Vacation memories

We have always loved a week at the beach. I grew up going to the Gulf coast regularly throughout the summer, and it's a tradition I have loved passing on to our children. Last year was the only year that I can remember in our (almost) twelve years of marriage that we did not visit the beach. So we have been looking forward to our trip. My aunt offered her condo to us for a free week's stay. Normally we go to an island or Fort Morgan and rent a quiet house away from the crowds. But this year we went decided that free room and board was too generous to pass on, so we stayed right in the main hub of Panama City Beach. Our condo was away from the street and very quiet, but still in the middle of the most popular restaurants and hang-outs.

The kids enjoyed a week of indulging each night in trips to different restaurants and money-pit entertainment spots. We played mini-golf (three times), we rode go-carts, we visited "Ripley's Believe it or Not", the water park, and we played in an arcade...we were typical tourists. During the day we were in the sand or water. Normally, we have one night of hoopla, and the rest of the time we walk, fish, catch crabs by flashlight, read, and just relax. So this we are not used to all of the commercialism! But, all and all, we had a great time and the kids had a ball. Here are a few glimpses into our first few days:On our way down to the beach, we stopped and stayed for the night at our Alma Mater. There is nothing more surreal than walking the streets of your college town, steeped with memories of the bridge you took between childhood and adulthood, arm in arm with your three children and husband/college sweetheart.

My sweet little boy was overjoyed to go into the library. He has never been in a collegiate library and it looked so huge and exciting. (The library is one of "his favorite places on earth".) We missed the closing time by 10 minutes. Here he is just "sitting because he needs to be alone". Thankfully, his disappointment was nothing that a McDonald's milkshake...
and a visit to Toomer's Corner couldn't cure!

Lydie bug eats her first big-girl ice cream cone. Doesn't she look tiny in comparison?
My Dad gave the kids a big bag of change for spending money. It turned out to be $35 for each child. We went to this huge souveneir shop that had alligators and sharks inside. The boys are supposed to be squatting down to Lydie's size...but she insisted on squatting,too.
She is our first child to experience mountain snow before beach sand. Here are her 21-month old toes feeling the beach for the first time.