Vacation Destination

Okaloosa Island, Florida! I don't remember my exact words when I opened the door to the condo and saw all the way through to the outside, but I'm pretty sure it was something that was not quite as lady like as I would normally have it!  The kids were out of earshot... so Parent of the Year award is not in jeopardy!

One of the really great features of where we stayed was the chair and umbrella service.  Every morning these men would come by and set it all up... we didn't have to haul, or set up anything.  We would just walk down, set out our towels, and all day we were in the shade!

Then there is the sand.  It's WHITE!  Seriously!!!  We had to keep sunglasses on at all times, otherwise it was WAY TOO BRIGHT!  Daddio is convinced that the slight sunburn he had on his legs was from the reflection from the sand, not from being out!  It was intense, and nothing like anything we've ever seen before!

Well this is what you came for, right?  A picture tour of the beach!

The view from our balcony!

Also a view from our balcony looking straight down into the pool!

Our condo building.  We were in the unit in the bottom right hand corner.

The water was so amazing!

Now, the important aspect of this picture is SNOOKER!  This is the first year he was totally a daredevil in the water!

Surfing is in our near future!

Bubba practicing his Dead Man float...

It was so fun watching the boys actually SWIMMING in the water.  It was so clear, and pretty deep where we were that they really enjoyed exploring the area!

Bubba and Daddio.  Those two spent a great deal of time snorkeling!

The really cool part of this shot is not only Bubba and Daddio... but the dolphin in the background.  We had a pod that would swim by several times a day!  In this one, they are just on the other side of the sandbar... that's were Bubba and Daddio are headed!

A boy and his net!  He tried like the dickens to catch a fish... sadly crabs were all he managed!

Most mornings started out as green flag days.  The water was as calm as a swimming pool!

This is exactly how it looked... none of these shots have been adjusted one bit!

Well, I figured if I put in a few shots of Daddio, I better add one of me... otherwise he might choose one!

Vacation, leg three

Next up is Alabama. Now I felt sort of bad for Mississippi... we drove right though, not stopping even once. It was lovely from the car window!

Saturday morning we woke up, hit Cafe Du Monde, then headed out. We would be reaching our final destination today, but saw online about the USS Alabama and the SR-71 they had on static display. Naturally we had to stop!

Wow!  That thing is HUGE!  We were able to tour both the battleship, the submarine, and the static display before we were all pooped out and needed to eat lunch!  If you are driving through this area, and your kids can manage stairs (lots and lots of them), it's worth the stop!

 

Vacation, leg two

Friday morning we set out for NOLA! It was an easy drive, and we arrived just a lunch time (score!). We found a great parking spot down south of the French Quarter, on the river... and went to Landry's for lunch... Heaven, I'm in Heaven... oh how I love good seafood!  The city beckoned, and we obliged!

After a little discussion we decided that the best way to see the most we could would be to take a carriage ride!  It really was a lot of fun.  Belle, and noble... ahh, mule was a doll, and the carriage driver was funny!  We were taken through each block, with all sorts of things being pointed out to us... even Brad and Angelina's home, the home that the IRS took back from Nick Cage, and the bar that stayed open through Hurricane Katrina.

Oh, and I had no idea that there was an Ursuline Convent and school down there, but boy was that a pretty sight in the city!

After the carriage ride, we did a little more exploring on foot.  We really wanted to take a peak inside St. Louis Cathedral.  It's the oldest cathedral, and second oldest church... anyone know the oldest church????  It's in St. Augustine (we saw it on a travels to Florida a few years ago).  I'm thinking I should make us a passport of all the Catholic hotspots we've hit over the years!

Anyhooooooo, it is so beautiful on the inside, and out!  We were able to go in, spend some quiet time in prayer, and have a look around.  WOW!  Just outside of the cathedral (not shown in the picture) is a section of street that is closed off.  Now, if you've never been it is little shocking and annoying (in my opinion)... but there are fortune tellers and crap all set up right there... just outside of the doors!  YUCK!

Well, that pretty much rounded out our NOLA time... oh wait, there's one more thing you must have when you are in the French Quarter... beignets.  Now, growing up (in Louisiana), my mom would make them... but I never had the originals from Cafe Du Monde... Heaven, I'm in Heaven... Powdery Sugar Wonderfulness!

