family is everything

Okaloosa Island 2014: Part 4

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Catch up on the first few days here:

Friday, October 17th: By far the nicest day we had there weather-wise, the skies and water were completely calm. The temp was back into the 80s.  This was the first day that we could go far out into the water, still see our toes, and feel comfortable letting the boys go out of our reach without being afraid that a wave would go over their heads.  Crystal clear water that the Destin area is known for – ahhhh.

Beach, pool, beach, pool, back and forth.  We packed a picnic so we could eat by the pool and spend more of our last full day out in the sun and sand. We were almost always the only ones in the pool or on the pool deck.

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There were unlimited drinks – wine, beer, soda, and water – on the sunset dolphin cruise.  So we let the boys try Sprite for the first time.  This was Dexter’s reaction: 10-17-14IMG_5014

They both got to captain the boat!

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10-17-14ss_17264010-17-14IMG_5051 10-17-14IMG_5077 10-17-14IMG_5088    10-17-14ss_175918 I didn’t take any pictures of the dolphins we saw – we were so relaxed, just enjoying the wind and the water – and okay, the drinks too.  It was such a fun cruise.  Afterwards, we had a fantastic dinner at LaFamiglia at HarborWalk Village.10-17-14IMG_509410-17-14IMG_5093

Back to the condo to pack and lament over the sad end of a wonderful week.

Saturday, October 18th: Departure Day.  “October 11th through the 18th.” I had said those dates a hundred times when talking to friends, family, and acquaintances about our vacation as it approached.  Now, checkout day was here and I didn’t like the sound of October 18th anymore.  The only picture I took was of the condo before we pulled away.

10-18-14IMG_5102 10-18-14IMG_5104The boys were great in the car – Dexter actually took a long 2 or 3 hour nap.  We drove to my friends’ house in Nashville, TN and crashed for the night.

Sunday, October 19th.  We hit the road early but weren’t quite ready for vacation to end just yet.  I got that “I don’t wanna go home…I wanna DO somethin'” feeling.  The next sign on the side of the interstate as we were approaching Bowling Green, Kentucky said “Lost River Cave & Valley.” I was driving so I told Ryan to look it up on TripAdvisor.  I was an easy sell and quickly pulled off the interstate, changing the destination on our GPS.  What a gem for the people of Bowling Green. I loved the town of BG as we drove through, but this place was so neat. Such a great outdoor space for kids with an all natural playground, fossil and gem mining, trails, cave (with an underground boat tour), and an adorable and impressive gift shop.

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Don’t mind the tantrum…typical.10-19-14IMG_5177 - Copy 10-19-14IMG_5192 - Copy 10-19-14ss_104754 10-19-14ss_114535 10-19-14ss_114558 10-19-14ss_115828Theo did have a massive meltdown at this place over me wanting to take a picture or two…he was beyond tired and not wanting to do anything we asked of him. FUN note to end the vacation on….except not really. We had a heart to heart in the car afterwards, kissed and made up, and made it home in the late afternoon.  With hearts and minds bursting with memories and love and happiness that it happened and sadness that it was over.  Just like every vacation. The end of a week spent as an isolated little unit of 4 people.  If only vacations happened more than once or twice a year.  Work shmerk!

So that’s the end of our Okaloosa Island 2014 series – I hope you have enjoyed and that I’ve talked you into taking a trip there (and to Bowling Green!)…it really was amazing!

xo,

~C~

 

 

 

 

Catch the Moment: week forty-six

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I slid my memory card into the computer as I began working on this post, not quite sure what to expect. I knew I had taken a picture every day, but many of them were rushed and felt uninspired. I’m surprisingly pleased – not necessarily with the quality of the photos, but that they really do capture the little moments of our lives for the past 7 days.  That’s what the project is all about.  As it nears the end, I am getting really excited to compile all 365 photos from 2014 into a little memory book for our family. A millisecond of each day of this year to bring us back to that moment in time, even years from now.

Linking up with Sarah, Mindi, and Stephanie for week 46 of Catch the Moment 365.

316/365 – Wednesday, November 12th: The boys’ cousin, Spencer, sent them a Lego advent calendar.  I tried explaining to them that we couldn’t open any of the little tabs until the first of December but they didn’t want to hear that. We made a deal.  They each got to choose one character and agreed that there would be noooo issues on the days that they found those little windows empty come December….time will tell if they hold up their end of the bargain. 11-12-14

317/365 – Thursday, November 13th: Date night for moms in the Maple Room. This time I got to visit Dexter’s class while Ryan spent time in the Oak Room with Theo.  Dexter truly loves every water job and was proud to show me how to clean the windows with a spray bottle and squeegee.  Several times.  Or several dozen times. Whatever.11-13-14

318/365 – Friday, November 14th: We traveled down to East Tennessee to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with my family.  These three littlest grandchildren sure enjoyed their frozen yogurt (and playing in the kids’ corner!) at our friends’ new Froyoz store. 11-14-14

