Beach Week 2009

Even though we live on the Gulf Coast only a few minutes from the beach, our family rents a beach house every summer for a week. We forget we're only a few minutes from home and totally relax. A friend actually commented to me yesterday that she noticed I'm able to let my OCD go while we're at the beach!!

Since we got to the beach house on Saturday, we've watched fire works, eaten, played tennis, eaten, had our own family worship service (very meaningful and moving),eaten, had some friends out, eaten, gone out in the kayak and a canoe, eaten, watched dolphins, eaten some more, caught crabs, and played in the gulf (and eaten some more). This afternoon we had "game time" and had two teams. We played egg toss, carry the egg in the spoon, over and under relay, etc.




Tuesday we did much of the same as well as had a game of kickball. Two of the grandchildren, Ashlyn and Hannah, divided the teams into Tigers and Yellowjackets and even told us what color to wear. It was lots of fun and I'm pretty terrible, but still loved it. Tonight for dinner Ann and Stephanie (my sister-in-law and niece) planned a "make your own pizza" night which was fun and delicious!





Wednesday, we took all of the children to a huge water slide on the gulf side and they loved it. It was fun to watch them slide down and run around to climb up the HIGH slide and go down again. By the time we'd been there for about 30 minutes, their "running around to climb up" again slowed considerably. Also, Wednesday night, JD and Jennifer took all of the children for their annual game of putt-putt. This year one of the cousins was missing because Drew decided he'd rather go fishing. He caught two black snappers which we cooked and they were delicious.



Thursday we watched the Blue Angels practice. Some of our guys played tennis, some of us rode bikes, some of the children went over to the sound to swim, we ate homemade ice cream, and we began to realize that our week was swiftly drawing to a close. How does this week go by so fast when the same amount of time at work drags by??

Friday we tried to savor every moment by kayaking, watching the Blues' dress rehearsal, swimming, playing wiffle ball, sunning, building sand castles, etc. On the last night, we had the awards presentation for the week long shell contest among the children. There was an award for the roughest shell, the one with the most ridges, the one with the most colors, the shell with the most holes, the shell easiest to paint, and the smoothest shell. There was a prize for each category and the adults were the judges. We also sat down by the water and played charades telling our favorite part of the week. That was so much fun and most of the children had more than one favorite so they got to go several times.






Saturday morning it was time to leave. We packed up and moved out but not without taking LOTS of fun memories home with us.

America, the Beautiful! Happy Birthday!

This afternoon we rode downtown to see the boats come in after a day of fishing in the gulf. It's the 39th annual billfish tournament. It was interesting to see the fish that had been caught, but just being able to be there to feel the cool breeze, the salty air, watching the children playing with no trepidation, and being able to enjoy the gorgeous sunset were a reminder of what a wonderful country we live in and how thankful I am to live in America. We were able to roam around and enjoy it all with no fear because we live in a free country. After we left the pier, we drove by a park where there are several memorials for our service men and women, and I just had to take some pictures.




Happy Birthday, America!! I'm proud to be an American.

Fun Time With Family

We just returned from an overnight trip to my daddy's youngest sister's 90th birthday party. We had an amazing time!! And, I have to add, my aunt looks remarkable for a 90 year old lady and is sharp as a tack. Almost all of her nieces and nephews were there (my cousins) and, of course, her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchild. We told stories, laughed, and just generally had a great time together. Thanks to my cousins, her son and daugther, for planning this fun famly event.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to some special men in my life! The above picture is of my daddy, mother, and me MANY years ago. Even though my daddy has been gone for over 40 years, I still miss him. He was a man of integrity and extremely intelligent. I always thought I could ask him anything I needed to know and he could answer it. I was correct in that most of the time. I never doubted his deep love for "his girl." More girls need that kind of love and acceptance from their fathers today!

The picture below is of my maternal granddaddy whom I called by his given name, Jake. (I never knew my other grandfather who died before I was born.) Jake and I spent hours together and I loved listening to him tell me stories about when he was growing up. Those stories fascinated me and I treasure those memories.


Now, I want to say Happy Father's Day to the three wonderful "fathers" who are in my life today. My husband and our two sons are amazing fathers. It's been a blessing to watch my husband with our boys as they grew up and still today. He spent countless hours with them playing ball of some kind whenever they wanted to either throw the football, pitch the baseball, field grounders, shoot baskets, and then he was always present at whatever school or athletic event they were involved in. As great as he was at teaching them the game of whatever sport was going on or helping with homework, he was even better at teaching them the game of life. He never let their sports activities come before their spiritual life. He taught them priorities and now we get the pleasure of watching our sons teach their own children, our grandchildren, what's most important in their life. What a blessing to see our boys as they parent their children and to see what godly men they've grown to be and what wonderful Christian girls they chose to marry.

Happy Father's Day to our sons and my hubby! I'm extremely blessed by the "fathers" in my life. I love you all!

