Vacation to Remember!

  For the last several years, we have taken our family vacation in Branson at Silver Dollar City. We love spending a few days there. The atmosphere is so family friendly and since we usually go at the end of April, the weather is pretty good. We like taking our family vacations in the late spring to avoid the summer crowds.
  The kids & I have been wanting to go to the ocean for the last couple years. Michael does not like swimming or getting wet too much so he really had no desire to spend much time at the ocean. He loves the view and the sights/sounds of nature, but not the swimming part. He was concerned that the kids would get bored too quickly without the constant busyness of an amusement park. But....he really wanted the kids and me to get to see the ocean while we knew we could, so here we are!

 Day 1 - (Sat): We left home a little before 4am on Saturday. We arrived at our rented condo in Pensacola Beach, FL at 5pm. The trip down went surprisingly quick. David & Alahna were incredibly well behaved. We saw several areas in southern MO and Northern MS that were flooded. As we drove further south through MS we saw several areas of tree damage that appeared to be from the many severe thunderstorms/tornadoes that have hit in recent weeks. Thanks to books, drawing pads and the wonder of technology, we did not hear the age-old -every 20 minutes -trip questions of "Are we there yet?" or "How much longer til we get there?" I think Alahna asked a couple times if we were almost there. Instead we were entertained by Alahna singing with her mp3 player. She played a song by Christian band Mercy Me about 6 times and sang with it so passionately! LOL She was really getting into it.



Here she was reading a poetry book and listening to her music.

 Meanwhile, David was playing with his new iPod Touch that he just bought with his Christmas and birthday money. He was able to take pictures along the way, listen to his own music and play games! He also spent some time drawing.

  After we arrived at the condo and unloaded the car, we took the kids across the road to the beach. Watching their excitement at seeing the ocean was one of my favorite moments of the whole trip. Here is one of my favorite pics:


We made it!

We told the kids they had to wait til the next day to get in the water...well, it didn't quite work out that way. They were thorougly soaked by the time we walked back.

Day 2 (Sun):  First thing after breakfast we went to Walmart for some groceries and miscellaneous items. We had to get extra dollar bills b/c we had to cross a partial toll bridge in order to get to Walmart and an area with more restaurants. It cost $1 each time we went back to the peninsula where our condo was. :) I think we went to Walmart at least 3 times during the week! LOL The rest of the day was spent at the pool and the beach. We did use sunscreen, but didn't reapply b/c of the sand at the beach....and well, we paid for it! Poor Michael suffered the most. David looked the worst because of the white patches on his face where the goggles were! LOL Alahna wasn't burned as bad as they were, but she whined more! :)  We went through over half a bottle of After Sun Aloe gel throughout the week.
 At some point during the week I made everyone line up so I could spray their sunburns with vinegar. It stinks like crazy but definitely helps cool the sunburn. Let me tell you, there is nothing on earth funnier than watching your husband gag while you are spraying vinegar on his sunburn! I laughed so hard! Poor Michael had a towel to cover his mouth and nose and he still gagged and choked from the smell and nearly jumped out of his skin from the cold spray on his burned skin. Alahna cried and threw a fit til Michael had to hold her still while I sprayed her back. She has issues with vinegar b/c I've made her taste it before for being unkind with her words. I promised her she wouldn't taste it, that it just had to go on her back, but she still screamed. David handled it pretty well, and I sprayed my sunburn as well.
  Here's a really funny pic from Sunday.....It was so windy that David's blue swim ring blew away. He had to chase it so far up the beach! It just kept rolling and rolling. It finally rolled up and over the sand dune. I'm not sure if you can see the blue ring up in the grass, but that's what he is chasing! Michael and I could hardly stop laughing. Michael said it would slow down and start to wobble like it would fall and then the wind would catch it again and send it rolling away faster.

David chasing his swim ring

Such fun!

Here comes a wave!

Buried Treasure!

More Buried Treasure!!

Ouch!

Day 3 (Mon): Michael spent a good portion of Monday sleeping. He was so uncomfortable and just physically drained. The kids and I did go to the pool for a little while, and we went to the beach in the early evening just for a walk and to search for sea shell treasures.

Day 4 (Tue): We rushed around to try to get to the Pensacola Naval Air Station in time for the 8:30am Blue Angels practice show. We were told this was great and that there was a free museum on the base a well. So our plans were to watch the air show and visit the museum , then go back to the condo. Well, we were running late (as always!) and after sitting in line to get onto the base we were concerned we would miss the show. Turns out it was some sort of week long Aviation celebration and there were air shows and coastguard demonstrations from 8:30am - 1:00pm!!!! This would explain the crowds that began showing up, and the soldiers selling water and soda! We saw the Blue Angels practice show as well as a Harrier demonstration, some coast guard rescue demonstrations, and a vintage aircraft flyover! Needless to say, we were in the sun much longer than anticipated! I did have the sunscreen with us and we did use it, but we got more burned than we already were! Our necks were burned because we spent so much time looking up in the sky at the aircraft.

Michael showing Alahna where to look. David taking pics!

Sleepy girl...tired of waiting. 

Thankful for technology! He got tired of waiting too.

The Blue Angels were so worth the wait!

They were amazing!

After the air show and museum we stopped for dinner at Whataburger and collapsed back at the condo. We didn't bother going to the beach that day. I must say, the burger at Whataburger was good....but their chicken rated right up there with Chik-fil-A!! It was YUMMY!

Day 5 (Wed): This was a much cooler morning. We took an early morning stroll on the beach and found much more treasure. Here are a few pics from Wednesday:

Looking for sea shells

 This was the day we tried to build sand castles!
 We didn't do too well, but it was fun trying!

We did use a beach umbrella one day. We were in need of the shade.

Cleaned up and ready for dinner.

Little Beach Princess

I loved their water tower!

Interesting house we saw while out for a drive

Look at the small trees by driveway! Too funny!

Day 6 (Thu): Much more time spent just playing in the sand, watching the water and enjoying our time together. We rented a movie for the evening and had a family movie night. We watched the new Yogi Bear movie. It was so funny!

Day 7 (Fri): This was probably one of the best days! All week it had been so windy and the waves were pretty active in the Gulf. The warning flag system they use at the beach was flying a yellow flag all week, which meant use caution when swimming. There was a chance for rip currents possible, so we kept the kids pretty close while in the water all week. We didn't go out very far on the Gulf side until Friday. The flag was green, which meant it was safe for swimming, and the water was so calm and so much fun! We went out much further. We were out over waist deep and could still see our feet the water was so clear. This was also the day we got to see dolphins! (well, their fins! LOL) I had been hoping all week for a sighting of dolphins. A couple times I thought I saw movement way out in the distance, but it was so quick I couldn't be sure. On Friday while we were at the beach we saw about 4 dolphin fins going past, quite a ways out from where we were, but much closer than we had seen before. From what I read about the difference between shark and dolphin fins, I'm pretty sure they were dolphins! :) Let's hope so anyway!

our dolphin sighting

my Sweety & me

David

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David & Alahna loved burying themselves in the sand.

Alahna

Life's greatest treasure.....My Family!

This was such a memorable trip. It was such a blessing to enjoy our time together the way we did. No rushing around except for one morning. No set schedules for anything. Michael was surprised at how much he enjoyed the down time. I think it was good for all of us. David and Alahna played so well together all week. They actually play pretty well together at home most of the time.

One of the best parts.....I was able to do laundry while there and came home with suitcases full of CLEAN laundry! I was loving that! 

 We don't know what tomorrow will bring, so we will enjoy today and cherish each moment we have together.