Our Week - The One with Summer, Week 5 (Olivia’s Well Visit, Bike Practice, a Trip to Ikea, and Goodbye to Our Friars)

We had a super productive week last week along with a little bit of fun, and as I type this, we’re officially at the halfway point of summer.  Here’s the recap!

Monday, June 20

Monday, Brian was supposed to be off of work to observe the Juneteenth holiday, but because he was still wrapping up his big project, he had to be on call.  We ended up getting to sleep in, and I made homemade waffles with our new Baby Yoda waffle maker.  Haha.

We were going to head to the pool shortly after breakfast, but B ended up getting on a call right as we were about to walk out the door, so we ended up not being able to leave until sometime after 11.  Thankfully, they didn’t call him again while we were at the pool, and we were able to stay for a couple of hours.

We swam at my parents’ neighborhood pool, and there’s rarely anyone there, so we had the whole thing to ourselves.  I did a 20-minute swim workout, and then hung out with B and the kids in the water the rest of the time. 

Since we’d gotten to the pool so late, we had to eat a verrrry late lunch, and instead of going home to make something, B swung by Zaxby’s and grabbed lunch for us since it’d be faster.  After lunch, I got showered, and the kids settled in to play some video games with B while I got some work done in my office.

I’d thrown chicken in the slow cooker and made homemade guacamole earlier in the afternoon, so dinner was easy to throw together – chicken tacos with all the fixings, chips and guac, and of course, margaritas!

After dinner, Olivia requested to make "bougie ice cream" for dessert (her words, not mine... LOL).  When I asked her what that meant, she explained that she wanted a scoop of ice cream in a bowl, topped with a piece of candy bar, and garnished with a sprig of mint.  

Wuuuut?  Where oh where does she come up with this stuff, y'all?!  Haha.  

I obliged, and I gave her a scoop of ice cream, she topped it with a mini Twix bar, and then she cut a sprig of mint from our garden outside and nestled it in between the ice cream and the candy bar.  Then she asked me to take a picture of it.  Future influencer, no?  Haha.

After that, we all headed out into the heat to walk a mile, and then after B and the kids headed home, I did two more.  It was BOILING hot last week, even hotter than the previous week, and I have a feeling we’re going to be in for it in July and August.  We’ll either be living at my parents’ pool, or we’ll be living indoors. 

 

After my walk, we watched one episode of Walk the Prank, and then we put the kiddos to bed so we could watch another episode of The Staircase.  FYI, that show is so good, but it is VERY rated R.  And for many different reasons.

Tuesday, June 21

Tuesday, Brian headed off to work bright and early and the kids and I had a slow start to the morning – breakfast, plant watering, devotional time, and cartoons.  Olivia had her well checkup at her pediatrician’s office at 10, so we headed there mid-morning, and it was a quick visit… only one-hour, round trip!  Visiting their pediatrician used to take forevvvver but ever since Covid hit, they’ve been getting kids in and out quickly.  I like it!

The kids read some of their summer reading books while they waited for the doctor to come in, so we were able to knock out a few minutes of summer homework time as well. 

The doc said Olivia is as healthy as can be, and she’s in the 63rd percentile for height and 34th percentile for weight, so in other words, tall and skinny just like I always was when I was little. 

Her ear had been bothering her a little ever since a wave smacked her in the side of the head when we were at the beach, but in the days leading up to the doctor appointment, it hadn’t been bothering her at all.  I asked him to check it just to be safe, and I’m glad we did because it turned out that she had a middle ear infection.  Whoops.

When we got home, I prepared lunch, and then after lunch, we finally pulled out the kids’ laptops to start their IXL summer homework.  They have to complete at least eight hours of the assigned work in their accounts, and we hadn’t done a single minute up to that point, so we were waaaay behind.  We’ve just been having too much fun to even think about homework!

Both kids knocked out 30 minutes like it was nothing, and then they played for a bit, tidied up, and played their new Kirby video game for a bit while I worked and did some laundry. 

I got started on dinner around 4 and the kids worked on putting together some puzzles, and then after dinner, we all went outside into the extreme heat to work on bike-riding again.  Sigh. 

