The Wednesday after Memorial Day we woke up bright and early to catch a 6:00 a.m. flight to Florida. The kids had been anxiously awaiting this trip to see Nana and Papa and didn't mind at all getting up at 4:30!
We cut it a little closer than I like getting to the airport but that meant we didn't have much time to kill before our plane took off!
We caught a glimpse of the sun rising!
We had about a 2 hour layover in Houston so we were able to eat breakfast and Brody got busy putting his legos I surprised him with together while Meg dominated Bryson at Spot It.
This guy always manages to sit by himself while I handle the kids!
We landed in Panama City a little after 11:00 and got our rental car and then headed west to Santa Rosa Beach. We were pretty hungry by the time we got to their house so we went straight to eat. Bryson wanted oysters and so we got some of the best oysters in town!
Nana's birthday just happened to be the same day we arrived so the kids were excited to give her a birthday present!
After lunch we enjoyed walking around down by the water and the kids loved all these cut-outs!
Brody found a cool water ball he decided to try
And Meg decided to try her first bungee trampoline
It's safe to say she loved it!!!
Checking out some of the big catches of the day
On the way back home we stopped along a beach to check out some kite surfers
Once we got back to the house we changed into our suits and headed to the beach. We'd all been itching to get our feet in the water. A lot of the time we were there we dealt with some not ideal wind. Which meant big waves and rip tides. So we didn't get to enjoy the water the way we like to but we still made the best of it and did lots of fun things!
Not sure what happened here!
Being around Charlotte all week sure made us miss Annie!
And we ended the day with ice cream from Blue Mountain Creamery. Oh my goodness it was so good! We went back one other time during our trip and seriously considered going on the way to the airport. It was that delicious!
The next day we headed to a neat little park that had a natural springs and a river that ran around it! On our way there we stopped at Red Bay Grocery for lunch. It is a little grocery store that serves lunch and it was amazing too! They had tons of old fashion bottled soda that we got to enjoy too!
Ready to float the river!
The whole river thing made me nervous when I saw this sign and then Bruce and Elisse confirmed that alligators live there.
But I absolutely loved the swimming hole. It was freezing!
Meg went in circles non-stop. I think we counted 100 circles at one point!
Meg helped Nana pick some lettuce from their garden that night before bedtime!
Friday morning we woke up early and headed to the Donut Hole to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary! Meg and Brody showed off their spot it skills to Nana and Papa!
Then we went to a State Park that is close by their house and caught the trolley that takes us straight to the beach. A lot of people camp at the state park. It looked like my type of camping. A walk away from the ocean!
Afterward we checked on the crab traps Papa had set!
That afternoon the big boys were heading out on a chartered fishing boat and Nana was working, so I decided to take kids on the Buccaneer Pirate Ship. I expected it to be cheesy and not worth the money but I was pleasantly surprised by how fun it was for us all and how well it was run!
She's got her lip gloss on and she is ready!
Ready to hop on board!
He's got a knife....watch out!
They had two pirates who led the kids in all the activities. They had hula hooping, dance contests, face painting, tattoos, deck mopping and a lot of other things. To get everyone warmed up they were having the kids follow along with some instructions. He got to the part where he told the kids to pick their noses (and mine were the only two that did that) and then he told them to wipe their finger on their friends shirt afterwards and mine did that too. What can I say? They follow instructions perfectly!
Toward the end of the boat ride they took the kids down in the bottom of the boat for a story about where to find the buried treasure. The kids were really excited about located that treasure chest!
When the kids came back upstairs they got to help the pirates pull the treasure chest on board and then each kid got to pick two pieces of pirates booty out of the chest!
The ride ended with hats for the kids and a firing of the cannon! Such a fun afternoon!
Saturday morning started out with cuddles for Charlotte before we headed out to Crab Island. This is what Brody had been waiting for and the water was finally calm enough to do it! Crab Island reminds me of what it's like at the lake with all the boats anchored up and everyone just hangs out but in the ocean it is shallow enough that Meg could touch most places and there are floating food vendors and pizza and ice cream that is delivered via jet skis!
Now are those two good looking boys or what?
Bryson found a big hermit crab!
These two had to take a little rest from all the swimming!
Someone tried to sneak in this picture!
The Varner Men
Sunday morning we headed out early for a little kayaking in this neat little area Nana and Papa go pretty often. There was no one else there and it was so nice to have this little piece of the gulf all to ourselves.
All ready!
Absolutely beautiful!
The kids didn't last too long sharing a kayak. Brody managed to swim to mine and get in and then then the kids spent the rest of their time swimming and crab hunting. They also spotted some baby jellyfish. Elisse and I each had our own kayak and so we took a tour of all the beautiful waterfront homes!
After we rested for a bit we headed out to do some crab fishing. It was a lot of fun!
Meg had a few bites but never any luck catching a crab
This kid was not digging our activitiy
I finally caught one and was pretty proud of myself!
The next day the boys went fishing again and Nana was working so I took the kids to Seaside which was about a 15 minute drive. We hit the beach first and enjoyed a little bit calmer waves. Afterward we changed clothes and walked across the street to grab a bite to eat at some of the food trucks that set up shop there on the square.
We went home and had some down time and then we headed to their favorite restaurant in Destin, Fudpuckers! We fed the alligators and then had an early dinner. We finished up by letting these two boogie down and then play some arcade games.
Even Brody got up on the stage!
On our final full day we got to enjoy one final day at the beach. The water was absolutely perfect and we all had a great time!
That night we had one last amazing seafood meal at Stinky's and then headed to Baytown. This was the other thing the kids had been dying to do so we saved it for last. Baytown is this neat area that has lots of restaurants and then activities for the kids.
Meg was bummed she was too short for the big ropes course but settled on the junior one instead!
Brody was excited to do the huge ropes course again this year and insisted Papa go with him. I only learned recently that Bruce is afraid of heights. This surprised me because he does so many adventurous things. But he was a trooper and went up with Brody. Brody did the ropes course so fast this time that he ended up having to wait on Papa a lot and Papa eventually stopped and let Brody go to the very top with one of the employees and he managed to ring the bell. We all had a little laugh watching but we were proud of them both for doing it! Papa was a little clammy when he got down!
Getting a good look at the boys doing the ropes course
Meg found another bungee trampoline!
The sunsets there are amazing!
And then Meg decided she wanted to do the zip line. I couldn't believe it. It was so high and a pretty far zip line and it went over this big pond. Once she decided she wanted to do it then Brody decided he would. They got all harnessed up and walked up the huge staircase by themselves and sure enough they both did it. Meg went first and loved it. She was waving and a smiling. It is so funny the things she won't do sometimes and then she does something crazy like this. But I've noticed with her that once she makes up her mind to do it there is no stopping her! Brody loved it too and I was so proud of my brave kiddos!
Then we took a walk down the pier
And listened to the band while Brody impressed us with his hula hooping skills!
The next morning everyone was sad to say their goodbyes. The kids were going to miss Charlotte but we were so excited to go see Annie!
Last hugs
These two are getting pretty good at flying and navigating around an airport. And they look super cute with their backpacks!
I got to sit by this girl on the way home and she was out fast. All those days of fun and no naps had caught up to her! We sure enjoyed our vacation. So relaxing and fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment