We had absolutely gorgeous weather the entire time. The worst day was not even cloudy, just kind of hazy and foggy. It rained and stormed one night, but not until after dark, so it didn't really affect us much.
Our beach house was beautiful, my favorite place we've stayed by far. We were kindly offered the master bedroom, since all 5 of us were sharing a room that week, and we needed to fit two air mattresses and a Pack N Play in with us. There was a huge walk in closet that fit the Pack N Play with room to spare, so...Violet slept in the closet. That worked out wonderfully. There was plenty of room to fit the kids' beds on the floor without inhibiting our movement too much. There was a gorgeous balcony off our room, though we blocked it off most of the time so that the kids didn't wander out there when they were supposed to be sleeping. The master bathroom was a dream.
Outside there was a nice area under the house that was shady. The house was fully loaded with stuff for kids to play outside, including two little toy pools. This was great because we had actually considered buying one when we got down there so there was an alternative to play in the Gulf. (My kids were scared to get too close to the Gulf of Mexico.)
The rest of the house was great too - three other bedrooms and bathrooms fit us all comfortably, especially considering the bunk beds that were in a closet in one hallway. Strange set up but helpful for some of the big cousins. There was a nice sized living room, kitchen and dining room. Our group was 15 total, and we never felt cramped.
Speaking of 15 total, we had a lot of help which was part of what made the trip so enjoyable for Adam and me. If we had done this trip by ourselves and the kids had gotten sick, we would have had zero time to relax. But as it was, we had lots of eager helpers, which we appreciate so much! (This would be a great place to insert a picture of the group, if I had one. Mikaela has them and I have yet to get copies.)
The biggest downside was that by Saturday night (the first night in the beach house) it was pretty clear that Eden and Sebastien were sick. They had fevers, rashes, more congestion, and their coughs were getting worse. Their energy was fairly low and they had little interest in being outside. This was a bummer. We had planned on over stimulated kids, kids that wouldn't want to get out of the sun, kids that wouldn't be sleeping because they were so tired...that kind of thing we planned for. But sick kids who didn't want to be outside? Boo. While inside, they actually did fairly well. It was obvious they weren't 100% themselves, but they weren't totally miserable. Their sleep was affected in a weird way. They fell asleep much faster than they usually would, which was good. But their overnights were very restless, especially for Sebastien. This made the overnights less restful than we would have hoped for on vacation.
By Thursday, Sebastien and Eden were starting to want to be outside and they were getting some energy back. This was so encouraging...However, Wednesday night Violet had a slight fever, and on Thursday it was a full-on fever, with cough and congestion to boot. I also started to get sick on Thursday. (The best word to describe all this sick stuff is BUMMER.) Friday the kids were almost back to themselves. They spent a long time outside playing with the whole gang (minus Adam and me; we were busy packing) and they had SO much fun. Adam and I both felt like Friday night was a window into what the week could have been like for them, if only they hadn't been sick.
But all in all, our assessment is this: beautiful weather + great location + great company - healthy kids + lots of help = still a pretty great time.
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