We went on a vacation to Pensacola Beach FL the end of July. It was quite fun. I've never been to the gulf coast as an adult and the last time I went as a child I was probably 8 or 9. We stayed in a 2 bedroom condo right on the beach. It was beautiful. It did have a couple of issues. There were no ceiling fans in any rooms, the a/c had a governor on it that wouldn't go below 72, and the balcony had a glass barrier which gave a beautiful view of the beach however the a/c vent was directly on the balcony and all the hot air hit the glass and came back on the balcony instead of going through rails and out into the open.
The beach was a beautiful white and the condo overlooked the pool also. It was terrific weather. We had a couple of storms, one Tuesday night and one Thurs or Fri. We mostly ate in. That was great because I didn't have to get the kids in and ready to go out to eat. We did eat at Crabs and Peg Leg Petes. Very yummy. Peg Leg's has a drink called the Shipwreck which is very very good. Both had sand pits with playgrounds for the kids to play on while the adults ate. Very ingenious and I loved it!
We took the veggies from our Full Moon co-op and it was so great to not have to purchase much produce. We had fried potatoes and onions, boiled corn, BLTs with the tomatoes, stuff with basil in it, plus more which I can't remember. It was so fabulous. I really enjoyed that! If you can't grow your own veggies I really can't say enough about finding a local farming co-op or CSA in the area and joining. It really has been one of the best experiences in my culinary life. We have a farmer's market about an hour away but most of the produce is like the grocery store and driven in from out of state.
It was very humid. We did a little sightseeing. Drove to Fort Pickens. It had just opened from hurricane Ivan (2005 or 2006). Beautiful flat beaches. You are driving on a finger of land, water on the left and right and you can see both waters from the car. The humidity made the Fort Pickens visit a bit difficult to have a good attitude. And the fireants were everywhere. It is a brick fort. there is one part that got blown apart by the powder they stored there. And the only casualty was when a gun recoiled and knocked the solider down the stairs and he was crushed (I think). Ben said FP was his fav part of the vacation.
Also went on a sunset dolphin cruise. That was really cool. The boat was a fishing boat so we got to be closer to the water. We cruised through the sound and then around to the gulf. As soon as we hit the gulf the waters got so choppy. And walking was difficult. I was afraid someone would go overboard. Got to see the inside of the "head" with Gini. Something I don't want to see again. Very cramped. Sorta stinky. We saw probably a dozen dolphins. They were so close.
We drove past the Spaceship house on Pensacola Beach just about everyday.
Gavin's fav was the putt putt we did at 5pm in 110% humidity because he was afraid it would rain and we needed to do it before dinner.
Gini's fav was the pool (along with her brothers). They all turned into fishes. Ben learned how to dive to the bottom and do a one handed handstand underwater. Gavin learned how to swim a bit more and increased his confidence. Gini learned how to put her head underwater and stealthily swim into some pre-teen girls conversations.
And noone got sunburned!!! Not even me. I was sooo proud. The boys hated putting sunblock on but we kept telling them they would hate it even more if they got burned or sun poisoning. It didn't go too far with them but Eric and I won and through tantrums and crying put the stuff on them.
I learned all Publix's are not the same. At home, I get double coupons everyday and if I just want one of a BOGO I can get it at 1/2 price. Not so in PB. No double coupons and full price if you just buy 1 of BOGO. Also, the liquor stores there can have tastings. So I got to try a spiced rum (not Capt Morgan but something with a girl on the bottle). It was good. I'll buy it the next time I'm in the market.
Doing a comparison of PB and SSI or HHI or MB. I think I much rather like the Atlantic coast for my beaches. The #1 and probably only reason. The beaches on the Atlantic coast you can take long walks on hard sand and there is a difference between low and high tide. In PB, there was soft sand and then, boom, water. No hard packed sand to walk on or play paddle ball or foot ball or bocci ball. So the next beach we try will be St. Augustine beach.
Then it was home. We headed home through lower Alabama farmland which I thought was one of the neatest things on the trip. We saw many acres planted with something that had fuschia and white flowers. The only thing Eric and I could come up with is soybeans or cotton.
Eric and I brought home colds from the vacation! We both are still coughing 2 weeks later.
School started this week. My baby Gavin is a Kindergartener now. I'm so sad. He however is so excited. Every morning he asks if today is another school day. I am worried he may have dyslexia. He has been writing things backwards lately. I voiced my concern to his teacher and she said to give it a couple of months to see if it turns around. He is exhausted at the end of the day though. Last night he just melted down and thought everyone hated him. And said so to boot. My little boy just sobbing "you hate me, you hate me". He went to bed early so we will see how this afternoon/evening goes. Tues he fell asleep in the 5 minute ride we had to karate about 30 seconds before we arrived at karate.
Benji loves his class so far. He had a really rough time last year and this year he has said he is glad he is popular in his class this year. Hopefully the nasty little cliques that formed last year after Christmas won't happen this year and he will be happy. We are still having issues with his talking but I'm hoping we can hammer it home early this year that it is not acceptable and it is rude to his teacher for him to do that and this will stop once he settles in. He said yesterday he wasn't reprimanded for talking so we'll see.
I have been looking for places to visit for a fall getaway. I'm looking into Chattanooga for a long family weekend. Last year we went to Gatlinburg which was way too touristy for me. Someone at work asked if I would like to live in a remote area (b/c our boss is in Montana this week). I am all for it. I love quietness. I don't go to the mall. I shop at the local grocery stores and Target only. I really hate crowds. My 4 main places I choose to venture outside of home are church, school, work and grocery store. It would only be 3 if I didn't need to work. I like the occasional weekend activity but I don't want to be somewhere every weekend. Give me my kids, my husband, some books and games and good weather and I'm fine.
I feel like I've written a book. Well it's been a long time and much has happened.
JJ
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