Summer Vacation~ PCB, FL: Days 6-8

Day 6

1. Thursday morning we woke up to another beautiful day and perfect weather. And the ocean was calm enough for both boys to "swim" and enjoy.

2. Anna's boyfriend Frankie got in late Wednesday night to spend the rest of vacation with us. Garrison loves Frankie. And he told him several times. Ha! Poor Frankie didn't know he was going to have a shadow 24-7.

3. We spent the whole day on the beach and in the ocean. Garrison loved hanging out in the ocean. Austin would cry as we carried him out and cling to us like his life depended on it, but once he got in his little float he was good to go. He'd stop crying right away and just relax. Boy boths spent a lot of time in the ocean on Thursday.

4. Thursday afternoon we all got ready for our annual khaki and white beach pictures. This year was the best yet I think. Almost all of them turned out really good. I'd love to put out all of our beach pictures in frames every summer.

5. After pictures we all hurried back in to change shirts or shorts so we wouldn't have to stay in our matching outfits (I know it'd be easier to stay matching but for some reason I'd just rather change... I'll probably get over that one year).

6. We went to Angelo's and arrived by 5:30 and had no wait! Another record!

7. After a delicious dinner we all went to Salty Dog, a tradition in PCB, and picked out t-shirts for the boys (thanks Granna and Papa!) before saying goodnight to the boys and heading out on a date. =)

8. We traded cars with my parents so they could take the boys home and get them in bed while Terrell and I went out on a double date with Anna and Frankie. We had SO much fun. We rode go-karts, shared sno cones, watched Terrell and Frankie ride bumper boats, played putt-putt, and had lots of adult conversation with no interruptions. We had the best time. My sister even told us she could tell we don't go out much. Ha.

Day 7

1. The weather was great Friday too. We were soooo blessed. It very easily could have rained our entire vacation but instead we had almost a full week of beautiful weather. Thank you Lord!

2. Unfortunately, we woke up Friday morning to our tent being gone. Someone had stolen it during the early, early morning hours. It was really disappointing. And my oldest little man had a tough time understanding it. He broke our hearts because it bothered him so much.

3. Papa went out and bought another tent for our last day and we still had a great time on the beach shaded from the sun. The boys spent lots of time in the ocean again on Friday too. After Austin woke up from his short morning nap on the beach I took him into the ocean in his float and he fell back asleep! He rested his head on the float and the waves literally rocked him to sleep. He was even splashed a couple of times but went right back to sleep. It was precious listening to him snore as he floated.

4. We stayed out as long as we could on Friday even though both boys were pretty wiped out from a whole week at the beach. Garrison and Granna searched for seashells Friday afternoon while Terrell flew the kite and Austin hung out with me under the tent. Garrison was so exhausted we had to keep him entertained because he was ready to go in and call it a day.

5. We all went out to eat at Captain Anderson's that night and the boys got in a good nap in the car on the way there and while we waited. We had a great meal and took some pictures afterwards. Too bad my firstborn was "over" having his picture taken pretty fast.

6. After leaving Captain Anderson's we went to Pier Park for the rest of the evening so Garrison could visit the amusement park there. It is the neatest little place for kids. We'll probably be able to spend hours and hours there during future vacations.

7. Garrison rode a few rides and had a ball. He wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel but we decided against it. He probably wasn't tall enough anyway. He did ride his first ever "real" ride by himself though. He loved flying the airplane so much that he rode it twice. We were so proud of him figuring out how to make his airplane go up high.

8. Austin hung out in the stroller and took everything in... including his bottle. He was a trooper. They both crashed when we got home.

Day 8

Saturday morning we woke up, packed up, and loaded up. It took us forever. And Austin slept the whole time. We didn't wake him up until we were just about ready to pull out. Poor little guy was catching up on his sleep from his late night the night before. We all ate a big breakfast together (including Garrison squeezing in between AnAn and Frankie in an itty bitty booth made for 2 and only 2) before officially getting on the road between 10 and 11. Then my babies went right to sleep. A week at the beach had totally exhausted them.

We stopped for lunch sometime after 3:00 since we had such a big, late breakfast and got back on the road. The rest of the trip took for-ev-er. We thought we'd never get home. It was sooo long and tiring and boring Terrell and I thought we might lose it. We finally got home about 7:30 and unloaded the car, fed the boys a little something, and put them to bed. Both of them had a hard time falling asleep (probably because they slept the day away in the car) but they were both snoozing by 9:45 and then Terrell and I went straight to bed too.

The trip home (and maybe even the trip itself) might have worn us out but our week at the beach was so worth it. We were still busy keeping up with the boys, still had very little time to truly relax, and still had a few behavior issues with Garrison later in the week, but it was so nice to get away and spend our vacation at the beach. I think it's safe to say a week at the beach might be one of our favorite things ever.

We enjoyed playing in the sand and ocean, eating yummy food, our double date with AnAn and Frankie, and most of all making new memories. It was also nice that we could have so much time with Granna and Papa. My extended family is pretty big so my parents have to "share" us a lot. Like every single holiday and get-together. So summer vacation is our extended "alone" time with them and we all had so much fun. Now we can't wait to go back!!