Beach babies

Gorgeous day at the beach!

So, little man turned 10 over the summer. For past birthdays, I've thrown elaborate (and highly themed) parties. We've rented bounce castles for a medieval kings and queens party, propped up a huge water slide for a shark-themed extravaganza (conveniently scheduled during Shark Week), and reserved half of High Heaven for a trampoline fete. Custom-printed invitations, tons of decorations, theme cakes - I was all in. It was incredibly fun, but also incredibly exhausting.

So this year, when Clay said he'd rather grab a friend and head to the beach for the weekend, I was delighted. Luckily, one of his best friends in the neighborhood also has a cool mom (Jennifer) and a great little sister. So, we rented a two-bedroom condo in Biloxi, piled in the car, and hit the road.

Campfire cookies!

We'd found a great condo at The Ocean Club. It's right across the street from the beach (and there's a traffic light there, so it's easy to cross). Our condo was roomy, and we had a lovely balcony with ocean views. We settled in and spent the weekend swimming in the pool, walking the beach, and eating tons of seafood. We had big pancake breakfasts, and one evening, we made campfire cookies!

Jennifer and I even killed a glass of wine or two on the balcony. In short, a good time was had by all.

Frankly, I'm a little sorry for those of you who are still planning giant birthday parties. I'm going to work hard to steer little man to weekend trips from here on out!