In the Beginning, There Were Four

A "few" years ago there were just the four of us. Harriett and I first met when we were teaching together right out of college. We began having dinner together as couples and also playing bridge. Harriett and I were pregnant at the same time although she was a few months ahead of me. Their first baby, a boy, was born in September and then our first baby boy was born in February. Both of us stopped teaching to be stay-at-home moms. Bill was in the Navy and my hubby was working as an accountant at St. Regis Paper Company, his first job out of college. Bill got out of the Navy and they moved away, but we've always kept in touch. They had another baby, a girl, and we had another little boy. We visited back and forth through the years and actually sent letters by snail mail. Now, every year, they come down this way for a week at the beach and we get together for lunch or dinner. Yesterday was the day for lunch with them this year. Instead of four people, now our immediate families are made up of 20 of us. They have two married children and four grandchildren and we do, too. They have three granddaughters and one grandson and we do, too. It's always fun to see them and we pick up right where we left off last year. It's great fun to stay connected with old friends through the years. Our means of communication have gone from snail mail and an occasional long distance phone call to email, Facebook, blogs, and cell phones. Many things have changed but not the friendship we've shared over the years.

Summertime at the Farm

Be sure to visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer as she hosts Outdoor Wednesday every week. You'll be glad you did!

Recently we went up to our "Farm" to mow and spend the day. There's a certain look, sound, and smell to summer at the Farm----the smell of freshly cut grass, the sounds of birds singing coming from all directions, clear blue sky, flowers blooming both wild and planted, fruit growing and ripening on the trees, and the sound of the animals at the barn. It's really something very special to me. Here are some pictures from our latest trip there.
Hydrangeas were blooming all around the yard----


Gardenias are blooming--I love their fragrance!

Wildflowers in the woods nearby--

Not a very good picture but the crepe myrtles are blooming, too.

A little too early--the wild blackberries were just beginning to ripen and the figs on our fig trees will be ripe soon.


The lantanas that we transplanted from our yard at home were just "sticks" a few weeks ago and now they're beginning to bloom---I'd say they're very hardy because no one lives at the Farm to take care of any of the plants.
Sometimes it's difficult to leave that place because it has so many wonderful memories and it's a great place to escape the hustle and bustle of life back in the "real" world. However, we're extremely thankful we have it so we can go spend time there as often as possible.

Not Me! Monday---I Have Willpower!

If you'd like to see what some other people confess to "not doing", go visit My Charming Kids to read some funny posts! In the meantime, I would NEVER carefully try to watch what I eat for lunch, go exercise by walking on the beach in the hot, broiling sun for 30 minutes (which absolutely must count for walking an hour on a regular walking track), and then come home and eat 4 powdered doughnuts!!! Never, not me!

Blueberry Jamboree

Today we decided to go on a short ride out of town to a blueberry festival. Besides the delicious blueberries, much of the fun at these events is getting to see friends, check out the arts and crafts booths, and EAT!! We did a little of all of these things.

As we were leaving, we bought our own blueberry bush to try our hand at growing blueberries in our yard.

Then, on the way home, we stopped at a blueberry farm and picked a few pounds of blueberries. If you do that one time in the heat of the day, you'll understand why blueberries are so expensive in the grocery store. However, it was fun and I can't wait to try some new recipes with the blueberries we picked.

Outdoor Wednesday--The Beach and the Gulfarium

Take a look at A Southern Daydreamer to check out many great blogs on Outdoor Wednesday. Thanks to Susan for sponsoring this every week. I love it! It's fairly obvious from most of my entries that I love anything outdoors. My blog from last weekend is just another indication of how much I really enjoy the outdoors. Here are a few more pictures of our outdoor activities this week. One of our daughters-in-law and two of our grandchildren were here and we've been to the beach, the pool, and to the Gulfarium. FUN!

Here's our grandson climbing up the giant water slide at the beach.

Our granddaughter riding the waves at the beach---

Both of them playing in the gulf--

Sno Cones after leaving the beach---guess what color David had! In addition to seeing it in the cup, you can also see it on his NEW shirt. And, if you look closely, you can see it on his face as well. I believe he enjoyed it!

Up close and personal with the dolphins--

A New Bike Trail

Today we decided to try out a new bike trail we had seen earlier. We are SO glad we did. It was wonderful. One of the trailheads was through huge trees with Spanish moss hanging from them and those trees provided nice shade. Wildlife abounds here but most stayed hidden from us. However, we did see and hear lots of birds and we saw lovely flowers. Here are some more pictures from our ride.


We soon discovered they are NOT kidding when they put this sign out! This alligator just cruised right on up toward where we were standing. He definitely didn't stay hidden!!


Here's a small lake off the trailhead. We could see a turtle with his head sticking up and other evidence of life in the water but didn't see a gator here. We loved this bike route and hope to go again soon.

Five Flags, a Tall Ship, and a Rainbow

The arrival of the world's third largest "tall ship" to our city has sparked a lots of fun and celebration. The "Juan Sebastian de Elcano" has come as part of the Fiesta of Five Flags. Spanish explorers arrived in Pensacola in 1559 to establish the country’s first major European settlement. The Elcano visit will represent this journey and honor the community’s Spanish heritage. The tall ship first visited Pensacola in 1959 during Pensacola’s 400th anniversary. We went downtown today to see the ship and just to enjoy the view. After looking at the line to actually get onto the ship, we decided to enjoy it from afar.

While there we just walked around and enjoyed the wind, the sun, and the people.

After leaving this area, we decided to eat at a restaurant overlooking the water.

We got the added benefit of a beautiful rainbow while we were there.

A perfect ending to a perfect day!