We ended up spending a good hour practicing this time and both kids did SO great.  Jacob really seemed to be getting the hang of balancing himself and he was able to ride quite far down the street without falling over or Brian having to dive for him.  Olivia also did well, although, she’s still not as steady as Jacob.

Even though it was a million degrees, neither of them wanted to go in and they wanted to keep practicing so that is a VERY good sign.  Most of the time, Jacob hates trying at all, even when it’s not a thousand degrees.  I’m hoping this means we’re finally on track to get them bike-riding once and for all.

By the time we came inside, it was time for the kids to get showered, and then I did a stair stepper workout while we watched America’s Got Talent.  It was summer soltice on Tuesday, so I stepped outside to take in the longest daylight of the year.  This photo below was taken after 9:00 and it was still that light out!  After the kiddos went to bed, B and I watched another episode of The Staircase.

Wednesday, June 22

Wednesday morning, B headed to work again, and the kids and I had another morning at home.  I had an appointment late morning, so the kids and I headed out to run a couple of errands – the post office and CVS to pick up Olivia’s antibiotic for her ear infection – and then I dropped them off with my parents since they couldn’t come with me to my appointment.

After my appointment, I swung by UPS Store to drop an Amazon return, and then I headed back to my parents’ house to pick up the kids.  They were finishing up a movie, so we hung around for a few minutes until the movie was over, and then we headed home to eat a late lunch.

After lunch, the kids played for a bit, and then they did a few minutes of video games, although, we limited it to very little since they’d already watched a movie at Pop and Cokies, and then they played for the rest of the afternoon.  The high was 101 on Wednesday with a heat index that was even hotter, so we didn’t even set foot outside until the evening.

We made breakfast for dinner, and then we all spent a while outside letting the kids ride their scooters in our culdesac.  After that, I got a good arms workout done, and then I got some laundry put away while the kids showered.

We finished America’s Got Talent with the kids and then B and I watched another episode of The Staircase before calling it a night.

Thursday, June 23

Thursday, we got up, had breakfast, did our morning chores, sipped some hot tea, and then the three of us headed to my parents’ neighborhood pool!  It was boiling hot when we arrived at 10 AM, and we ended up staying the entire morning.  I had so much fun playing with the kiddos and spending some good quality time with them.  As always, they didn’t want to leave, but we finally got back home in time for a semi-late lunch.

After lunch, the kids tackled some more of their online summer homework while I got showered and ready for the day, and then they had their screentime while I got some work done. 

We had to wrap everything up early because they had voice lessons (Olivia) and piano lessons (Jacob) at 4, and while each of them were taking their lesson, the other worked on summer reading.  Jacob had another great report from the teacher – his teacher said he’s doing so well that he skipped Jacob ahead a little bit because he’s picking up so quickly.

Olivia also got a great report from her voice teacher – she said that Olivia’s pitch is perfect and her volume is good, but she’ll be teaching her how to sing from her diaphragm soon to help her sing even louder.  She also said that they’re going to work on mimicking as well.  She said it’s common for children to try to mimic the voices they hear instead of singing in their own voice, and she said that she’ll be working with Olivia on that soon, too.

After music, we swung by Publix to grab a few things we needed, and then it was time for me to cook dinner.  After dinner, the kids asked to practice bike-riding some more, and even though it was nearly 100 degrees, we obliged because we want them to learn once and for all.  Jacob ended up getting the hang of riding and balancing and he ended up riding down our entire street without any assistance from B!  He has struggled with this for SOOOO long, y’all, and I’m just so proud of him that I have tears in my eyes while I’m typing this.  Now that he has the balancing and pedaling part down, he just needs to practice turning and braking and then he’ll be good to go!

Olivia mostly got the hang of the balancing and pedaling part Thursday evening, although, she’s still a bit squirrelly, so Brian has to stay right by her side.  She also has no clue how to turn or brake yet, so she still has a long way to go.  And y’all, bless her, she is so dang clumsy I have a feeling it’s going to take a while.  She sure has the drive to do it, though, and I know she’s not going to give up until she’s riding well! 

By the time we were done practicing, it was time for the kiddos to get showered, and while they did that, I got in a quick couple of miles.

