The Water's Great- Come On In!

Vacation 2012

Destin- Wednesday, July 18

Andy and I started our day with a trip to the Donut Hole. We purchased a dozen, yummy donuts.

We then went for a run.  I got my mile (including walking).  I stopped at the beach halfway through my run and declared that we would have a good, beach day.  Upon my return from the run, Savannah was up and ready to run.  Andy had completed three miles, but we both set out to do a mile with her.  Unfortunately, my shin was not cooperating, so I cut out very early.

As I predicted the water was fabulous -clear and cool.  I spent hours at the beach, in the water and then headed to the pool after a very late lunch.

Tara stated a couple of times that after spending time at the beach she doesn't get how anyone can see it and deny God.  Jonathan, Tara, and I are all convinced that we could live here.  The turquoise water today...beautiful.

We enjoyed some time with family.  Savannah has given up on pictures with Wyatt to take pictures with others.

Beautiful girls -Savannah and Lesley

Julia asked to hold Ira, and I think this is the first time she has done this.  She wanted to make sure that he was happy, so she rocked him from side to side.  Ira and I bonded today.  I worked on teaching him how to say "ooooh" which he did very well.  I tried to get him to say, "My Aunt Tamara loves me," but we have some work to do on that.

Regan is totally loving the sand, ocean and pool.  She begged to "go to the water."  Isn't she striking?

Fudpuckers/Gator Beach

The kids wanted their pictures taken with the gators at Fudpuckers.  Being the cool moms/aunts that Tiffany and I are, we obliged.  Joshua wanted to go as well.  Regan did not join us though I think she would have liked the alligator...the lengthy wait in line, not so much.

After the picture the kids got to ask lots of questions.  They were very good questions about the gender of the alligator, how long it is, what happens when they are too old to remain at Gator Beach etc. Julia stated that she was surprised by the questions that came out of her mouth.

Wyatt has been a bugger most of the day.  I think the combination of having the only people close to his age be girls who have become quite attached to each other and late nights has gotten to be too much.  He went to bed early tonight, and we anticipate a better day tomorrow.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

After all of the gator pictures, Julia and Lesley asked for several pictures of the two of them.  I sent the others on to the gift shop while these two posed for multiple pictures.

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Vacation Bucket List

dinner out with the whole family -check

a long day at the beach -check

Donut Hole -check

pictures of the family - pending and scheduled

a t-shirt to commemorate my trip -pending

getting a onseie for Ira that says "Are these really my relatives?"  - pending

walk on the beach at sunrise or sunset - pending

read latest People magazine- check

You can still have a good time on a stormy, rainy day at the beach

First, you just make sure to seize any opportunity to head to the pool or the beach when it presents itself.  We got about an hour at the pool, and some headed to the beach where they got about an hour.  I was packing to go to the beach when the rolling thunder brought that plan to a halt.

We switched gears, and Tara, Tessa and I headed to an outlet mall.  In the past, I have not had much success at outlet malls, so I had no intention of making any purchases.  However, I did find reasonable deals on some things I had intended to purchase anyway, so I splurged and blew the budget.

Upon our return, we found several adults and all the kids except for Ira heading out to enjoy an arcade.  They had a good time.

Andy and I capped off the evening by taking Zachary, Wyatt, Lesley, and Julia souvenir shopping.  That was not a vacation high -more like divide and conquer.  We returned to find many of the adults playing Texas Hold Em.

We totally love the pool.  It is huge.  The water is perfect...a slice of Heaven on earth.

Regan loves Savannah. 

Gotta love that Green Eggs and Ham shirt!

Hoping for some more beach time tomorrow!

A Much Anticipated and Special Day

July 16, 2012

Upon our arrival on Saturday, the red flag adorned the beach.  The choppy water was fun, but today we enjoyed the calm water of the yellow flag.  Andy and I stayed out there for hours, and I now have the burn to prove it.  The water here is terrific.  You can see straight to the ocean floor in water up to your shoulders, very nice.

What's Ira looking at so intently?  His dad.....awww.  Ira looks just like Jonathan.

 Our dinner out... and wedding bells in our future.

Before our arrival to the beach this year, John revealed to the family that he had purchased a ring and planned to ask Tessa to marry him at the beach, specifically when the entire family went out for dinner.

