Last Minute Trip to Pensacola Beach

Our last minute trip to Pensacola Beach is just what our family needed.

Hi friends, hope you had a great 4th of July weekend! Last weekend, we took the kids on an impromptu trip to Pensacola beach. We had all been itching to go to the beach and we kept going back and forth on deciding on whether we should go or not due to the weather. Even though the forecast showed 60% precipitation, we decided to book it anyways and just go for three days. I’m so glad we did because not only did we have perfect weather, we made a lot of fun memories. After a really crazy crazy couple of months in Spring, we decided our family needed to go away just the five of us to recoup as a unit. Jimmy and I put aside our work responsibilities and just soaked in the sand, sun and waves. I don’t think I’ve ever played so much in the ocean as an adult. Even our youngest, Emmy loved swimming in it with us. Destin is still our favorite beach but the waves in Pensacola made going in the ocean equally fun and exhilarating.  This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. 

We’ve made it an annual tradition to stop at Cracker Barrel for lunch on the way down to Florida. We always stop at the same location and we fill our bellies up on some southern food. I even let the kids choose a piece of candy! I know, I’m such a cool mom. #sarcasm As you can see, JJ has passed down his crazy photo taking shenanigans down to his little sister.

Since January, my husband has been on a mission to lose weight before he turns 40. He’s already down 15 lbs and I’ll share a post on that later. We started eating paleo and we feel so good! 

After 10 hours, we finally arrived! That’s what you get when you decide to travel down to the gulf coast during 4th of July weekend. We immediately checked into the beachfront hotel and walked down to swim in the ocean. One look and we knew the drive was totally worth it. 

Someone was so happy she became mini Michael Jordan. 

Now that our kids are bigger, we have someone to take photos of us too! I bought my striped beach cover last year and it’s so comfy and light. You can buy it here only for $13.99! 

The first morning, we woke up early because we gained an hour being in central time and went out to take some family pics. These were all taken with my trusty tripod. 

One of my biggest advice to give in marriage is to always show affection in front of your children. Showing them you love each other provides security and and a healthy understanding of intimacy. You will gross your kids out but it’s totally worth embarrassing them. 

JJ is always looking for sea creatures because well, he’s JJ and that’s his thang. 

Right after these pics, we changed and headed down to breakfast!

The hotel we stayed in served breakfast and that was one of the highlights for the kids. They loooove hotel eating. They feasted on waffles and cereal with way too much sugar in them. Talk about full on #vacaymode.

This is why we love the gulf coast so much. Look at that water!

The hotel gave out free snow cones daily. This was a welcome treat after hours on the beach. Every day, we went out to the beach right after breakfast. We brought lunch out there so we could maximize our time and then come back for a couple of hours before going out to dinner. Emmy passed out in our tent every day on the beach. 

We attempted to build sand castles. Sadly we do not have this talent. 

Such a cool sand turtle right? Yeah, we didn’t make that. 

I bought my black swimsuit a couple years ago from TJ Maxx but I found a very similar one here. 

One night next to our hotel, we walked over to, “Crabs We Got Em.” We were able to find somewhat healthier options and we feasted like kings. 

On another night after dinner, we went to Cafe Bistro to treat the kids to delicious ice cream. I love supporting family owned businesses and there was just so much on the menu. If you ever go down to Pensacola, you have to stop by this place. The all natural fruit smoothies were delicious. As you can tell, we all got a little sun. Make sure to bring a hat and cover your face! 

We went back home on the 4th and the drive home was so much quicker. 

If you have the chance, Pensacola is definitely worth the visit. As you can see, it’s thug approved. 

My favorite photo of all was when I compared these two photos almost exactly 4 years apart. 

Thanks for reading, friends! Tell me, where is your favorite beach? 

Yuni

Let all that you do be done in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14