We watched an episode of The Book of Boba Fett, and then B and I watched another episode of The Staircase before going to bed.

Friday, June 24

Friday, B was off, but we were still up bright and early to head to Ikea!!!!  We (and by we, I mean Jacob and me) have been dyyyying to organize Jacob’s Lego collection.  He has been collecting them since he was probably three years old, and they’re his most favorite things ever, so he has tons and tons of sets.  He doesn’t like to take them apart once they’re built, so we’ve been wanting to give him a space where he can display them, like his own little Lego museum. 

I’ve had the Ikea Billy bookcases in my office for years, and they are the absolute PERFECT shelves.  They’re super sturdy (still no bowing shelves all these years later), they’re super easy to put together, they’re always perfectly made (no wonky crooked ones like the ones I’ve bought from Target and Walmart in the past), and they’re SO affordable.  They also have tons and tons of peg holes so you can adjust the shelves one inch at a time, and you can buy as many extra shelves as you need so it’s totally customizable.  It’s no wonder Ikea has been selling these since the 1970’s.  Why quit when you have such a good thing?!

Because of supply chain issues (as with everything else these days), Ikea hasn’t been able to keep the bookcases in stock for about a year now, and the few times they’ve come back in stock, we haven’t been able to make it to Atlanta before they were sold out again.  Well, on Friday, they finally had all of the pieces that we needed for Jacob’s shelving system, and Brian was finally able to take a day off of work, so we all took a little road trip to the A.

I was able to place the order online for everything we needed ahead of time, so we were guaranteed to get them.  It would have sucked to drive all the way there only to have them run out of something right before we arrived.

When we arrived, we decided to walk through the store first to grab a couple of other smaller things that they won’t include on pickup orders, and we found the perfect bins to go in the bottom of Jacob’s shelves to hold all of his Lego manuals and extra pieces and such.

Once we’d made it through the store, we pulled around to the pickup area, and a guy brought all of the shelving boxes right out to us and helped B load them, so B and I didn’t have to hunt down all of the boxes in the warehouse and load them ourselves.  It was seriously the most convenient thing EVER.

We were able to lay the left half of the seats down in my Telluride (the middle and back rows) and put all of the bookshelf boxes there.  Then the kids were able to sit safely down the right side of the vehicle, Jacob in the middle row and Olivia in the back.  I couldn’t believe how easily it all worked out.  It was perfect.

After Ikea, we hopped over to my cousin Shelby’s office to say hi.  Her office isn’t too far from Ikea, so we decided to stop by and visit since we were literally in the neighborhood.

After we left her office, we made our way to Tin Lizzy’s for lunch, because when in Atlanta…

We seriously can’t resist their chips, queso, and guac!!  And, of course, we had a round of margs.

After lunch, we road tripped back home, and we arrived mid-afternoon with some time to spare before our evening plans.  B and I couldn’t lift the bookshelf boxes together (my fault, not his… haha), so we ended up opening all of the boxes in the car and carrying the pieces in one by one.  Gotta do what ya gotta do!  Lol.  Also, look at Jacob trolling my picture yet again... hahahaha.  He will always and forever make some crazy face when I hold up the phone to take a picture.  He couldn't hold it long, though, because he started cracking up!

Once that was done, I worked on unloading the dishwasher and watering the plants and all that, and then I went to my office to get some work done while B and the kids played video games.

We had dinner plans with my father-in-law, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law, and nephews, so we made our way to my FIL’s house at 5:30 where we enjoyed takeout from Longhorn and cookie cake for dessert.  Everyone was so busy in June that we had a backlog of birthdays and other special events to celebrate, so we lumped them altogether and celebrated at the same time.  The cousins all played the longest game of Uno any of us has ever seen, and we finally had to get them to stop (without a winner) so we could leave because it was getting late.

When we got home, B and I got the kids in the bed and then he and I watched another episode of The Staircase before heading off to bed.  Unfortunately, I was behind on my workouts for the day, and I didn't want to break my streak, so yes, I squeezed in a quick late one.

Saturday, June 25

Saturday morning, we met up with friends to start golf lessons.  The place where the kids are taking lessons is really laid-back, and they ended up having a great time together.  Jacob wants to start golf in the fall at school, so we’re trying to get in as much practice as we can between now and then.

