We left for vacation on Saturday morning at 4:00a.m.  The trip to Gulf Shores is normally around 10 hours from Conway.   With 3 carloads of families that time had a good chance of increasing.

After waking up a couple of hours later, the kids were in a really good mood and ready to be at the beach.  They actually did very well for the entire trip.

Riley spent some time on the trip playing computer games. 

We crossed the Mississippi River in the morning with everyone still excited about the trip.  Especially Shelley who was sleeping soundly. 

She probably wouldn't have slept so well if she knew I was driving down the road taking pictures of state signs and our traveling partners.

This is the Bright family somewhere in Mississippi with Amanda at the wheel.

This is the Mckenna family in Louisianna.  They did extra duty for part of the trip by keeping 4 kids in their car, leaving the above Bright family with no kids, the easiest part of the trip.

We finally made it to the beach!  The guys went to the Store to pick up supplies for the week and the girls went to the grocery store to pick up food.

You would think being at the beach that the kids would want to spend all their time in the ocean, but no, most of the time we hung out at the pool.

Night one was pretty uneventful.  After last years 'Pink Pony Incident', we learned that the first night is not the time to go out with the guys and stay out all night.

This year Tim surprised us all (me and Shelley) with his Pole Position skills.  I wouldn't let him leave till I beat his high score, so he was there pretty late.

Day 2

First full day on the beach.  The girls are pretty excited.

As usual, we ordered fresh seafood from the market and had it steamed and took it home.  We spent the evening in the Youngblood room.  This would be the party room for the week.

The first nighttime crab hunt.  I don't think we caught any this time.  Probably much too loud for the crabs.....and everyone else on the beach.

Notice Tim working his magic 2 second bra release on an unsuspecting Amanda.  If you've never seen Tim do his thing, you're missing out.

This picture is 3 seconds after the previous one.  Tim laughing with the guys and Amanda walking away to fix her bra.

More beach pyramids.  I had to add this one because of Ben's reaction to the 'gang sign' someone is flashing him.

Day 3

The guys got up bright and early on day 3 and went to the Soldiers Creek Golf course.   Notice how everyone is soaking wet.  98 degrees with no wind.

It was however a really nice course.  We got to play for free once a day as part of our condo rental package.

Looks like a 300 yard drive.  I taught John Daly everything he knows.........about hitting your drive into the woods.

Hayden and Caroline got along really well all week

Our first night out on the town.  When on vacation with six kids under 7, a night out on the town consists of a trip to the souvenier shop and an early dinner.  Early enough that the only other people eating at that time are people that are so old that they think that screaming rowdy children are cute and not annoying.

After golf and a nap, the day went downhill for me.  A trip to the souvenier shop with 6 kids is not really my favorite pastime.

Dinner was nice.

A quick trip to the beach that night and the night was over.

Day 4

Holly  and Abby were always the first on the beach

Gotta have the family beach picture. 

Hayden and Caroline hear the news about a new hermit crab being caught at the beach.  They take a little break from the pool to check it out.

Instead of staying at the condo, we took the kids to a dolphin cruise.  The captain let all the kids take a turn driving the boat.  That's John at the wheel. 

On a sad note, we arrived in time to board the boat and realized that most of the other boaters had brought a cooler.  We were all pretty disappointed in ourselves that we hadn't thought to bring a cooler of beer.  After 10 minutes of watching for dolphins, a few beers would have made the next hour and 20 minutes a lot easier.

John and Hayden got along really well on vacation.

Hayden was a little bit afraid of the ocean at first.  Shelley carried him around in the waves for awhile till he got used to it.

He was more of a pool guy

Me and Tim after our Big Brother game.

We all played a Big Brother drinking game that we made up.

Ben and the girls enjoy an intimate moment after the Big Brother game.

Not sure what to say about this.

More pole position with the guys after the girls tire out.

Evidence of our late night carousing.  Shelley has to go check on the kids and falls asleep with them. 

This picture was taken only seconds after the picture left of the guys playing video games.

Day 5

More early morning golf on day 5.  This time at GlenLakes course.   It was just as hot as last time, but we had a great time.  A tad bit more hungover than on day 3 also. 

Tim bought a cooler of beer after 9 holes and made fun of me and Ben for not drinking with him.  (Peer pressure isn't just for high school kids.)

That night (after a long nap for the guys and another shopping trip for the girls) we went to the fun park.

The girls all got matching Gulf Shores shirts and shorts.

Hayden and Caroline had a great time at the fun park.  They rode a ferris wheel together and go-carts.

Me and Riley were partners in the go karts.

Shelley and Hayden were riding together.

The girls were also able to drive the bumper boats alone this year, saving the adults from being soaked....except for Tim who rode with John.  See next pic.

Tim looks kinda like he did after 18 holes of golf that morning.

Shelley and Hayden

The guys, minus Hayden, at the park.

We called it an early night after the park.  We were planning to leave early in the morning.

Day 6

We all got out of Gulf Shores by 7:00am, and all left out one at a time.  The Mckennas were planning to make a stop at the battleship in Mobile and the Brights had somewhere to be early Friday.  

The Youngbloods were also hoping for a quick trip back to Conway, but.......................

Meanwhile, in another part of Mobile the Youngbloods were standing around in the middle of a 4 lane road waiting for the police to show up.

While waiting patiently at a stoplight, we got rear-ended.

This is the guy that got pushed into us.  He's  trying to kick his fender out far enough to drive it.

This is the truck that caused all the problems.  He tried to change lanes into a lane where everyone was already stopped.

It took about an hour to finish everything and fill out the paperwork.  We were all ok and the car was ok enough to make it home.