Typically, we only eat dinner out with the whole group once, and that usually takes place at the end of the week.  However, last year, our dinner out never materialized because we (meaning Dad) bought too much food, and we had to clear out the fridge before leaving.  In order to avoid a repeat of that mistake and to keep a nervous John from bursting, we decided an early dinner out was in order this year.

Some of our group wanted to honor local business, and Tara and Danielle both had good things to say about Pompano Joe's, so we headed there.  We were not disappointed.

 The wait was an hour long, so we took some pictures and let the kids play on the beach.  John was a nervous wreck and could not wait for dinner, so he proposed privately while we waited.

Tessa's ring reminds me of my mom's engagement ring very much.  Mom is missed every single day.

 She said "yes!"

Teenage boys don't cooperate for pictures.... I know I am stating the obvious.

Finally, we got tables, and we were not disappointed.  The food was yummy,

Wyatt loves to eat.  Food may very well be the way to his heart.  Before our arrival, Andy and I  had a conversation with Zach about his food choices for this dinner.  Since he was about Wyatt's age, it has been his practice to order the most expensive thing on the menu.  That's just not the way we roll. Little did we know, though we should have assumed, Wyatt would follow suit.  He was very disappointed that we insisted that he order from the children's menu.  He wanted combination platters and calimari.  He loved the menu and wanted to try so much of it.  Pompano Joe's has award winning seafood gumbo which Andy wanted to try.  He appeased Wyatt's huge appetite by ordering him a cup too.

Julia and Lesley are now officially attached to each other nonstop.

This picture has become a tradition.  We will have to work on getting the rest of the males involved.

Susie has been working on our family tree and sharing with us what she is finding.  This has prompted much discussion.  While hanging out in the ocean with us, Jonathan shared what he knew of both my grandfather's service in World War II and my dad's very risky role in the Vietnam War.  With the near misses both of them survived, it is truly a wonder we even exist...but God.  I learned how my dad got his name.  I had no idea that he was named after anyone.  His middle name which Ira now shares actually came from my grandpa's good friend.  My grandpa was a boxer and known for his strength.  He once saved a girl from a man's attack with a blow to the man.  Apparently, the military was looking for him after this incident, and his buddy was caught.  They knew that my grandpa's friend was not responsible, but he knew who was.  He wouldn't give my grandpa up and spent three days in the brigg. 

We are making our own memories here.  How grateful are we that we have so many who came before us and fought for our freedom to enjoy traveling together and peace?!

Vacation 2012 -Destination-Destin

Vacation 2012

21 people/ 1 house

the countdown

Dad 1

Tamara and Andy +4 kids =7

Tiffany and 2 kids = 10

Tara -11

Jonathan and Danielle and 2 kids = 15

Tessa- 16

John -17

Joshua -18

Susie and Eric and 1 kid =21

We arrived after a drive that was mostly uneventful.  Niceville, Florida has a very interesting little dead end turnabout which is apparently popular for most GPS systems.  This was not so nice, and it made me feel like I was in a Dr. Suess book.

We have a 1/2 mile walk to the beach and an outstandingly beautiful pool.

Arrival July 14:

Savannah and Wyatt have a goal to take a picture like this every day. Actually, Savannah has this goal, Wyatt not so much.

It's THE BEACH!!

July 15th

Who needs the pool?  A float can be fun in a living room.  Who knew?

Ira is getting so big and alert.  His biggest accomplishment...making it known that he prefers to be held.  We are happy to accomodate him.

Lesley and Julia are hitting it off just fine.

Zach has an additional 7 hours on his driving log. 

We've had pool time and beach time including the effort to dig a big hole.

Regan hated the beach last year.  She loves it this year.  WHOOT! WHOOT!

photogenic...keeping up with Speedy Gonzales does require some effort

2nd day, looks like Savannah is on track to make her goal

Picking up fistfuls of sand and dropping them on the beach is fun for every toddler.  I remember well when Savannah did the same thing.

Apparently, this is not just for toddlers.

Austin and Logan got buried.  So did Zach, Julia, and Lesley

A "hole" lot of fun.  Another little girl dug this hole with her dad, and our girls got to enjoy it when she left the beach.

Did I mention starting the day with the Donut Hole?   These may be the best donuts I have ever had.

More to come on vacation 2012....

Flashback Friday

I remember this well.  We were on our way to Florida and stopped at a Wal-mart.  We found cute goggles for the kids.  Savannah refused to take hers off.  They were turtles, and it was humid in Florida, so they stayed foggy, but she persevered.