After golf, we headed home, and I did my workout for the day plus all of the house chores.  The kids did their laundry, we all had lunch, and then we all worked in Jacob’s room for a bit.  We removed aaaallll of the Lego sets from aaaallll the surfaces, we got his old bookshelf and night stand out of his room, and we moved his dresser next to his bed to make way for the new shelving system. 

I was so antsy to get it all done that I went ahead and started putting together the first bookshelf, too, but I ran out of time before it was time to get ready for church.

Saturday marked the last weekend that our friars were going to be with us, so they all celebrated Mass together in front of a packed house, and then we had a huge goodbye party for them in our hall afterward.  They had heavy hors d’oeuvres, beer, and wine, and everyone ended up hanging around for a couple of hours mingling, chatting, and saying our goodbyes. 

Words cannot express how much we are going to miss them.  They breathed new life into our church when they came along a few years ago, and they were the glue that kept us altogether in 2020 when everything fell apart.  They have taken great care of our babies during school Masses and other school events, and it’s just not going to be the same without them.  I don’t think I’ve ever been so sad to see someone leave our church and there have been many who have come and gone in my lifetime.

After the party wrapped up, we decided to grab Mexican with my parents because none of the adults had eaten enough to call it a full meal… we were all too busy running our mouths instead.  After dinner, we headed straight home and got the kids in the bed because it was late, and they were exhausted.

B and I watched the last episode of The Staircase and all I can say is HUH?  I had a feeling it was going to end the way it did, though.  I’ll stop there so there are no spoilers.

Sunday, June 26

Sunday morning, we were lazy first thing – cinnamon rolls and the last episode of The Floor is Lava were on deck, and then I headed upstairs to get back to work on Jacob’s room.  I got the rest of the bookcase put together that I had started on Saturday, and I put the other two together as well.  By the time that was done, it was time to get showered and ready to go to lunch at my MIL and step-FIL’s.

They cooked a delicious spread as always, and we spent some time in the garden letting the kids pick the last of the radishes, and we got to catch up with everyone.  The cousins all played another long game of Uno, but this time they were able to finish and squeeze in a couple more.

When we got home, B and I worked in Jacob’s room for the rest of the day, getting all of the bookshelves in place, getting them all anchored to the wall, and getting all of the extensions put together and attached, and we managed to get the entire thing DONE before we had to be at my parents’ house for Sunday dinner.  Woooo hoooo!

We got there just in time to eat, and my momma had cooked one of my favorite casseroles along with some fresh veggies, and it was a yummy, yummy dinner.  We hung out with them and my Mama Cass, my littlest brother, and my uncle all evening, and it was a great way to end the weekend!

Unfortunately, I still hadn't gotten my workout in for the day on Sunday when we got home, so I did another late one, but I wasn't about to mess with my streak for June!  Ha!

 

And now for a few current things…

 

Currently Reading

 

In June, I read Love, Lists, and Fancy Ships by Sarah Grunder Ruiz and I loved it.  Don’t be fooled by the cheesy book title or the cheesy cover.  I also read Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane.  I thought it was good, but it didn’t blow my mind or anything… definitely worth the read, though.  I also read Beach Read by Emily Henry and I didn’t love that one at all.  It was okay, but it was pretty slow a lot of the time, and I found that I was having to force myself to read it.  It was definitely forgettable.  And finally, I’m just now wrapping up Meant to Be by Emily Giffin.  I have to say, she is probably my very favorite author, and although, I’ve been loving this book, it’s not one of my favorites by her.  I haven’t quite finished it yet, but I’m hoping it’ll end well.

 

Currently Watching

 

With B:  This month, B and I finished A Million Little Things and Shark Tank, and we’re still catching up on Saturday Night Live on network television.  For streaming, we finished season 2 of The Flight Attendant, the final season of Ozark, and the first half of the final season of Better Call Saul.  We also started and finished season 2 of The Wilds and the HBO Max miniseries, The Staircase, and we loved both.  We’re now making our way through the new season of Stranger Things, although, I’m paying zero attention to it.