Vacation, leg one

Every January we start planning our summer vacation. It is always a bittersweet event... I mean, it is super exciting to starting making plans, but it is oh so painful to wait until May before we can get on the open road. This year we decided it was time to venture beyond our comfort zone, we saw a great deal in Florida on a condo on the beach and BAM booked it! I'll admit I was slightly skeptical on just how beautiful the beach and ocean looked. Trust me, we've seen pictures and then arrived to something lovely but not really what the pictures would lead you to believe. Well, I'll stop there because I'm not sharing that part just yet, and start the journey with you. Oh yes, it was a journey!

We decided to break up the trip a little since we would be crossing 5 states. I'm originally from Louisiana, with family still there. So on Thursday we headed out and spent the evening with my cousins.

Thanks to our giddiness to get on the road, we were making good time. When we saw the sign for The Big Thicket National Park, it was a no brainer, we need to pull over and check it out. They have a lovely main office, gift shop, and movie about the park and it's origins. Naturally we wanted to see more. We spoke with a park ranger about all the different hiking trails, and found one that we thought would be a nice 2 mile hike! Wow! I highly recommend this park. Honestly I can't wait until we can get back down there again and hit other trails they have. To be able to traverse all of the different ecosystems that are found in one place is really something special. The trees were so cool, and we even found wild black berries. YES, we picked a few and the boys tried them. SO AWESOME!!!!  Then it was back in the car for the last few miles to get to our evening stop.

My cousin's place is just perfect for boys!  They have a large property with cows, chickens, a horse, and a pond... and all of our kids play so well together! The boys had a blast! I had a lot of fun too, catching up... and once again found out just how tasty I am to local mosquitoes!  In just a few minutes outside I wound up with about 30 bites on my legs (a week and a half later I still have about half of them that I'm trying NOT to scratch).  Oh well, it was worth it :-).

 

Speaking of VACATION!!!!

Vacation, what's there to say other than I LOVE VACATION! Our family loves the beach, we go every year, and every year we love it even more than the year before which is pretty darn extraordinary! This year we switched it up a little and headed to a new island... South Padre. The drive was just a little longer, but it was definitely worth it. The water was amazingly blue, the sea weed was scarce, and the temperature both in the water and out was perfection!

We rented a house for a week, as is our custom... it was a real beauty, in a neighborhood straight from the movies, just breath taking. There is something to be said for a gated community with a security guard and noise rules! Plus we had a private boardwalk down to the sand, on an area of the beach that DID NOT allow car access! This was by far the closest walk we've ever had as well. Need to run back to the house for something... less than five minutes door to sand... AWESOME!

So what do we do for 8 days and 7 nights????

A little of this-
A lot of that-
Practice our ninja jumps...
Mom and Dad hang out in the shade...
Oh look, two lovely ladies (Olive you look great with only a handful of weeks before the bundle arrives!)...
Oh, and the sand castles... lots of building this year!
My guys down at the jetty...
How could you resist a dolphin cruise... and a one week old baby!
Land ho!
Right across the road from our neighborhood was the Sea Turtle rescue and hospital!
It was an amazing trip, the food was awesome, it was an unbelievably large house (sleeps 14), and all of our friends and family who came to spend time with us and experience our kind of vacation seemed to have a great time!

Till next year...

Hurry up already!

That is my current line of thinking... what needs to hurry up... VACATION! We head out next week for our annual beach vacation. I'm so pumped, I'm so ready, I'm so... thirsty... I'm usually quite thirsty when we are down on the coast :-)!

As I sit here and type (and ponder), I remember the first time we took the boys. Boy, that was nerve racking... getting everything packed, making sure everything was where it needed to be, and that all three were where they needed to be. I was nervous! We had been on one road trip prior to the first beach trip... and to say it didn't go well is a HUGE understatement. Snooker had meltdown after meltdown (mostly in the car of course, where you can get way from the very loud crying). Honestly I don't really remember the ride down (or back for that matter)... so either it was uneventful, or it was exactly the same as previously and I simply blocked it (not uncommon :-). The beach itself was, um, well, Snooker didn't like the beach... it was quite overwhelming for him. Bobcat was sort of not sure about it at all, but was perfectly happy to play in the sand, Bubba... oh sweet little chubby Bubba... the apple of his Daddy's eye... was out in the waves hanging on to Daddio and waving for the camera!

