Waaaaayyyyy back in February we booked our fall break trip to Cape San Blas/Port St. Joe, Florida. We told the kids immediately after booking, and we began a countdown using an app on my phone. When we first started the countdown was well over 200 days until the beach, but this was fun because we were all looking forward to it SO much! Everyone got really excited when we got under 100 days, and then for the last 2 weeks leading up to our trip we kept a big countdown going on the chalkboard in the boys' bedroom. We had been looking forward to our trip for SO long, but the week before we started watching the weather and there was a hurricane headed STRAIGHT for the cape where we were staying.
See that little letter H where it is supposed to hit at 8am on Sunday? Well, that H is exactly where we were headed and we were supposed to check in 16 hours before it got there. Thankfully as we planned to continue on our trip, the storm shifted and actually hit as a Tropical Storm and made landfall west of where we were going. We spent a lot of time watching these different weather diagrams before our trip though.
dSo a year or so ago, I finally figured out how to pack for six people....storage crates! This makes so much more sense than suitcases when you're traveling for a week. This was everything we needed for the week including beach chairs, a pack and play for Clayton to sleep in, a wagon, sun tent, stroller, and the booster high chair that you can see.
The morning we left that kids were excited to finally hold up a ZERO.
ZERO more days until Port St. Joe.
Clayton was a wonderful little traveler.
He napped.
And played.
dOur first glimpse of the beach as we were driving out to the Cape where we stay. You can tell we were arriving during the beginning of the Tropical Storm Nate, because those dark clouds.
dEven though we arrived at our condo at the same time as Tropical Storm Nate, we still had to run out on the beach and put our feet in the ocean. The kids are all acting weird in this picture because it was raining and really, really windy.
I jokingly said we would call this "Our First Tropical Storm Picture."
Also, note the crazy size of those waves-there are usually barely any waves on Cape San Blas (part of why we like it to play in the ocean there), these were huge-thanks Nate!
After we arrived during the tropical storm and unpacked, I tried to send John out for a few grocery items. Well, it was dark and raining and when he got to the area of the Cape they call the Stump Hole ocean water was crashing over the road from both sides and it was flooded...we were stuck on the Cape for the night (luckily at our condo) and couldn't make it to the grocery store. Luckily there's a little store out on the Cape where we grabbed bread, peanut butter, milk, and yogurts. I couldn't believe it when John came back though and said the road (as in the ONLY road) back to land was flooded out.
The next morning most of the tropical storm had passed but as we drove through the Stump Hole area going to the grocery store waves were still crashing over the road...you can see some spray coming over the rocks here.
dSince it was so windy and a little rainy as Tropical Storm Nate was moving out we decided to explore the Port St. Joe Marina.
SOOOO WINDY
Nora Kate wanted a picture with this boat because she said that Grandad calls her a Southern Lady just like the boat said.
When we got back to our condo, it was still technically during the tropical storm and the huge waves were waaay far up on the dunes...look at these pictures of how they just cut into the dunes.
Dawson thought it was funny when he read this sign to keep off the dunes and said, "Nate (the tropical storm) didn't read this sign."
We stayed in a different condo this time from last time mainly because we wanted to be further out on the Cape where the water is the clearest. We were thrilled to find a condo that was at the VERY end (the last thing on the cape before the state park which is at the very tip). We were really just thinking the location would be perfect, but everything about this condo worked out amazingly for us. It was four stories. You parked right by your door to your unit. On the first level was a laundry room and storage, the second level had a balcony, eat in kitchen with a bar where Clayton loved to sit and snack, a living room, a half bath, and a storage closet, the third floor had two bedrooms and two full bathrooms (Nora Kate and Clayton shared a room) and the boys shared a room, then the top floor was the master floor with another balcony and full bath. We took baby gates and the separation worked out great because no one got disturbed at naptime or after bedtimes, and when Clayton napped in the afternoon John or I could still lay in the sun on the balcony and read or relax.
You could see the pool and the ocean from the balconies and it was a very short walk on the boardwalk to the beach.
Dawson did his best run ever with me at the beach! He ran two miles in record time. This picture was right after we finished our run.
Tropical Storm Nate moving out.
The pool was a lot of fun!
But not as much fun as the sand, sun, and sea!
