A Diva and a Dude: ...And Back.

The last three years have been very uneventful so there was nothing to post about. Or we pretty much forgot about the blog even being here. One or the other.

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We've had a busy few weeks with summer vacation, school starting, and soccer practice starting as well. First up is vacation. We returned to Destin, FL this year after missing last year due to our first trip to Disney World.

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Destin was great as usual..great times and even greater food. We hit all of our favorite spots: Boshamp's (twice), The Crab Trap, and of course Whataburger almost every day for lunch since we somehow don't have Whataburger in our area. Nothing beat's Boshamp's though. The food, the view, it's just pretty tough to top that place.

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Among the highlights from this trip, aside from the food, was watching the kids play in the giant hamster-balls again, playing in the ocean and on the beach with the kids, looking for crabs at night, the pirate cruise, and even renting our own pontoon for a 4 hour tour. The hamster-balls look like so much fun. You crawl inside, sit down, and they inflate it with a leaf blower. Then it's into the water where they run and fall and flip and splash without ever getting wet. They both love those things but Jackson especially. The Buccaneer Pirate cruise was just as much fun as it was our first time a couple of years ago. We sailed out into the bay as the kids had water-gun fights, swabbed the deck, had a hula-hoop contest, and finally helped Roger Ropeburn bring up the treasure.

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Swabbing the deck after losing to the girls in contest for which side could be louder

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Out

We had been told how much fun it was to go out and look for crabs on the beach at night, so we finally did that a couple of nights on this trip, but the crabs were somewhat of a surprise. I was expecting crabs around the size of my hand, or maybe slightly smaller. Instead the crabs are about the size of my thumbnail. Still fun, but would be more fun chasing the big ones!

We decided to venture out this time and rent a pontoon for part of the day. That was a first, as I had never driven a boat at all, let alone somewhere like a busy waterway as Destin Harbor and past Crab Island into Choctawhatchee Bay. But we made it out and back, dodged a nasty looking storm that luckily never made its way to us, and even had the kids driving us through the Bay. We dropped anchor in waist-deep water and went for a swim and looked for shells, mostly finding hermit crabs and snails. We tossed all of the back except for one which seemed vacant, so we kept it. A few days later as we were starting to get things ready to leave for home, we heard a slight banging sound on the glass-top table. The "vacant" shell wasn't so vacant, and the crab was making his way down the table. I ended up taking him down to the beach and tossing him as far as I could out into the ocean. Hopefully he made it!

The Skipper

Fact: Jackson + Boat = Sleep

We had a chance to spot some dolphins on our way back into the Harbor, so even without a dolphin cruise that we'd originally planned to take we still got to enjoy watching them swim by. And then of course there was the fun of just playing on the beach and in the ocean. Jackson mostly enjoyed playing along the edge of the surf, while Riley got a little more brave this time and started venturing out a little further thanks to a few friends she met who helped nudge her in that direction. If it's possible to have a surfer-girl in Mississippi, we may have one. She really loved riding her board in the waves, and I can't wait to see how much more brave she is the next time we're down there. Jackson's favorite thing was waiting for a wave to come in and then Melissa pulling him up out of the water at just the last minute.

Unfortunately it was time to bring that trip to an end, and the kids and I took another journey as Melissa headed back home. The three of us drove to South Carolina for what was supposed to be a family reunion. The reunion was cancelled though due to "excessive heat", which is pretty much every day in July-August in South Carolina so not sure how that is any different than any other year. In any case, we didn't get to the reunion, but we still had a great 5 night stay with Nana and Papa. We went out to eat a few times, played Putt putt twice, went to Horseshoe Falls again, and enjoyed some delicious Coldstone Creamery. It's not Area 51 (https://www.facebook.com/area51icecream/) but it's still very good stuff. The putt putt trips were highlighted by the kids climbing up to the highest point on the course and providing quite a dance show for everyone who cared to look in their direction. It was hilarious. Book-ending the dance show was a flurry of hole-in-ones from me, Nana, and Papa.

Without prompting, Jackson making sure Papa makes it safely down the path

*2015 flash back*

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Hanging out near the falls

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The best part of the SC portion of trip though, aside from just spending time with Nana and Papa, was when we drove up to Looking Glass Falls in North Carolina. Me and the kids and Papa (Nana was not feeling well that day) drove up and trekked down the base of the falls. Papa hung out along the rocks while the kids and I ventured into the ice cold water. Jackson lasted just long enough to get a good picture, and he was outta there. He climbed back up to keep Papa company while Riley and I ventured further out and closer to the falls. Eventually we both had our fill of the freezing water as well and we made our way back too. From there we drove a bit further up the mountain to Mt. Pisgah and had a nice picnic (the kids first official picnic), followed by a short hike along a mountain trail.

No run-ins with Yogi

On our way back down we made several more pit-stops at Bald Rock and Caesar's Head, Papa's favorite place, where Jackson somehow managed to get stung by a wasp right behind his ear as we were walking to the viewing platform. He toughed it out though and was good for a couple of good shots with Riley and Papa. We got to venture down into "The Devil's Kitchen" as well, taking the kids through the small crack in the rocks I walked through 35 years or so earlier.

Walking through The Devil's Kitchen at Caesar's Head

Oh yea!

The next day it was time to bring our journey to a close and head back home to Mississippi. This leg of the trip was a first, as it marked the first long road-trip without any DVDs. They completely immersed themselves in making up stories with their new Happy-Meal toys from The Secret Life of Pets. Even for me it was entertaining to drive down the road listening to the non-stop laughing and various scenarios they came up with for the pets.

Entertainment source for almost 8 solid hours

A few days later it was time for a new adventure: 2nd Grade for Riley and Kindergarten for Jackson. It was quite a shock to Jackson's system to have to wake up so early, but he's had a much easier time with it than we thought he would. So far, so good for both of them after a couple of weeks in.