Summer Vacation

For the last 6 years of so, we have traveled to the Seaside (30A) area for a week of beach vacation.  I have difficulty flying and we all love this area so it makes for a great family vacation.  Some years my sister and her family join us.  This year, they could not.

Since we know our family dynamic is going to change a lot next year when Will leaves for college, I told Dave that I think we should spend two weeks there this summer. We debated it for a while as we wondered about the expense and whether we would get bored.  I searched the area we stay in on VRBO and found a house we had stayed in before.  I called the owner and got a GREAT rate for 2 weeks.

Hands down this was such a great decision.  We always have fun but this vacation definitely ranks as one of our best ever. And for that reason, I will likely post too many photos.  Also, since we were gone 2 weeks (and added a stop to New Orleans on the way home) they will be spread out over a few vacation posts.

For the first 5 days, my childhood friend, Stacy and her family stayed with us.  They live in Florida so we don't see them as often as we'd like.  Our families get along so well.  Stacy has a heart of gold and she is so much fun.  She makes us all laugh.  Her girls are the kindest, most thoughtful girls you'd ever meet and her husband, Larry is so nice and easy going.  We just love being around them.

Kylie, Larry, Stacy and Kassi.  I cannot even tell you how much we love being around them.

 These photos were right before we went to our favorite Cafe 30A for dinner.

All the kids together.

 

We spent most of the day everyday at the beach.



Will, Kate and Kassi.

 The water was perfection.

Harry coming in from kayaking.

We brought our kayaks and the boys took them out and went fishing a bit too.

A few years ago, I bought a camera that can take underwater photo and video.
It was a fabulous purchase.
The ocean was so clear that it almost looked like pool water.

As always, there was a lot of this going on too...
 

Kate never stops tumbling.  She can do an aerial now but she would not try one on the beach for me.






Kate bonded with Mr. Larry.  He introduced her to the fried bologna sandwich.  She had never had one before but she is a fan now!

Harry and Dave playing frisbee in the ocean.



Kylie and Kassi, the sweetest teenage girls you will ever meet.

Kate's favorite part of the day is when the ice cream truck comes down the street right after lunch.  She starts asking at 9:30 am what time is it and when will the ice cream truck come:)  No joke!

Kate and Kassi.  Kate loves these girls so much! 

She calls them her cousins but she told me she really feels like they are her sisters.

This last photo sums up what happens when we are around the H family...

My lens was foggy as we had just walked down to the beach from the AC.  This was going to be the first photo of our first full day.  See the two photo bombers.  I love it.

More soon.

Little Traditions and dolphins

I am sure all families who vacation annually at the same location do this too.  But we have these little "traditions" at the beach.  There is a silly thing we cook for breakfast one morning (and we only do it at the beach).  There is a favorite restaurant or two we must visit each time (Cafe 30 A, Red Bar, Sugar Shak).  We almost always have pizza on the beach the last night. And then there is the ice cream truck.  The kids have always LOVED that the ice cream truck comes around our little beach neighborhood right after lunch.  In fact, this year, when Kate got some money from Mimi and Aunt Dooney for her birthday, the first thing she said was she would use it for the ice cream truck!

She "treated" her brother, Harry with some of her birthday $.

{It might seem silly to many of you but we don't have the ice cream truck in our neighborhood at home so this is a beach memory for my kiddos:)}

And even though we have a few things we do every year, I also like for us to try some new things on vacation.  This year, I booked a dolphin boat ride to Shell Island.  I used this company, and I requested Captain Brian because I had read excellent reviews on trip advisor.  Since there were 5 of us, we got a speed boat to ourselves which was really nice.  You go out on the boat looking for dolphin and once you find some, you jump in the ocean with them.  It is totally hit or miss though and you have to be prepared for that.  For the first hour, we did not see any dolphins at all. We saw tarpon and a sea turtle.  We snorkeled and went to Shell Island and got a few really cool shells. And even that was all really fun.

Look how gorgeous the water is here!!!

Then during the second hour, we saw dolphin.  Kate jumped in the water but the current was strong and it is hard to swim with the life vest on.  So, she did not get up close to the dolphins.  Will did though.  Harry almost did.  But then I got really seasick and it was time to go in.  These are not trained dolphins that people swim with at resorts or aquariums (which I am sure is really fun too).  These were wild dolphins in the ocean.  It was really cool.