It must be vacation when you relax on the balcony in your pajamas with a ringpop mid-afternoon.
The kids caught tons of crabs and little frogs.
John took the big boys on a fishing trip. It ended up being just the Captain (Kevin), John, Dawson, and Carter so they went on this boat. The boys had an amazing time! They caught slime catfish (yuck-threw those back) and a couple other kinds that I, of course, cannot remember. They cleaned them and we cooked them in the condo and ate them the next day! Yum.
SO excited to be going fishing in the ocean on a boat!
One thing we absolutely love about this area is how we have so much beach to ourselves. The kids can run, play, and it's not crowded!
This boy loves a stick and can manage to find one just about anywhere to carry around.
Nora Kate made sandpies for us to enjoy!
John took this picture of one of their fishing spots on the fishing boat trip. I looked at it and immediately said, "A SHARK!" We zoomed in and sure enough there's a big fin sticking up in the right of this picture-it could be a dolphin, but John said they didn't even see it. He just happened to take the picture to show me this fishing spot along with several others.
Thankfully after Tropical Storm Nate moved out from our first day, we had amazing weather and ocean and beach the rest of the week. Here are the boys doing their favorite passtime of wave jumping...maybe second only to hole digging.
The water is SO clear it's amazing.
You can see this clearly down to the bottom even out to your waist if not further out!
Clayton LOVED the ocean
dAfter the tropical storm left there was a big "kiddie pool" left on the beach which turned out to be perfect for Clayton. It "connected" back to the ocean to the right and left, so the water was actually moving/flowing through so it wasn't just stagnant. Clayton and the kids LOVED playing in this area and the real ocean too.
When you're getting buried in the sand, and Daddy tickles your foot!
Of course, we had to enjoy donuts a couple of times from our very favorite donut shop....Weber's Little Donut shop.
Sunset=crab catching time.
Ahhhhh...so beautiful and relaxing.
A vacation to the Cape means we must eat almost every meal-breakfast, lunch, and dinner- on the balcony...and mainly in swimwear or pajamas. Yes, Dawson is drinking sprite (left over from the previous day) for breakfast----only on vacation!
View from the master balcony.
We have a great picture from last year at this chair, and I was determined to recreate it..."Hey kids, look directly into the sun for this picture." Ugh, it didn't turn out as I had hopped, but I guess that just means we will have to go back again. haha!
dNora Kate was playing in the ocean and said, "Hey Daddy, look I caught a seahorse!" We couldn't believe it, but she really did! It was squiggling along and she scooped it up in her hand. We kept it in a bucket of ocean water for a little while and watched it move-so neat! Then we set it free.
We love the clear, calm water to play in the ocean here!
dClayton got REALLY attached to John at the beach and only wanted Daddy, I was determined to get a picture of me and Mr. Baby-nope, he cried for Daddy.
We met a family staying in our condo complex who had a 2 seater kayak, life jackets, and paddles-they were so nice and we ended up talking to them quiet a bit. The let John take each of the 3 big kids out 1 at a time in their kayak-the kids thought this was SO neat to paddle out in the ocean in a boat-although John did almost all the paddling!
By our condo door before we left.
In the evenings we would regularly find little tree frogs on our front door here. This area is so natural and beautiful which is part of why we love it. The kids love all the critters to catch-crabs, fish, seahorses, frogs, etc.
Our condo is to the left, but this is the whole condo complex we stayed in.
We were so, so sad to leave as we had an absolutely amazing week!
This should tell you just how fun it was, before we were even off the Cape and headed home we were pulling up the availability calendar of the condo and hoping to go back again. Also, we usually get up early to leave the beach to come home, but we must have all been really wanting to stay because we didn't even leave until 9:30!
This area is just so peaceful, quiet, fun, and family friendly. It's not crowded at all. The ocean is calm and clear. It is absolutely beautiful...I could have stayed forever!
But it was time to head home. Clayton and the big kids were all absolutely exhausted from a week of fun in the sun and sand, so everyone was content to calmly ride, read, draw, and watch movies on the drive home. Clayton did a little reading.
And a little napping.
He was such a good traveler.
I'm so thankful for such an amazing week we had staying on Cape San Blas spending time together and enjoying the beach!
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