Our condo has
two different pools and we decided to go to the other pool this time. There wasn’t much of a difference except for
that this pool was larger and it was partially outdoors and partially
indoors. The kids were obsessed with the
indoor part and they kept wanting us to take them in “the room.” Both of them were pretty relaxed and
comfortable, so I’m hoping that we have prepared Jacob enough for his swimming
lessons next week. Eek. I guess time will tell.
Anyway, we
stayed down at the pool for a long time – longer than any other time during
this trip – and then we went back up to the condo around lunch time. I bathed the kiddos while B picked up Five
Guys for lunch. Once the kids were clean
and fed, I headed down to the beach solo for one last day by the ocean.
After the
beach, I went back up to the condo, showered, and then we set out for our last
night there. We adore Pier Park, so we
decided to head back there for our last evening of the trip. We chose Margaritaville for dinner and I was
shocked because there was already a 30 minute wait even though it was only 4:45
Panama City time (5:45 back home). We
ducked into their souvenir shop to keep cool while we waited, and we were seated
upstairs on the indoor balcony of the restaurant about 20 minutes later. Not bad at all.
The kids were
excited because we were high in the sky next to the airplane that was hanging
down on the lower level of the restaurant.
I indulged in a Watermelon margarita and B had some kind of strong whiskey
drink, and we watched the people on stilts make balloon objects for the kids –
a water gun for J and a princess crown for O.
While we were eating a quick rainstorm blow through. It’s crazy because out of the six days that
we were here, the only time it rained was for the hour that we were in this
restaurant. By the time we had finished
dinner, the sun had started to emerge again and the sidewalks were already
starting to dry. The best part was that
the rainstorm had cooled it off by probably 15 degrees so we knew that we had a
very pleasant and cool evening ahead of us.
Perfect since the rest of our plans were all outdoors.
The next stop
was souvenir shopping. We told the kids
that they could each pick one thing to have as a reminder of our trip. I was thinking along the lines of something
beachy and typical of souvenirs – ya know, a t-shirt, a shell, a beach toy –
but they immediately spotted a regular ol’ toy store where Jacob picked out a nerf
bow and arrow set and Olivia picked out an Ariel doll. Hey, I guess Ariel is beachy since she’s a
mermaid, right?
After the toy
store, we headed to a more traditional souvenir shop, because I had to find a
tacky souvenir frame to add to my collection.
I always buy a picture frame when we travel (the tackier the better) and
I have the entire collection displayed in our upstairs playroom with all of my
favorite photos from our travels. One
day I shall do a post about it. It’s one
of my favorite walls in our house! So
many wonderful memories. :o)
Anyway, after I
found the perfect frame, we moseyed on down through Pier Park to find some
dessert. Jacob chose frozen yogurt, and
we hadn’t been to that particular location yet, so we decided to give it a whirl. I mean, I’ve never met a froyo place that I
didn’t like. Am I right?
We enjoyed our
froyo out on the patio and people watched a bit. Once the sun started setting we walked
straight out of Pier Park and down to the beach for one last sunset by the
ocean. Olivia was as happy as a clam
running around in the sand… she pretty much looked like this the entire time:
But Jacob wasn’t
having it and he had a pretty bad attitude the entire time we were on the
beach. His face pretty much looked like
this the entire time:
He did willingly
take a few pictures, but he was pretty much done with the beach. Done. Haha.
Once the sun
had set, we walked back up to Pier Park and told the kids that we could go to
the carnival one last time since it was our last night there. Jacob definitely perked up then! We made our way down and stood in the mile
long line to get tickets. Jacob rode the
roller coaster and the tornado with Brian and then Olivia just wanted to ride
the carousel, so we let her ride it twice.
That would have exhausted the tickets, but a passerby handed us an extra
ticket that they weren’t going to use, so we let Jacob ride the roller coaster
again. I surprised him and told him that
I would even ride it with him for his last time and he was excited. (I’m not big on thrill rides anymore – even baby
ones – so this was a momentous occasion!) The roller coaster was tame and a lot of fun,
and I’m glad that I rode it with my sweet boy!
After that, we
called it a night and we made our way back to the car for the two minute drive
back to the condo. It was 10:30 our time
by the time we got back. The kiddos were
champs for staying up that late… two and half hours past their normal bedtime! They both fell right to sleep.
Once they were asleep, B and I enjoyed our last two Melon Beers and called it a night. We squeezed every single bit of goodness out of this day and it was one that I will remember for a long time to come!
Sunday morning
we awoke, packed up the car, stopped by Panera for cinnamon crunch bagels and cinnamon
rolls, and then headed home. We didn’t
even have to make any pit stops on the way home! Unheard of!
That’s a long time for the kids to stay in the car without a break. Olivia did
ask for her paci 1,800 times, though, and we finally gave in so we could have
some peace for the rest of the drive home.
We arrived home mid-afternoon and it was so good to see Maui! We sure did miss her.
This was such a
wonderful and relaxing trip and one that I will remember for a lifetime! I’m so glad that I get to go through life
with these special people because they sure do make all of our adventures fun!
If you missed
any of my other recaps, you can see them below.
*Linking up with Home of Malones for Thoughts for Thursday.
