Nice Trip Down

Days One and Two

Fort Walton Beach, Florida

Sam at the beach, watching his toy ring was away and saying ""Er 't goes! Git it Dada!"

Ahhh, what a nice day it's been. Saturday went very smoothly on our way down, but very tiring. I woke up at 12:15 am Saturday Morning, got showered, reloaded my mp3 player and loaded the hamster in the car. I walked back in from the Garage, and there's Erin standing there, fully dressed, holding her pillow and saying, "I'm ready to go!"

So we loaded up the last couple of things, and headed out 20 minutes early. I'm certain that is a record for our family. Sam did excellent on the trip down. Unlike sister, he was sound asleep when I got him out of bed. I put him into his car seat and he said, "Sit down", then "Watch BongeBob?" That was the last peep out of him; he promptly fell back asleep and did not wake up until about 6:30. (Almost normal time for him anyway.) On the other hand, when Erin got into the car, she exclaimed, "This is the happiest day of my life!" and did not fall asleep, save for about an hour.

We stopped once in Blythville, Arkansas for a bathroom break, refueled and ate breakfast (breakfast at IHOP) in Jackson, Mississippi, snack and bathroom break in Lucedale,Mississippi, and one last stop at the Florida Welcome Center rest area. So, that's not too shabby; I figured we would have stopped a lot more on the way down, but we didn't. Partly because we were concerned about Patsy being left in the car in the heat. We didn't want to start vacation with a dead hamster.

We arrived safely about 2:00 pm, which was of course too early to unpack (they were still cleaning the condo). So we met the Longs (Shannon's friend that she grew up with) and ate at Fudpucker's, which is very close to where we're staying. We had a perfect breeze and found a shady spot so the hamster could live! Indeed, I think there was something wrong with Fudpucker's air conditioner, because the interior of our van was cooler thanat our table. But the food was excellent.

Daddy and Sam in the pool

We came back to the condo, unloaded and I took a nice 2 hour long nap. Then Shannon went to the grocery store and I took the kids for a brief trip down to the water's edge. Sam loved it (he even walked all the way across the beach without asking to be held) and Erin was absolutely beside herself. Certainly the "best day of her life."

Today, we've decided we aren't going to go anywhere. We went out to the beach for most of the morning. Shannon and Erin walked down to where the Longs are staying (about a mile!) and Sam and I did a little bit of playing in the sand and running away from the water before heading up to the pool. Shannon and the kids are out there now, and I'm sitting in the living room, watching the waves roll in and swimmers play in the water. And, of course, typing.

The weather has been great today, it's around 88 degrees- the heat index is about 100 degrees, but on the beach with the wind coming in off the gulf, it feels great. Here's to some more great days!

Lunch on the Balcony

View Looking East from our Balcony (toward Navarre)

View looking South from the balcony (toward the general direction of the Gulf of Mexico)View looking East toward Destin (you can see the pier there in the middle)