With every passing year Snooker makes head way (he will go in the ocean but much prefers to build in the sand), and Bobcat got over his fear of the water and goes exploring with and with out his brothers, usually looking for cool shells or hunting down coconuts... Bubba, sweet Bubba... he's out in the surf. He likes to boogie board and heck even body surf (I guess that's what you call what he does), but he's always having fun way out in the waves.

The car rides? Heck, those are nothin' now! We are a car trip family. Everyone gets comfy, shoes off, pillows adjusted, and audio book begins as we pull onto the hi-way.

You would think that Daddio and I would be stressed going into any trip due to our personalities (or number of kids who need meds, Celiac disease, dogs, blah blah blah)... we both like to plan things out, we want to organized, have everything just so-so... but when it comes to heading to the coast (or camping) we are a well oiled machine. The only uncertainty is how early will Daddio wake up that morning... he cracks me up... sometimes it is 3 or 4am and he is up and READY TO GO! (No, we don't need to leave that early... he's just that excited!). When it comes to the unexpected... well, it happens, we know that better than most I think... we've had dead batteries, the beast had a smashed window (broken into)... shall I go on??? We roll with it! And we've gotten really good at that (thank you Holy Spirit and Mother Mary)!

Nearly all the prep work is done: newspaper put on hold, mail stopped for the week, dogs have been booked at the boarding house, sunscreen bought in bulk, new suits for the little boys and mommy (yeah for losing weight), beach umbrella borrowed (it is so cool that Daddio's friend let's us borrow it... it is AWESOME)...

Oh... I'M READY!!!!!! Unfortunately... I have to wait... because it's not quite time :-(

Ummm, sorry

So it's been a while since I've blogged... sorry! We've been busy! Pretty much since we returned home from Florida, I had to get us back in the groove because I knew we only had two full weeks and then a half week before we would be back on the road again for another mini trip! It's camping weather... YEAH! Last week we packed up the beast and headed north... well north east I guess really... to Beavers Bend in Oklahoma! This is probably our favorite park to camp in, especially in the fall. Hiking through the mountains with the leaves all changing, it really is quite something. So here are a few pics from our trip... once I get them put into our online album I'll put a link... we got all artsy with the nature, and some are super cool!

First up, it is really nice to have a junior camera man in our family. Bobcat has gotten really good using our big SLR! We now actually have pictures of just the two of us at places... and as a friend said... proof that we were there too!
See what I mean about the trees... aren't they just lovely. And if you like finding things... you might catch a sighting of the boys way up ahead. We love our walkie talkies... the boys are familiar with the trails and can go quite a ways from us on the trail exploring, and we can hang back taking artsy pictures that annoy them when they have to wait for us :-).And this blog post wouldn't be complete without a pic of my three little bumps on a log!

Now I must go get ready for an adoption conference... oh I'm so excited! Great speakers and being surrounded by families like us is just a great way to spend a day!

To Florida and back again.

Here we go... the boys first plane trip!

St. Augustine... the old city... this first shot is inside the visitors center.
Oldest Wooden School House!
St. Photios National Greek Orthodox Shrine... it was breathtaking!
Basilica Cathedral
Check out that sundial... at it was right!
Castillo de San Marcos... they had a canon firing demonstration!

Mission of Nombre De Dios... the actual spot of the first Mass... 55 years before the pilgrims arrived.
St. Augustin Lighthouse... 219 steps up! At the top you are at an astonishing 165 feet with a great view of the city and the ocean!

It really is a beautiful lighthouse... and still operational. If we weren't so hungry it would have been nice to stay and see it lit up!
Cocoa Beach! We made it to the Atlantic Ocean!!! This was the first time the boys and I have dipped our toes in this ocean! Naturally we had to get a shot of the awesome lifeguard stand... we don't have those at Port A!

Hey, here we go!!! A ride on the Monorail before the park opens... MK here we come!
When we first got into the park we headed straight up to the steam train to take a tour of the park. We were the first ones on, and had to head to the very back... the caboose conductor invited Bubba to be the Guest Conductor... he got to wear the hat (the whole ride) and say on the intercom "ALL ABOARD"!

My favorite float from the night parade at MK.