Back to work...

It's the day we dread every summer.  The day we return to work after time off with the family.  We are blessed indeed to love what we do, but we sure do miss time with the family while they are still off for the summer.  Charles and I both know that one of the main reasons we love being in education is the time we get with Cade and Caelin during the summer.  The summer is always packed with fun and vacations as we never want to miss an opportunity to make memories while we can.  So, while I may snarl and drive to work on my first day back today (and Charles in a few weeks), I am thankful for this past summer and the countless memories made.  Bring on the 2019-2020 school year!

A week of Florida Sunshine

San Destin has been our family haven for 6 years now.  We love coming here to relax and live among the locals for a week each summer.  This year we waited all summer to go and were so excited for the week to begin.  We left Monday morning around 3am making the 10 hour drive (plus a few stops).  We arrived around 1pm in time for a fun lunch and grocery shopping before heading to our house. To keep up with our tradition, as soon as we got "home", we unpacked and then jumped on the golf cart to adventure to Baytowne Wharf for games and ice cream before heading to the beach to see the water.  Even though we knew the next day would be spent at the beach, the kids did their usual routine of getting in the ocean with all their clothes on.  Let's just say we are used to it and just laugh.  After all, life is supposed to be messy, right?   

After a good nights sleep, we awoke for a day of fun at the beach.  We packed our drinks, lunch and snacks...along with toys, chairs, umbrella, towels and more.  I am glad the golf cart was there, ha!  We played for the majority of the day in the ocean.  Charles loves to go snorkle near a sand bar around 10 feet deep, Cade's favorite is to grab a boogie board and ride the waves, Caelin loves to collect shells and build things in the sand, and my favorite thing is to lay on the beach listening to the waves and feel the warm sun.  Anytime we have toes in the sand is a good one.  Once we were all beached out for the day, we did our annual fresh seafood dinner and went to Shrimper's Seafood Market.  This year the menu had fresh Ahi Tuna, scallops, shrimp, crab cakes and veggies.  It was PERFECT.  We ended the night at the pool/spa before heading off to bed.

Wednesday was my pick for the day...so I chose hiking in a new state park (Topsail Hill State Park).  We were able to do several trails and even geocache along the way.  It was fun, but we were definitely ready for lunch and cold drinks afterward.  Once rejuvenated, the ocean kept calling our name, so we ventured for some time in the waves before taking showers for the Wharf.  Baytowne Wharf had live music and dancing along with the games and such.  The kids enjoyed people watching, going to the candy shop, and playing the games there.  It was a busy day of laughter and new adventures.

  

The next day was "family adventure" day.  Each year, we let the kids pick something new to do.  In years past we have done pirate cruises, dolphin cruises, helicopter rides, parasailing and snorkeling.  This year, we all voted to rent a pontoon boat in Fort Walton and go to Crab Island and explore together.  It was the perfect decision.  The kids loved driving the boat with Daddy and snorkeling in shallow waters on an island we found.  We were the only people on the island, so everyone was able to do what they wanted and explore the dunes.  Crab island was also a big hit as the waters were shallow enough for the kids to walk between the inflatables and obstacle courses in the ocean.  It is sureal to be watching them play with standing in waist deep water with fish swimming around you.  We saved money from what we normally would have done and we had a 10 passenger pontoon boat all to ourselves for 4 hours.  Destiny Water Adventures was a great company with friendly people.  I think this may need to be something we do again.  After driving back to the house and getting dressed, we went to a fancy dinner at Tommy Bahamas as a treat.  I hope I never forget these days.

Our last day in San Destin was packed with activities we all wanted.  We started the morning at the beach where we did our annual "funny foto fun" before heading to Baytowne Wharf for lunch, games, and some trampoline jumping.  We grabbed an ice cream before heading home to get dressed for an evening in Seaside.  Seaside/Watercolor are some of our favorite towns to venture toward as they are quaint with a family feel.  Bud and Alley's is our favorite place to eat and have cocktails with direct access to the beach.  This is where I usually try and sneak in some family photos each year, ha!  Afterward, we had snocones and spread a blanket to watch the outdoor movie of Harry Potter.  It was a perfect evening to a perfect vacation.    

Our morning started off as good as it could with us knowing we were leaving our paradise.  We ate breakfast on the way out of town and stopped in Alabama at Wentzell's Oyster House for the famous oysters.  Let me tell you, it was worth the wait!  We then decided to make a goal to get a large sized geocache in every state on our drive home.  We may have not gotten home till 8pm, but we had a blast on the road.  Thank you Florida for yet another year of memories, fun in the sun, and lots of laughter.