The Final Countdown

We started out the last week of summer excited to finally get to the beach. Unfortunately, Brian came home on Friday afternoon late, and told us that he didn’t think he could come with us. Work gets in the way of life. Can I get an Amen? I attempted to get a few others to join us at the little apartment, but just decided to go on my own. I am so glad we came.

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When we were at the beach, the best way I know to describe it is occupied. The girls were just busy doing beachy things: digging for coquina clams, searching for crabs, riding waves, building sand castles, filling buckets, emptying buckets, looking for fish, watching the dolphins, the list goes on.  The girls loved going out to the sand bar, so we went out at least every day. Once while we were out there, we were watching some fishermen in kayaks and their wild success.  Then, some dolphins decided to join in the frenzy.  We were close enough to hear the water come out of their blowholes!  It was really cool.  We weren’t close enough to see them underwater, so Samantha continued to ask why we couldn’t get closer.  They are her all time favorite animal, I think.  They certainly are now, at least.

Then, on the last night we were at the beach, I was doing the final packing up and was ready to start walking up.  Samantha yells that she found a sea star!  I happened to have a net in my hand, so I walked down to the shore, not really knowing what I would find.  She was right!  It had lost an arm, but we picked it up long enough to watch it for a few minutes.  It was still alive, so I didn’t want to keep it.  Otherwise, what a cool find!

As soon as our feet hit the sand, they were content, which made me content. I even got to read a little while we were there!! They didn’t need me to join in the play, or worse, be the referee. It was lovely. I wish Brian could have joined us in this little bit of bliss.  The weather was great, a little cloudy all day (which is perfect in my book!) and even a little thunderstorm one afternoon.

This was the first time we had gone to Perdido Key, and based on our great trip, maybe we’ll be back!  We found so many great shells and animals.  I’m not sure if it was the season, weather, or the area.  It was nice.  I’ll pass along the house info too.

The rest of the week promises the finishing touches on our summer book reports, buying some new shoes, new school haircuts… Do you see a theme? We start back to school on Monday!!

Seagrove Beach

We had another great trip to Seagrove with the Betbeze family.  The weather wasn’t great beginning on Sunday, but the water was beautiful!  Many of the family were not there, so the house didn’t seem nearly as crowded.

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These two are becoming fast friends.  I wonder what they were talking about.  (Sorry the colors are wonky.  The white balance was set on a funky level.)

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Fort Walton Beach

After graduation, we made a fairly spontaneous trip down to Fort Walton. Once we got there, I realized that we had never been to the beach with just the four of us. It was a great trip, with fantastic weather. The condo was perfect for us: 2 bedrooms with bunk beds in the 2nd bedroom. It had an indoor and outdoor pool, right on the beach. We couldn’t have gotten a better place to stay. (And I got a smokin deal!)

We started out in the pool.

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And finished at the beach. Sam loved playing in the water.

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And Ellie loved playing in the sand.

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Like I said, it was beautiful!

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We had such fun.

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After spending hours in the ocean, I saw this sign. Oops. I did get sick, but nobody else did. I think I must have picked something up elsewhere.

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Ellie only wanted to play in the sand, but she would stand at the edge of the water requesting for someone to fill up her watering can. It made me think of the Coppertone girl.

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And we couldn’t leave without making Ellie into a mermaid.

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We had a great trip, and I’m so glad we went. We’ll go back soon on our annual family trip, and we’re also hoping to spend lots of time at the neighborhood pool this summer!

Beach Vacay 2011

We’re still working through all of our pictures, but here’s one for proof.  We had lots of fun.

UPDATE:

What a trip!  We stayed in the big house again, and it seemed like there weren’t as many people there as usual.  I guess that’s because there wasn’t.

Sam enjoyed the water this year, but was still a little anxious at first.  Every year, it takes less time for her to get used to the water.

 

Ellie didn’t mind the sand at all, but I think the heat bothered her.

I think she enjoyed Patrick’s truck almost as much as he did!  We also discovered during this trip, that she likes push toys and wheels!

 

Some kids:

 

And some family: