Gulf Shores Alabama Trip

On Saturday, July 1st, we drove West to Gulf Shores, Alabama to meet up with the Anders family for a week of fun in the sun. We brought some of Connor's old clothes with us for Graydon and since we don't pack very lightly, we were all squeezed tight in to the GX. I snapped a selfie with the kids in the back seat. Thankfully we now have unlimited data, so they were able to tether their iPads to a phone and watch Netflix and Youtube while we drove. The 6 1/2 hour drive wasn't too bad for the most part.

Once we arrived at the townhouse, we unpacked and spent the afternoon with everyone at the beach. I got to meet Griffin for the first time, and we all goofed around together until dinner time. For dinner some of us got pizza and I went to the Shrimp basket with the Gobles, Andrea, and Drew.

The next morning, we woke up to a surprise from Genie. She was feeling bad and had been Googling her symptoms. She was worried about her pancreas and told us she thought she should go to the ER. We told the kids what was going on and Paige said she had already talked to Genie and that Grandma was worried she had "Pancreasaurus". Thankfully on a Sunday morning, the ER was quiet and we got Grandma Genie taken back fairly quickly. They took some blood, ran some labs, and decided she should stay the night for observation. The labs showed she was a little low on Magnesium, but otherwise her pancreas and labs looked OK. They were more worried about her heart since she'd had some symptoms that worried them. We asked them to try and run the necessary labs ASAP, and thankfully they released her by dinner time!

The Rudolphs went to pick up Genie from the hospital that afternoon and we snapped a few pictures together while we waited for them to arrive.

After dinner we walked to the "Flip Flop Deli Shop" which was just down the road from the townhouses. It was super convenient, had ice cream, shaved ice, deli sandwiches, taco pizza, and all kinds of fun treats. We ended up going there every day for dessert, or for other goodies.

The rest of the week, we all played a lot outside. I played tennis with Drew, Connor and Nate on Monday and on Wednesday with Connor and Nate. It was hot, but we played on some super nice public clay courts. The girls did some shopping together and got some clothes from the outlet mall.

July 3rd, we had an adult night out. Connor and Paige hung out with their cousins and Grandma Genie. We went to Bahama Bob's for some drinks and food, and then we walked down the beach to the Hangout and the Pink Pony Pub. It was super crowded everywhere, which was to be expected, but was a little disappointing. We wait at the PPP for a long time for our drinks and finally just gave up and left. At the end of the night, we stopped in at the Flip Flop Deli shop for ice cream.

On July 4th, we went to dinner together and snapped some group pics before we left.

That evening, we went out on the beach and watched the fireworks at the pier. It was a pretty long way off, but we could still see it well. The weather was amazing on the beach. There was a nice cool breeze and no bugs. A perfect way to enjoy the 4th.

The rest of the week was more fun in the sun. I played some mixed doubles with a group of locals at the public courts, Drew and Ryan went deep sea fishing, and we all did a lot of swimming at the beach and pool.

We just got home a couple hours ago and we're getting everything unpacked. It was a fun week together with everyone and we're glad it all came together. We'd been worried that something would come up and it would get canceled or something. We're also thankful that Genie felt better throughout the week and that her health scare was a minor one.