Beach Vacation, Day Nouement

As promised, here's that sunrise. We did get up in time to see it, but there turned out to be an extremely large condo building directly between our east-facing balcony and the sun. Still, the sky was pretty, and it was a fitting way to end the week. The beach vacation was awesome. I think I can say without hyperbole that I loved every minute of it. The living room was by far my favorite room in the house because it had such an awesome view, a cool, mirrored wall to make it seem more open, and some really soft, deep, comfortable couches. It was the perfect place for relaxing with a book or taking an afternoon siesta.

I'm definitely going to miss that place for a good little while. Still, the vacation has to end sometime, and that time, unfortunately, has come. All the pictures that we took and posted on the web are available here, including shots of the other rooms and, obviously, some extremely cute pictures of the kids. Thanks for reading!

Beach Vacation, Day Six

Our last full day at the beach began with the sighting from our living room window of just absolute schools of dolphins swimming fairly close into shore. Efforts to photograph them were met with mixed results, but I did manage to get a few successful shots out of about 117 tries. Here's one now:

We were able to go back into the ocean again today, and the water has calmed so much that it is really clear near the shore, so we could see all kinds of fish and seaweed as we waded in. Also, it turns out that there's a sandbar really close to shore to which even Daniel could wade without the water going past his shoulders. I did have to carry Maggie out there, but it was really cool to stand up in the middle of the water on what felt like a second beach! Here's a shot of the kids and me out there.

We had all gone out originally, but then we saw a jellyfish, the kids got scared, and we went back to the first / main beach. It turned out, as we headed back to the beach, that there were a lot of jellyfish in the water, and there were even some public-service-oriented folks who were catching them and taking them to a well-marked place on the beach to die. Once the good people had cleared out three or four of them, the kids felt safe enough to wade back out with me to take the above picture. Here's a progression of the passing of one jellyfish:

After the picture on the sandbar was taken, the kids had enjoyed their fill of the ocean, and it was back to the condo pool, where Maggie and Daniel continued to improve their swimming to the point that I'm pretty sure they're taking part in the opening ceremonies in Beijing sometime tomorrow. Check your local listings for exact times.

The plan for the evening was to take a walk along the beach (a quick one, for the kids' sake), followed by one last round in the pool, where we could hopefully shoot some video of these two young gold medal hopefuls.

Sadly (read: devastatingly) for our dear kiddos, a storm began to roll in as we were making our way back from the walk and towards the pool, and lightning was spotted in the relative vicinity. They were forced to console themselves over ice cream, cake, cookies, baths, and books. After they'd been put to bed (but hours before they actually went to sleep), we played through another round of Phase Ten, which of course Angie won again, this time on points and phase completions.

If we can manage it, we're going to try to get up to see the sunrise, and if so, I'll try to post a picture. If that doesn't work out, here's what it might look like, based on this evening's sunset:

Finally, I'd like to close this week of vacation by saying, "Thank you" to Bennett and Lynley for inviting us to their family's condo on the beach, to Mom and Dad for helping to make this vacation possible, and, of course, to the sweet, considerate neighbors who left their wireless settings on the defaults so that we could enjoy free Internet service for the week. Without your help, this might never have been possible.

Beach Vacation, Day Five

It's safe to go back in the water! Everyone slept in really late for day 5, except the kids, of course. Since the red flags had been replaced with American flags, Angie took the kids down to the beach for the customary 3 and a half minutes of time in the surf before Daniel completely freaks out over the possibility of being stung by a jellyfish and requests to go home, or at least the pool, while everyone else stayed in the condo. I actually went down and joined them after they'd been in the pool for a while. Maggie's swimming is really improving, and Daniel never fails to have a creative new way to jump in and splash everyone. He's invented several new splashing techniques, with varying degrees of success.

