We weren't sure if we'd get to take a vacation this year. We knew there would be lake trips with the Wickwares and RVing with the Robertsons. Plus with the decline of the oil field leading to some missing supplemental income we thought it might be best. After looking at our savings though and the amount of vacation time the Firefighter needed to burn before July, we decided we'd go ahead and do a get-away of sorts. We quickly decided to do as we'd promised for years and take the kids to our beach in Florida. We'd gone, just the two of us to Pensacola in 2004, which was our first vacation together. I'd flown over the ocean, but I hadn't gotten to meet it yet. Let me tell you it was love at first sight! Since then we've traveled to Jamaica, Hawaii, and Mexico and have the routine down. Sleep in, drink coffee, put on swim suits, cover my hubby's body in sunscreen, grab the beach bag & go. We usually spend the days with me soaking up the sun and him tactically defending himself from it as we listen to the waves crashing on the shore and try to permanently sketch the scenery in our minds. We snack for lunch but enjoy a local restaurant, preferably on the beach, for dinner as we watch the sunset.. ahhh
I bet you know where I'm going with this, lol. The kids' didn't really cooperate with the routine. After the stress of flying with kids, rental car, traffic, maps, and finally checking in, we were pretty wore out. I was really looking forward to just laying in my beach chair the next day. However, the kids didn't see that as their idea of a good vacation. They were hot.. and sticky.. and sand was in their eyes.. and salt in their mouth.. and funny ocean creatures were out to get them. The Superhero hates putting on sunscreen, but he loves covering himself entirely with sand and rolling down the beach into the water. He very much protests the cleaning off part that follows. Princess wanted to just sit in the air conditioning and eat junk food as much as possible. Their favorite thing was to simply swim in the pool. We tried uselessly to tell them that was something they could do back home.
I bet you know where I'm going with this, lol. The kids' didn't really cooperate with the routine. After the stress of flying with kids, rental car, traffic, maps, and finally checking in, we were pretty wore out. I was really looking forward to just laying in my beach chair the next day. However, the kids didn't see that as their idea of a good vacation. They were hot.. and sticky.. and sand was in their eyes.. and salt in their mouth.. and funny ocean creatures were out to get them. The Superhero hates putting on sunscreen, but he loves covering himself entirely with sand and rolling down the beach into the water. He very much protests the cleaning off part that follows. Princess wanted to just sit in the air conditioning and eat junk food as much as possible. Their favorite thing was to simply swim in the pool. We tried uselessly to tell them that was something they could do back home.
All in all though, we had a wonderful family vacation and the kids got to do things they'd never done like kayak and go on a dolphin cruise and bounce on a water trampoline. I really enjoyed spending time together, just the four of us, away from it all. Next year maybe we'll just take them back to Great Wolf Lodge.
shan, did you know i grew up in florida? all of my family is still down there. your blog makes me miss home. didn't grow up in a christian family, so we went to the beach every sunday. we'd pack a picnic lunch & stop at the park on the way, then off to the beach we'd go! the only down side i can remember to the beach when i was little was the lack of potties. i'll never forget the day i learned that POOP FLOATS and if there's a tide, IT ALSO CHASES YOU!
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