Florida Bound

When I was a kid, I lived in the panhandle area of Florida (and by kid I mean teenager). Every year around Spring Break the tourists would start piling in. Yes, we got some folks in the winter, called Snowbirds-- folks for whom our winter was a balmy tropical paradise. But the real trade started around late March.

We made fun of the tourists. They would wear black knee socks with sandals. They would get horrible horrible sunburns on their faces and backs, with a little strip of white on their nose where they put some zinc. They drove crazy, because they didn't know where they were, and always wanted to turn left where they weren't supposed to turn left.

They brought jobs, and money, though. And we did appreciate that, although sometimes we weren't sure of the trade off. As a local, we hardly ever went to the beach in the summer. It just wasn't something you did-- you were working.

Well, where I live now is prime territory for what was called the Redneck Riviera. People within a day's drive-- La, MS, AL, Ark, tend to use the panhandle as their stomping grounds. It's a beautiful place-- I think better than any other beach I've seen. (And no, I haven't been to the real Riviera. I think that might be the one place that could actually compare.)

We are headed to FL this weekend. It's not exactly a vacation, although it will be one a little bit for us. We WILL go to the beach, and we're going on this pirate boat ride. Very touristy. My fifteen year old self would possibly be horrified. Mostly we're getting together with family to celebrate the life of my 101 year old grandmother who died a few months ago. This is the first time the whole family has been able to get together since then, and we're having a picnic & visiting. I'll see nieces & nephews and the kiddos' cousins that I haven't seen yet, new babies and all.

I'm looking forward to everything but that long drive. I miss beachfront. I would like to live someplace closer to water (real water... not the gator-ridden culverts around here). One day, when Andrew is retired (not too long really) from the military and I get to finally pick where we live, I hope to find something close to beach. Then, my kids can grow up mocking the sunburnt tourists & being mortified if her dad wears black socks (which when we were in Hawaii he tried to do.... let me say I made him take the socks off.)

Redneck I may not be, but I AM headed to the Riviera of my youth.

Vacay Over Sort Of

Well, this morning I was able to sleep in with the girl baby. Maia is a hard sleeper; Sean was up at 7 ish and dragged Daddy out with him. Then we all got in the pool for a while. In fact, Sean is still there now. So in a way, our vacation is still on for today. This is why, in spite of having been home since Thursday, I haven't blogged. I just don't feel like I'm really "home" at this point. I do have lots of lovely pictures, though. I'll load them to that feed thingy in a sec. But two for feature, one of Maia & one of Sean on the beach. They LOVED the beach, as I knew they would.

We didn't get to see as much of friends and family as we would have liked. Things are always harder once you're there-- Sean would not have ANY of staying at my mom's house and he was less than agreeable about a few of the other places we went, too. He is such a quiet boy that when he does choose to yelp, it's all the more unsettling and difficult to deal with. But we did have a wonderful time, for the most part. I'll try to provide a specific narrative later. But now, for some cute pictures.

I just love the moment of stillness on Maia's face in the first one. That little scar above her eye just adds character, I think. (It was a bathtub injury and is taking forever to disappear.... I hope it does).

And then there's Sean in action. You can see on his face that he is simply In Love. I myself love the beach in Florida. It's warm water, and green blue color, and the sand so white.... it's not as pretty in the same way as it was before the last few rough hurricanes, but it will be again one day after some time. For example-- I don't remember there ever being vines of morning glories all over the dunes back in the day but there were. Pretty white morning glories til about 1. Then they drooped in the heat. I meant to get a picture but we were always in transit when I saw them.

But now, the family calls again. More to come.....

To-Do

1. Take babies to school. Wish them happy 3rd Birthday. Contemplate adopting (when we get back) the kitten that was born on daycare property a couple of weeks ago (it's fuzzy! and black!)
2. Pack for Florida trip by noon.
3. Remember: camera, sunscreen, aloe in case sunscreen fails us.
4. Bathing suits. Cute sundresses.
5. Pack tummy meds for babies with "the wobblies." (Fun for a road trip, though!)
6. Toys, including Maia's new "Princess Tea Party."
7. Road Snacks (PB&J, pretzels, bottles of water. Maybe brownies if I am in the mood to bake them later)
8. Finish work related crap here before leaving.
9. Wonder why my "v" key is sticking. (Babies....)
10. Get on road by noon. In Florida about 8 hours later.
11. Back home either next Thursday or Friday-ish.

I don't know what kind of internet access I will have-- very possibly NONE. So if I don't blog 'til I get back, that's it. It's not that I don't love you all. I do. But I have beaches to walk on and sunscreen to spread on babies salty little skin.

Florida Bound: T-minus 10 days!

For the weekend before the fourth of July, we are headed to my old homestate Florida. We had kicked around options of a vacation that way previously, since many of my family members, who haven't seen the babies in ages, still live there.

We found a way to combine business and pleasure, as Andrew will do a day of training nearby. So his work will pay for the gas, which is awesome with gas at 4 bucks a gallon and an 8 hour drive. I just pre-reserved a room for part of the stay at a lodging which is right on the beach there. It's not confirmed yet, because it's part of his military system privledges on base, but I am very happy that we've gotten that far. (He stayed on hold on the phone for like 20 minutes and then was disconnected while I researched the options.) It's also not quite on THIS beach. It will be a little different looking where we are, but pretty nice, nevertheless.

Oh, the babies will love it so much. We will get to see family, and the babies will play with cousins in the sand. I'll see my mom & 100 (101 this year) year old Grandmother. And, officially, we are now participating in the Redneck Riviera Quest. Usually, people from our area of the country use that part of Florida as their major vacay destination. I used to, as a teen, mock this sort of thing, and now I'm doing it. Hah!

















Here, though, is a picture of what we will be going towards. This is what I currently have as my desktop on my computer. I'll post real pix when we get there.

I totally can't wait. Last time I was really there for any beach time was when I went to my neice's high school graduation and got stuck there because my space a flight on Delta-ish was overbooked for several days. My sister & I rented one of those beach chairs with the umbrella (maybe not those exact ones, but close) and had a waitress bringing us Bushwackers all afternoon and a cute little lifeguard beach boy moving the umbrella to keep us shaded. Sigh. It was fab. It will be different this time, but still awesome.