In other news, Bennett and Lynley (my heretofore unnamed brother and sister-in-law, respectively) had to head back today in order to go to work on Thursday, so our afternoon was tainted with a slight sadness at the diminution of our party. Fortunately, we were able to forget our sorrows with a brief rest, followed by a trip about half a mile down the road to The Crab Trap for dinner,

and a sojourn into town to visit Souvenir City,

where Daniel and Maggie were able to buy some souvenirs of their beach trip with their own money thanks to Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace, Jr.

After that, all that was left was to put the kids down, get ready for bed, and stay up until midnight watching Becoming Jane. Not exactly beach-y, but hey, it's what the ladies wanted to see.

Beach Vacation, Day Four

Today was, again, a red-flag day, but we did manage to get some sand castle-building done at the beach. The day was mostly spent lounging, reading, and swimming with the children in the condo pool. We had all our meals at the condo, and after the kids went to bed, we played a vigorous game of Phase Ten (25th Anniversary Edition), a kind of very complex Uno. Angie won on points, although my sister-in-law was first to complete all phases. We stayed up WAY too late playing, eating cookies, and making jokes which were funnier than they might have been due to the delirium which comes from sleep deprivation. I personally felt it was one of the better days, but then my favorite way to spend time on vacation is to waste it. All in all, it was a very relaxing day. Highlights included Maggie's first sand castle, Uncle Bennett teaching Daniel new and better ways to splash the people sitting around the pool, and Maggie and Daniel making great strides in improving their swimming. There are, as always, even a few pictures here taken throughout the day.

Beach Vacation, Day Three

This morning when we looked outside, there were red flags all along the beach, meaning that it was too dangerous to go for a swim. So, after a leisurely breakfast / get-the-muscles-working-again time, we loaded up and headed to the Pirate's Island Adventure Golf putt-putt place near Lulu's, where we'd eaten the night before. This was a great mini-golf place with historical information about either of two pirates, Jean Lafitte or Blackbeard, depending on which course you took. We went on the Lafitte course, and I'm sure we were the better for it, both in terms of play and education. Everyone had a blast, and Maggie got a hole in one!

After putt-putt, we were getting hungry again. Breakfast may have been leisurely, but it was not particularly large. Also, with eight of us playing miniature golf, two of whom tended to drag things out a bit, 18 holes took over two and a half hours in the full mid-day sun. So, we loaded up again and headed this time to Lambert's Cafe, "Home of the Throwed Rolls." There are only 3 of them in existence: two in Missouri and the one in Foley, Alabama. Lambert's has special significance for Angie and me because we went to the one near Branson, Missouri on our first anniversary, when we were up that way visiting friends, and we remember the experience fondly. So it was great to get to share that with the kids. They loved it, especially when the waiters would bring around the bucket of fried okra and scoop as much as you wanted right onto whatever surface you presented to them (plate, paper towel, upside-down hat, etc.). The picture below is of a waiter throwing a roll to me. The roll is just above the lamp and kind of blends in with the red-and-white flag. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I actually snapped the photo with my right hand and caught the roll with my left, although by that point I was so stuffed I didn't want to eat the roll; I just wanted the shot.

The rest of the day consisted of almost everyone napping, followed by the four of us going swimming in the pool while my parents hung out in the condo and my brother and his wife played tennis at the condo across the street. We had a VERY late dinner (mostly leftovers from our enormous lunch) followed by a wonderful little post-birthday birthday party for me, complete with caramel cake, vanilla ice cream, and Simpsons-themed birthday cards with Homer re-capping some of his most witty remarks. If I'd thought about it, I'd have asked someone to take pictures of that, but we were having too much fun and I forgot to mention it. More pictures from the Pirate Golf and from Lambert's are available here, however.

Beach Vacation, Day Two

This is where the fun starts. We woke up at precisely whenever we felt like it and had a leisurely pancake breakfast in our living and dining room area overlooking the ocean.

After breakfast, we got our first real shot at the beach. It went pretty well, considering that it was the first time the children had seen the ocean in the light of day. I think Maggie enjoyed playing in it more than Daniel; he got some salt water in his nose a couple of times and announced that he was ready to head back to our real house. He settled down a bit and played a little more, but didn't seem really happy until he got to go to the pool. I suspect he'll warm up to the ocean as the week goes on. Maggie liked me to hold her arms as the waves were crashing in and letting them lift her up and try to carry her to the shore. We played in the pool for a bit after that, followed by a light lunch, and then EVERYONE took a nap.

