The year was 1993 - yes, those were the days of fun on a middle school band trip in Panama City Beach. For some reason I remember it so much nicer than it really was. Tacky is really the best word to describe it now. The beaches are beautiful but other than that not much appeal. We all got a good laugh at the numerous airbrush t-shirt shops. But still it was a fun trip filled with great memories.
The trip got off to a really rocky start. I was supposed to work in Birmingham all Wednesday of last week and then the family was going to come down and pick me up and we were going to head on down. My co-worker ended up getting sick so we didn't go down. Then Ben started running a fever and feeling really sick. We ended up delaying the trip by 1 day and getting up early on Thursday and heading down. We made the long 7 hour drive and arrived around noon. We had a wonderful 2 bedroom condo. Matt went off to his meetings and we hit the pool! (I did not get out my good camera the whole trip so all of the pictures are from my phone and not great quality - I was too busy having fun to take pictures.)
We met up with our awesome friends the Wrights and went to dinner at Sharkys. It was a fun place for the kids since they have a playground right on the beach. We had a really late dinner but all the kids hung in there well.
The best thing about the trip was all the relaxing we got to do. I read 3 books. The kids got to watch lots of TV (cable shows that we don't have at home). They even got to eat in front of the TV. That's what vacations are all about!
Friday morning LeeAnn and I were really brave and took the kids down to the beach while the guys were in meetings. We had lots of fun. The kids had fun digging in the sand and checking out the ocean.
The water was just beautiful! It was crystal clear. The surf was really rough though. Red flags were out the whole time we were there. It was actually really overcast and rainy most of the time but we were able to get some good beach time in without it being too hot.
Ben and Kate really had a great time playing in the ocean!
Friday night we went to eat at Uncle Earnies. It was awesome!! It was on the bay so we enjoyed looking at all the boats.
Each night we enjoyed going to Brad and LeeAnn's condo for some fun time together. We played cards late into the night. It was just like our college days except there were kids in the other room (and we didn't play the pen game!). We had a blast! Brad killed us at hearts. We love the Wrights and the special friendship we have with them. And I love that our kids are now growing up together. What special memories!
The guys finished up with their meeting Saturday mid-morning so Matt and Brad got to join us at the beach.
We all enjoyed relaxing and snacking on the beach!
Matt braved the rough surf and took the kids out!
The girls enjoyed burying Brad in the sand!
Ben and Kate built a nice sand castle.
Truth be told, our kids are really not that into the beach. Not big fans of the sand. They could not wait to get to the pool! I think we are all more of mountain people than beach people.
Kate is becoming quite the swimmer. Look at her go! Putting that head under and swimming!
While Kate was taking a nap on Saturday, Ben and Matt got to go out for a fun game of mini-golf. That is just one of those things you have to do when you are at the beach.
Saturday night we went to dinner at The Shrimp Boat. It was another yummy meal!
There was a little incident on Saturday night involving at pull out couch and 2 women sitting to far back. Needless to say there was lots of laughs!
We headed back on Sunday. It really was a fun trip. Super relaxing and just what we needed. Ben did keep a fever for the whole trip. We went to the doctor on Monday and he had a bacterial sinus infection. Got some antibiotics and he is doing much better now. Other than that it was great!
0 comments:
Post a Comment