Mitchells at PCB 2017

So pretty much every year since we have gotten married, we have spent a summer vacation at the beach in Panama City Beach. We have stayed on the eastside for some years, but I really like it when we stay on the westside closer to 30A. It’s less crowded and more family oriented- plus, we can head over to 30A really easily for some of the yummy places to eat there. A few summers before Levi was born we went to Orlando and on a cruise or two, but for the most part, we have spent every summer at PCB. We got so often that I even have a hastag that I have created on Instagram, #mitchellsatpcb, for whenever we go down there and the pictures I post after the trip.

Our trips in the past have been fun, but this year (despite the rain and double red flags) was probably my favorite trip to the beach; and it had everything to do with Levi. Y’all, this kid has turned into water baby. He liked the beach last year, but he was a little scared of the ocean and HATED water in his face. This year, no fears at all. It was like we took a completely different kid to the beach with us. I had him in swim lessons for almost a year, so I saw his confidence grow in the water over the year; but he left in April still unable to swim successfully on his own.

He loved the waves and the ocean, we threw him on top of a boogie board and he rode/belly surfed some waves, and swam loves getting hit by the waves. He learned to SWIM in the pool! I was so excited and by the end of the week he was confidently swimming on his back and even floating so well.  He absolutely loved being launched by his Daddy into the water to me. He would be thrown in, go down some, and then swim to the surface and to me. It was SO cool seeing my big boy growing up and doing so well. This kid had no fear in the water. Watching him enjoy himself brought me more joy than anything else on this trip. He swam and played so hard each day that he ended up napping for 2.5-3 hours each day. He had so much fun that he was exhausting himself each day!

I brought out my camera one day when we had an overcast morning to snap some pictures of Levi playing in the sand. He saw someone else get buried in the sand and requested to do the same. I’m not sure, but I don’t think there are many 3 year olds that would volunteer to be buried and sit in the sand still for 30 minutes, but that’s what our kid did! He loved playing in the sand!

On our last night, we went and dressed up for some family pictures on the beach. I took the pictures of Levi and his grandparents and Daddy, but anything that I am in, I had my hand assistant/mother-in-law take pictures for me. I taught her how to see the focus within the camera and she was able to get some great pictures for me. Thanks Nana for the pictures!

I already miss the beach and cannot wait till we can go back again.

 We legit buried him! I love watching these two play with each other I do an annual “Levi in front of the dunes picture” and this is the one we got for this year. I love how happy he is! Scroll down to the bottom to see a collage of all 4 years he’s been to the beach.   These are the pictures we took the last night we were at the beach I’m kind of obsessed with this “grandpa-style” pineapple shirt I found for him.    Levi loves his Gogo! I just love this one of Levi with his Nana and Papa!  Sweet hugs for Gogo  Epic Levi all four years he’s been to the beach. I seriously wonder what I fed him between 2015-16 with how much he grew!