Panama City Beach, FL - Day 3

Happy Wednesday, all!  I’m back this morning with another beach trip recap. 

Day 3 started out much the same as day 2.  We had the rest of the donuts from the dozen that B had picked up the day before, and then we headed to the beach.  The day started out a bit cloudy, and it was nice to have a break from the sun.  Jacob hung around the beach chairs for the majority of the morning, digging and playing in the sand, and Olivia wanted to be in the water.  She would chase the receding waves into the ocean and then she would back up a bit as they came back and crashed around her knees.  She loved every second of it! 

B had surprised the kids with water guns before the trip, so we busted those out and let the kids squirt each other.  And us.  And the chairs.  And the sand.  And the ocean.  You get the point.  Olivia was all about refilling her own, but as per the usual, Jacob wouldn’t get anywhere remotely close to the water, so B and I spent the next little bit trotting out to the water for refills every 5 minutes.  

Jacob tired of the beach pretty quickly, so we packed up and headed up to the condo for some pool time before lunch.  Jacob has always hated the pool as well, but it must have paled in comparison to the beach, because he had a blast in it for the first time in his life!  He was giggling and splashing a bit (but for the love, don’t let it get in his face), and he even allowed me to lay him on his stomach and practice kicking.  That has never happened… he usually wraps his legs around me like a monkey and then locks his feet so he’s stuck to me.  And if I remotely loosen my grip on him he goes into total freak-out mode.  I was so glad to see him loosened up a bit and I was really pleased that he didn’t want to leave when it was finally time to go.  Baby steps…

Olivia had a blast in the pool, too.  It’s looking like she’s going to be our water baby.  She was splashing and laughing and kicking non-stop.  She also let me lay her on her stomach and her back to practice floating.  Neither kid would put their face in the water yet, but both definitely did better than they ever have in the past.  That’s a good thing for Jacob because he’s going to be taking swimming lessons in a couple of weeks.  I can confidently say that it’s going to be a disaster.

After the kids were all tired out from the sun, sand, and chlorine, we went back up to our condo, made some sandwiches, gave the kids baths, and then Olivia went down for her nap.

I spent naptime at the beach with my book again, and then headed up late in the afternoon to get ready for dinner.

Our friends Stephanie and Bobbie moved down to PC Beach a few years back, so we always get together with them when we visit.  We met them at Sharky’s, another one of our favorite open-air restaurants right smack on the beach.  We chatted over Cherry Lime-Aids (cherry and citrus vodkas with sour mix, sprite, grenadine, and fresh squeezed lime – SO good), Hurricanes, and beer while the kiddos stayed busy coloring in their children’s menus and watching the ocean.  For dinner, I ordered the Hawaiian Chicken Sandwich (a grilled chicken breast marinated in teriyaki sauce, Monterey jack cheese, and grilled pineapple – yes, please) and it was fantastic!  Nice and light for the warm spring evening.  Toward the end of dinner, the kiddos started getting restless so Bobbie walked them out to the sand where they found… a playground right there on the beach!  They always manage to sniff out a playground wherever we go!

Once the check was paid, the rest of us joined them, and then we walked over to the dunes to try to get some family pictures.  The kids cooperated for all of 5 minutes and then they were off to play in the sand and see the ocean.  I was able to convince Olivia to come back and snap a few more pictures, but Jacob had had enough by then so I just left him alone.  I did, however, finally have a chance to get B to snap a few pics of just me as a new head shot for the blog and all of my social media profile pictures.  You may have noticed that I finally changed my picture on the blog today!  It's about time!

We stayed out there until dark.  The kids played on a couple of jet skis that were parked in the sand and they looked for shells with Stephanie while Brian and Bobbie and I chatted some more.  The sunset was stunning.  It looked like a giant hot pink beach ball hanging in the sky.  When it finally dropped into the ocean, the sky turned deep purple and then navy until it finally faded to black.  The pictures don’t remotely do it justice.  

It was the perfect night with some dear friends and it was the perfect way to end day 3 of our trip.

I’ll be back tomorrow to recap day 4.  In the meantime, you can see my recaps for days 1 and 2 below in case you missed them last week!  

Day 1 // Day 2

*Linking up with Jessi's Design and Going the Distance for What's Hap-"Pinning" Wednesday.