319/365 – Saturday, November 15th: Thanksgiving, but not really.  My sister and her family are going on vacation the week of Thanksgiving so we headed down a couple weeks early to visit and celebrate.  I celebrated all weekend long by eating no less than 4 slices of this heavenly peanut butter pie with perfectly beautiful, light, fluffy meringue – made with love by my very own mama.  These are the best pies in the world…she could sell them and makes millions. And probably hates it when I request them – that meringue sure is fussy.  Seconds after the picture was taken, we mangled it into an unrecognizable disastrous mess, but it sure was delicious. 11-15-14

320/365 – Sunday, November 16th: I guess we’d never taken the boys to a Red Lobster before. I’m thinking we would have remembered how fascinated they were by the live lobsters in the tank.  After lunch, we ended our short trip to Tennessee and headed back home. 11-16-14

321/365 – Monday, November 17th: I get to work extra early on the days Theo and Dexter don’t go to school to make up for getting in later on the days they do.  This day I was even earlier than usual and it is always eerie, being the only one in the building, hallways still dark. And yes, that’s snow! Our first accumulating (barely, but still an inch or so) snow of the season…about a month earlier than I’d prefer.11-17-14

322/365 – Tuesday, November 18th: Theo wanted me to photograph his latest creation.  He just thinks these things up…what’s neat & interesting (to us) is that his creations are always symmetrical.  11-18-14My favorite photo this week has to be sweet little Penelope’s face on Day 318. What’s yours?

xo,

~C~

Okaloosa Island 2014: Part 2

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Catch up HERE if you missed the first part of our first family trip to the beach.

Tuesday, October 14th: We started out our 3rd morning with plans to eat at The Donut Hole for breakfast, but on this day the boys actually slept in. We didn’t get there until almost 9 and by then, the line was out the door.  So we went on down the road to The Pancakery, where we quickly discovered that we weren’t going to get immediate seating anywhere.  We decided to wait it out and browse the store next door….where Cute Cute came into our lives.

Once we got seated and ordered our food, I started messing with Dexter’s hair to get it out of his eyes. As you can see, he wasn’t happy until we slicked it all over to the side like… you guessed it… Bruce Wayne.  He’s so silly.

Dexters Hair10-14-14IMG_4531YUM!

After breakfast, I realized that we were pretty close to a couple of other places I had hoped to visit – The Village of Baytowne Wharf and the Disney outlet store (I’d never been to an outlet store before). I fell in love with Baytowne Wharf, it was so cute and colorful.

10-14-14IMG_4535 10-14-14IMG_4539 A little boo boo briefly interrupted our fun.

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We didn’t buy anything but it was fun to look. One of the boys’ favorite things to do at home (and therefore, anywhere) is go to a playground.  A big reason that we wanted to go to Baytowne Wharf was because I read they had an awesome one. Well, they did…or at least it looked like it. But it was closed for repairs. We were so disappointed.  I did a quick search on my phone and found another local park. We didn’t stay for a very long time because it was getting hot and late and we were ready to get back to the room for lunch and then get to the beach. BUT, it sure was different playing on the sand! It felt kind of weird to imagine ourselves as locals, just taking our kids to the playground. Ah, to live at the beach!

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It was in the high 70s but the wind was so strong that it felt pretty chilly when you got out of the water.  We got to the beach later this day because of all our morning adventures so the boys were pretty tired. So tired that they both fell asleep right on the beach for an hour or so.  We didn’t have any plan for the evening so we ended up wandering to the fishing pier just in time for sunset.

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I think, if my memory serves me, that we ate in our condo that night since we’d gone out for breakfast. I didn’t take any pictures the rest of the night so that’s probably a good guess.  🙂  This was a great day…very laid back and no plan in place, we just wandered from one thing to the next without rushing at all.  So that was Tuesday.

This was our first family vacation, just the four of us. We went to Disney a year earlier, but with 6 other people. That was an amazingly fun vacation, but this was special in it’s own way.  Taking vacations is something that’s a priority to me, for my family. For myself. Some of my favorite and brightest childhood memories are from fun family vacations. I cherish those times – remembering my mom and dad so carefree and happy.  Lots of trips with lots of wandering from thing to thing, never knowing what was in store for us next. Something I don’t think I’ve mentioned here is that my mom, sister (and her family), and me & Ryan all went to this same beautiful area of Florida just 5 months after my Dad died. We couldn’t bear the thought of having a “normal” Christmas at home without him so soon after losing him.  Many sights and sounds reminded me of that time in my life – feeling guilty for being there (and enjoying it) while knowing at the same time that he wouldn’t have wanted us to sit around sobbing because he was gone.  Old memories, new memories. I hope there are lots of family vacations in our future.

More from this trip coming soon.

xo,

~C~