grilling was taking place. Apparently everyone heard a loud noise and then Ben started yelling "Jamie Jamie take a picture TAKE A PICTURE". Ben gets a little excited when the Blue Angels are involved. It was definitely a treat for him to get the surprised fly by. I think Jammers did a great job of taking a picture, especially for being under so much pressure :)
Our 4th celebration ended with watching fireworks from the balcony. Lucky for us Ben brought complimentary BBVA Compass 3D glasses made to enhance our fireworks experience. They really just gave me a headache, but it was fun to see everyone wearing them.
This view from our balcony no longer existed after the 4th. Unfortunately it rained for the rest of our trip. That's alright though. A rainy day at the beach is still more fun than a normal day at home. We were able to visit the outlets, play fun domino games and just be together as a family.
Can't wait for next year!
