Uncle John's Fishing Rodeo

We had so much fun at the annual Fourth of July McDanal family reunion-and I already wish I was back sitting on the beach drinking bushwackers and scouting for jellyfish! This year marked the 16th year that the McDanal family has met in Gulf Shores/Orange Beach/Perdido Key for the July 4th holiday. The kids had an absolute blast, and definitely enjoyed playing with all of the cousins—14 to be exact. It was so fun to watch all of the littles run around and play with one another!

On our drive there, we stopped at The Shed BBQ in Hattiesburg, Mississippi for some famous ribs and barbeque. The original Shed is in Ocean Springs not far from Gulf Shores, and the owner has been on Food Network for various reasons (if you don’t know, I’m a food tv junkie!) The food definitely lived up to the hype, and it was a nice break in our drive being able to relax and enjoy the moment.

Enjoying some delicious bbq!

The kids did fantastic on the long drive. Harper did get a little cranky, but she is going through the separation anxiety phase with mama, and if I dangled my hand over her chair and brushed her hair, she would calm down. It also made for an interesting time during our visit – she wasn’t really happy unless I was holding her or walking with her! I know next year she will be running around like the other two, so I was happy to oblige her.

We really enjoyed hanging out with all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins during our time there. We spent a lot of time in the pool, made several trips to the beach, and went to The Hangout, Zeke’s Marina, The Flora-Bama, and Tacky Jack’s. When we weren’t on the go, it was great hanging out in the tent outside of the cottages. The shrimp boil was fantastic as always, and the aunts and uncles work so hard to feed the large crowd and clean up – I hope they know all their hard work does not go unappreciated!

We have arrived!

Orange Beach

Enoying some watermelon at Zeke's Marina

Pool time with PeePaw

Best Buds

Building sandcastles with Daddy

(I just love the colors!)

Gulf Shores Beach

The whole crew
Johnson Beach

The boy cousins-too cute!

Dylan hanging with the older boys

Feeding the fish at Zeke's

The girls slumber party (and no, Ava didn't stay the whole time!)

Girl cousins-Michelle, Me, Mary Ben, Mande

Our friends Josh and Carrie

(they live in Pensacola, so they came for a visit!)

Dylan trying to catch a lobster - that boy was obssessed!

Being tacky at Tacky Jack's

Sweet Tanner

Shaka Baby!

The Hangout

On the drive home, we took a different route and made a stop in New Orleans for a late morning snack of bienets from the famous Café Du Monde. It was Michael’s first time, and I’m pretty sure the bienet itself convinced him that we need to stop there again on future road trips! We walked around the Quarter and the French Market. I was tempted to get a muffalletta, but since we just had bienets I passed on the opportunity. I regretting that decision a few hours later…I’m not a fast-food fan, so eating McDonald’s for all three meals during our drive home was not ideal. (Insert gag sound here!)

Mmmmm-"Donuts!"

Daddy and Dylan with their Warpaint

The kids are still adjusting to “normal” bedtime, which is not an easy thing to do. They keep talking about the trip and their cousins and how they want to go to Tanner's house and to BooBoo's house. We are definitely all looking forward to many more Fourth reunions in the future!