Panama City Beach, FL – Days 5 and 6

Day five started out much the same as the other days from the trip with breakfast in the condo, but we could tell that the kiddos seemed to be tiring of the beach, so we decided to skip it and head straight to the pool instead.  Poor Jacob is just not a fan of the beach during the day when it’s hot and sunny, and I think it would have done him in to go one more time.  He did have a great time at the pool, though, and I was really glad that we chose to skip the beach.

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.

Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4

*Linking up with Home of Malones for Thoughts for Thursday.