 

With the Kids:  We finally finished American Idol and we started America’s Got Talent on Network TV.  We also finished The Book of Boba Fett (which is not for me either) on streaming, and we’re still working our way through Walk the Prank.  Oh, and we started and finished season two of The Floor is Lava… it was only five episodes.  Boooo.  We still haven’t picked back up The Fresh Prince of Bel Air or Mighty Ducks Game Changers, but now that the kids are out for summer, that’ll be happening soon!

 

Alone:  I haven’t been watching much alone because I haven’t been spending much time alone since the kids are out for summer.  In the rare event that I’m in my office long enough, I’ve been listening to The Big Wedding while I work because it’s leaving Netflix after today.  *Tear

 

Currently Listening To

 

Summer playlist.  Summer playlist.  Summer playlist.  That is all!

Happy Thursday, y’all!

2022 30A Summer Beach Trip - Days 5, 6, & 7

It’s finally time for part two of our beach trip!  If you missed the first half you can read it here.

Wednesday, June 8

Wednesday morning, we slept in until almost nine because we were all so exhausted, and then we had a lazy morning in the condo.  The weather was gorgeous yet again, but we decided to skip the beach for the day and take a break from the sun.  Both kids had different patches of skin that were irritated from the sand and sunscreen, and we were all pretty tired of the sun.

Instead, we made a light breakfast of eggs and cereal in the condo, I read on the balcony for a bit and had my morning tea, and then we got ready and headed into Rosemary Beach.  By the time we arrived, it was lunchtime, and we lucked out and got the last indoor table at Cowgirl Kitchen.  We love eating outside, but not during the hottest part of the day when the sun is beating down… especially since our goal was to stay out of the sun on Wednesday.

Cowgirl Kitchen has been on our list of places to eat for years, but there are only a few tables there, so it’s hard to get into, and therefore, we’ve never really tried.  We got right in and sat down on Wednesday, and the food ended up being awesome.  B had a pepperoni and banana pepper pizza that was amazing, and I had their Market Salad with mixed greens, strawberries, diced mango and pineapple, goat cheese, candied pecans, and house dressing, and OH MY WORD, it was one of the best salads ever.  Their house dressing was so unique… probably one of the best salad dressings I’ve ever had.  I highly recommend it if you’re ever there!

After we were done eating, we walked down to The Sugar Shak, a unique little place that sells tons and tons of candy – every type you can think of, old and new – as well as ice cream.  Every year, we always go there after dinner, and it’s always packed, so it was odd being there during the day and having the place to ourselves.  I came across Push Pops while we were in there and it brought back so many childhood memories!  Do y’all remember these??  I have not seen them in probably 30 years, even though I was told they’re still sold pretty much everywhere.  The kids each picked out a couple of things, and Olivia grabbed Bean-Boozled, the jellybean game with aaaallll the nasty flavors.  Lol. 

After that, we swung by The Hidden Lantern Bookstore to grab a book for me to read for the rest of the trip.  One of the books I’d ordered for the trip got lost in the mail before we left, so I was short one book, and I needed something else to get me through.  We ended up staying there for a bit and letting the kids browse.  If you haven’t been, it’s the absolute coziest little bookstore with warm wood bookshelves, big comfy couches, and perfect lighting.  I would have been happy sitting there for the rest of the afternoon.

The kids each bought one of those scratch-off books with their own money, I grabbed a copy of Beach Read, and then after we paid, we did some more browsing at a couple of the other shops in Barrett Square.

After we finished up in Rosemary Beach, we made the drive to Pier Park in Panama City to have our annual Dave and Buster's day.  I am not a huge fan of D&B (the incessant noise gets to me very quickly), but B and the kids love it, so we go every year while we’re there.  It’s usually our rainy day activity, but this year we lucked out and had zero rainy days.

Wednesdays all games are half-off, and therefore, the kids were able to play twice as much and get twice the tickets that they normally do.  They both ended up picking out a few good prizes each at the end and they were so excited.  Olivia had been asking for a sleep mask for a few weeks, and I’ll be darned if they didn’t have sleep masks as one of the prizes at D&B.  She was ecstatic and she couldn’t open it fast enough.  She also chose a mood necklace that she is in love with… she’d never seen one , so she thought it was really neat.  I felt like such a bad girl-mom having not ever introduced her to mood rings and necklaces.  They were a staple from my childhood.  Haha.