Will got nice and close with this dolphin!

The dolphin in the last two photos above is "Chester."  He is a very playful dolphin that hangs out in a particular spot and we saw him swimming and playing with some other people close-by.  Will and Harry tried to get to him but they were caught in a bad current and could not move (between boat wakes and the waves).

If you are ever in the 30A area (or Panama City), I highly recommend this.  It was really fun.  And our Captain was great.  He tried really hard to make sure we all had a great experience.

After the dolphin ride, we had lunch in Panama City at a place on the beach.  Then we headed back to Seagrove and hit our beach....

Well Dave, Kate and I did.  The boys napped.

Dave and Kate dug a big hole...

Then Kate sat in the hole and made drippy castles....good times:)

Finally, Harry (and his sous chef, Kate) made us Harry's world famous quesadillas and guacamole for dinner.  We do not eat very healthy on vacation week;)

It was another great day.

Catching up...

I have so much catching up to do on the bloggity blog.   Something really changed in me this summer though.  If you've been reading a long time, you have probably heard me say (write) that I don't love summer.  And in the past, that has been true to a certain extent.  But this summer was great.  The kids did not do a lot of structured activities.  Will worked a lot, hung out with friends, did water polo and went to CA for the Junior Olympics.  Harry did a few LAX camps and Camp Utopia.  Kate did one art camp and vacation Bible school.  That's it.  We spent a lot of time being lazy and having fun.

I realized something really important this summer.  Dave and I do a pretty good job at parts of the parenting/family thing (we make a lot of mistakes too).  Like we are good at setting limits and creating boundaries and teaching values. We are good at getting them to study and get the homework done and go to church. We are good at spending time with our kids and talking to them.  But you know what we have not been really good at for a long time?  JUST HAVING FUN! We are not spontaneous and we are not super laid back. We don't act silly or laugh as often as we should. This summer, I have been much more laid back and much more spontaneous and it worked for me.  Who knew?  I have always been such a planner at heart.  Who knew I could fly by the seat of my pants?!

I really want to write more about our Seaside beach trip and post more pics from that but I need to do this post first....

Well, Harry finally came back from camp.  It was a long 2 weeks for me and Kate (I think Will and Dave did just fine).

Kate was so excited to see her Habu!!!  He came home tired and with a sinus infection and cough but he had an awesome time!!!  And that kid he hung out with in every single photo that I thought was from Mississippi actually lives a few blocks away and goes to Harry's school!!  So happy about that.  He seems super nice.

Kate's gymnastics competition meets are quickly approaching and she is getting excited.  I am getting nervous...about her hair!  She needs a hairstyle that will not fall out during all 4 of her routines (floor, bar, bean and vault).  I think they lose points if their hair falls out.  Did anyone see that episode of Modern Family?!  Any tips from you experienced Dance/Gym Moms? I tell you all this just in case you notice some funky hairstyles on her:)

Last week, Kate and I spent a morning with her easy bake oven.  I am personally not a fan of the easy bake oven.  I'd rather teach Kate to cook and bake from scratch with real recipes in real appliances.  And as you've seen, we do that all the time.  She, however LOVES the easy bake.  So, easy bake it was.

Our easy bake packets were old and the consistency of the frosting was not good.  But Miss Kate loved her cake anyway!!! Yes, she is in Christmas Pajamas in August with a giant bun:) See, it is the new spontaneous, fun Kim! HA!

Last weekend, our good friends invited us to the beach for some fun family time before school started. This is an annual tradition although this year we could only go for the day.  It was such a nice and relaxing day...

Will and our friend having a chat.  Lovely seaweed in the background:(

Will took the kayak way out but it was too far for me to photograph him.
All the boys enjoyed kayaking a lot.

In fact, Dave recently purchased a decked out fishing kayak and all the equipment for our family to fish in the salt marshes!!!  I think we will be spending a lot of time at the beach this year.

And finally, Will started school this week.  He is a sophomore.  I wish he had a car this year but none has appeared so far.  He does drive to school (with Dave) in the mornings.
 I am not sure if I ever posted it but he got his license this summer!!!!





First day of school pics:)

Kate and Harry start on Monday so we are trying to soak up the last few laid back days of summer:)