Nap time was somewhat interrupted by the arrival of the firetruck, ambulance, and, on the beach right outside our windows, the Life Flight helicopter. We didn't get the full story, but it appeared that someone probably had gotten severely dehydrated and needed to have fluids pumped into them.

Anyway, after that excitement, the naps began in earnest, followed by the arrival of the grandparents at last! (Did I mention we're down here with my brother, his wife, and my folks? We are. Day 1 included my brother and his wife.) Once they'd gotten settled in, we packed up the vehicles and headed to Lulu's Sunset Grill (about 20-30 minutes away), which is a really great open-air beach-style restaurant owned by Jimmy Buffett's sister, Lucy. They have a volleyball net, a souvenir hut, 2 refreshment huts, and a massive sandy play area with beach toys for the kids. This was a good thing, as our wait time was an hour and a half. Yes, really. Fortunately, the food was excellent, and a good time was had by all, although after playing volleyball with a bunch of kids half my age and younger, I thought I might need that helicopter, too.

So, overall, we're off to a great start! I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring. More pictures than you probably care to see are and will be available here.

Beach Vacation, Day One

Okay, we'll see how this goes, but I thought I'd try to keep a record of our vacation. There's not a lot to tell about Day One, as we spent most of it driving here. We're in a town that is as far west on the coast of Florida as you can go; the Flora-Bama bar (they apparently opted for a state bar instead of a state line) is not quite 2 miles down the road. We did get to let the kids put their feet in the ocean before their bath, but it was already pretty dark out, and they won't really get the experience of it until tomorrow, although they're already VERY excited, as evidenced by the picture below:

Beach preview

In preparation for our upcoming beach trip we decided to take the kids to our local man-made lake beach. Despite the greenish-brown water and little fish that swim in the water we had a great time. Maggie loves that she can touch the bottom and practiced swimming a lot. Daniel likes to dive under the water with his mask on and try to catch the fish or pick up rocks. One unfortunate thing that happened while we were at the beach was that I stepped on a bee. Boy was that uncomfortable. The last time I got stung by a bee I was in kindergarten living in Ft. Campbell, KY. I was playing bare foot at the park and stepped on a bee that was on a flower. Thankfully I am not allergic to bees, but I forgot just how uncomfortable a bee sting can be. I am just glad that it was me instead of one of the kids that got stung. Let's hope the bee sting is not a preview of our time at the real beach. We are getting really excited. Less than a week before we leave!

We're going to the beach!

In less than two weeks we will be taking off for our first family vacation (with all four of us - five counting the one in utero). We have been on approximately three vacations, our first being our honeymoon to Savannah when we got married. A year later on our first anniversary we went to Missouri to visit a friend of mine in which we stayed at their home. We did stay in a hotel in Branson , MO for one night and spent the day taking in the tourist attractions. Then when Daniel was a year old, and I was pregnant with Maggie, we went to Ohio to visit my mom's side of the family. That is the last "vacation" we have had. Davis and I have had two weekend get aways since having our precious children. One of the main reasons that we have not had more vacations is that we have been trying to get out of debt most of our married years together, albeit not in any way that was focused (until we came across Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover and went through Financial Peace University), but we knew we couldn't afford vacations. The only reason we get to enjoy this upcoming family vacation is because we have a wonderful connection (our sister-in-law) to a condo in Florida. Because it is a condo, we have the ability to cook food and store and reheat leftovers therefore keeping the cost of food down. And because we are on a budget we know exactly how much money we may take with us to spend. I know that we are going to have a ball. Maggie absolutely loves playing in the sand so she will be in heaven. Daniel and Maggie love to swim so we plan to wear them out. Maybe we will even come back with a little color in our normally transparent skin.