After D&B, we headed back to the condo and Olivia played Beanboozled and we all watched as she tried each of the nasty flavors.  If you’re not familiar with Beanboozled, it’s a game from Jelly Belly, and they have a bunch of jellybeans in a package.  There are 10 different colors of jellybeans, and each one could either be something tasty or something disgusting:

Juicy Pear or Booger

Strawberry Banana Smoothie or Dead Fish

Berry Blue or Toothpaste

Birthday Cake or Dirty Dishwater

Peach or Barf

Tutti Fruitti or Stinky Socks

Pomegranate or Old Bandage

Toasted Marshmallow or Stink Bug

Cappuccino or Liver and Onions

Buttered Popcorn or Rotten Egg

You have to spin the wheel and pick the one it says and then you’re just surprised with either a yummy one or a disgusting one.

Y’all!!!!  Could those flavors be more disgusting?!  Haha.

I wasn’t about to taste any of those, but I did smell all of the gross ones, and they all smelled exactly like what they were supposed to be.  Brian was the only one brave enough to taste them besides Olivia, and he said that Old Bandage literally tastes like how Band-Aids smell.  Ugggghhhh.  Haha.  It was disgusting but it certainly kept us entertained until it was time to go to dinner. 

We opted for The Hub for dinner Wednesday night, and while it’ll always be “The Hub” to us, they recently rebranded and their name is now “The Big Chill.”  Boooo.  Haha.

We love Duo’s at The Hub The Big Chill, so we all got burgers and fries, and B and I grabbed some beers, and we kicked back and relaxed there for a while.  After everyone was done eating, B and the kids walked down to Super Freeze to grab ice cream for all of us while I held down the table, and then shortly after that, we headed back to our condo. 

 

We got back just in time for another sunset beach walk, and then we got the kids in bed a bit earlier because they were both a little cranky.  Olivia got to use her sleep mask, and she’s used it every single night since then.  I can’t think of anything more Olivia than a sleep mask.  My little diva.  Haha.

Thursday, June 9

Thursday, we were up early, and B headed out just after 8 our time to grab another batch of donuts from The Donut Hole.  The weather was originally looking questionable for Thursday, but it turned out to be another gorgeous day. 

 

We got out to the beach around 10 AM our time, and it started sprinkling right at the time that we’d normally go up for lunch.  By the time we were done with lunch, the rain was long gone, and we had another beautiful three hours down on the beach.  The water was a little bit rough on Thursday and there was a bunch of seaweed, so the kids spent most of their time playing in the sand.  Olivia even made me a seaweed bracelet.  ;o)  She also used her "water powers" (like Elsa's ice powers) to bring in the waves.  See the second picture down.  ;o)

Jacob and I took a walk, just the two of us, and B stayed with Olivia since she wanted to play in the water.  While Jacob and I were walking, we could see storm clouds on the horizon, blowing in from the city towards the beach.  By the time we got back to our chairs, the clouds were pitch black and right upon us, so we packed up all of our stuff and headed back to the condo.  It was time for us to head up anyway, though, so it couldn’t have been timed more perfectly.  It never ended up storming anyway, though.

 

We all got showered and ready and then we drove into Seacrest for the evening.  We stopped at a souvenir shop first to grab a frame, and then we went to our very favorite Mexican restaurant of all time – La Cocina.  They have the best margaritas we’ve ever had EVER and they also have the best cheese dip and taco salad.  All of the food is insanely fresh and delicious, and it’s one of our favorite meals of the whole trip every year.  We also eat indoors there, so it was a safe space in case the storm ever came through.  Spoiler alert, it didn’t. 

 

After dinner, we walked to Rosemary Beach and sat on the green for a while.  B and I people-watched and the kids ran around with all of the other kids.  They were gearing up for family movie night, so there were food vendors and a face painter, and it was busy there.

