It's not WHAT you know, it's WHO!

One of the best appeals for us to go to Orange Beach on vacation is that Jonathan's dad and stepmom live in Foley...which is just minutes away. Since we rarely get to visit with them, it's always a priority to catch up with them while we are there. This past visit was no different. On one of the evenings down there, we went to The Warf because Mimi (Sonya-Jon's stepmom) was working at the Ferris Wheel. Since she works there, she gave us "The Mimi Special", which means we ride for free!!! Here's a couple of photo's:

The ferris wheel is so pretty all lit up at night.















Waiting to get on and full of smiles!









Ryan didn't like waiting in line-he wanted to get on NOW!








Last friday was Jonathan's birthday and he shares that day with his Dad as well. We made plans to celebrate the two guys' birthdays on Saturday, and what better opportunity for Lou (Jon's dad) to put his connections in place! Since living down there for the past 3 years, Lou has met many interesting people. One couple he knows owns a condo at the Caribe resort which is a fabulous place! We were able to visit the resort to swim in the pools which was a welcome retreat considering that's what the kids were missing most-swimming! The Caribe resort has HUGE pools, with large areas for kids to play. There is also a lazy river (sooo cool!), and waterslides! I was really surprised at Ryan and how eagerly he took to the waterslides. He tends to be a bit timid when trying new things and my first impression was that he would be too scared to go down...or that if he did, he might panic when he hit the water so quickly. Well, as you can probably guess, I WAS WRONG. He was down that slide before I could completely walk over to the pool and the first thing I heard him say after he was in the water was "THAT WAS AAWWWSOME! I GOTTA DO THAT AGAIN!!!" And he did it again. And again. And again! He had the best time and I was sooo proud to see him doing it. Megan had a great time too. She loved swimming and juming and sliding all over the place. It was a great place to go, and even though I am sure I could never afford to stay there, it's great that we were given that chance on Saturday.



The pool with waterslides









The kids with Papaw. (Ryan's being goofy...as always)













Megan on the lazy river









Ryan and Mimi on the lazy river.




So like the saying goes, "It's not WHAT you know, It's WHO you know". Free rides on the Ferris Wheel...thanks to Mimi! (And she let us use her exclusive restroom in her ticket booth, so we didn't have to go hunt it up in one of the shops). And a fabulous day at the Caribe Resort...thanks to Papaw!

It was a great trip and we would love to do it all again...SOON!