We didn’t stay for the movie as they weren’t starting it until much later, and instead, we snapped a few family pictures in the courtyard by the post office and then walked back to Seacrest to try a new-to-us dessert place.  The place is called Smallcakes and they specialize in very unique flavored cupcakes and cookies, and they also have ice cream.  I really wanted to try a cupcake, but they had an ice cream flavor called Toasted Marshmallow and it sounded too good to resist.  It was SO delicious, y’all, and I had zero regrets about not getting a cupcake.

After dessert, we walked back to the car and made the drive to the condo, and we arrived at the room just in time to take another sunset beach walk.  The lighting outside was insane and these pictures aren't edited.  It was really that pink and purple outside.  On our walk, we saw three crabs, so the kids were thrilled.  We definitely saw more crabs on this beach trip than any other trip!  As for the bottom two pictures, Olivia said, "Mommy, take a picture of me with the sunset!!"  And then Jacob said, "Mommy, take a picture of me with the moon!"  And then he proceeded to do the goofiest pose ever but it was so dark outside at that point that everything was blurry.

 

When we got back to the room, we all watched one episode of Walk the Prank, and then everyone hit the hay.

Friday, June 10

Friday, we ate the last of the donuts in the condo for breakfast, and then we headed out for our last beach day.  Rather than using the chairs that come with the condo, we opted to use our own that day, so we had a bit more space to spread out.  The weather was gorgeous, the water was gorgeous, and it was just an ideal last day there.

Brian caught three mole crabs in the water using our net, and then Brian and Jacob caught two fish in the net, too.  That was a first for us, too… we’ve never brought nets along!  Jacob also made an alligator in the sand and it was SO impressive.  He did this straight from memory... no pictures at all.

Just before lunch, Jacob asked if he and I could go for another walk, so we left Brian and Olivia playing in the water.  My little girlfriend would stay in that water all day, every day.  She is a true mermaid.  She never gets tired of it!

After our walk, we headed to the condo to make sandwiches for lunch, and then we went straight back down to the beach to spend our last three hours swimming and soaking up the sun. 

The kids played their little hearts out while B and I sat in our chairs, and I was able to sneak in some good reading time.  Olivia spent most of her time on the boogie board since it was our last day, and she didn’t want to leave when it was time to get ready for dinner.

We opted for The Hub The Big Chill for dinner again, but this time, B and I grabbed dinner from Local Smoke, the barbecue place.  I just wanted a bunch of sides, so my dinner was mac n cheese, baked beans, and coleslaw, and MY GOODNESS, it was so good, y’all.

Here we are, just sitting in one of my favorite places, in one of my favorite cities, eating some of my favorite foods, drinking one of my favorite beers, and listening to my most favorite song… oh yes, they did just happen to play #41 by Dave Matthews Band while we were there.  See it on the screen below?!  Whoever is in charge of music at The Hub The Big Chill obviously has impeccable taste in music.  What a way to end our last night at the beach! 

At 6, a DJ came out on stage and started a DJ dance party, so we hung out for that for a bit, too.  I was going to skip out on dessert since I was so full, but I just couldn’t resist having one of my all-time favorites – Pirate’s Bounty – one more time.  I swear, all of my very favorite ice cream flavors are down in 30A and we can’t get them at home.  Pirate’s Bounty, Banana Crème Pie, and now, that Toasted Marshmallow.

We decided to head back to the condo shortly after that, and we were glad we did, because we had no clue that it was about to storm a big one.  We made it inside our condo door right as the bottom fell out, and I mean, it POURED.  Thankfully, it passed within about 20 minutes, and we were able to go for one last sunset beach walk.  The rain had cooled things off tremendously and I ended up being freezing the whole time we were down there.  Not what you’d expect in June in Florida.

 

When we got back from our walk, the kids watched another episode of Walk the Prank and I got started packing since we were leaving the next day.  We all headed to bed early, because we had an early morning on Saturday to hit the road for home.

Saturday, June 11

Typically, we stop at Big Bad Breakfast on the way out of town, but this year, we opted out to save time.  That place is always packed, and we always have to wait forever, so we got up early, packed up the car, hit the road, and we were back home by lunchtime.

It was another amazing beach trip, and I’m so grateful for all of the special memories that were made with B and the kids in one of our favorite places on earth.

Happy Wednesday, y’all!