Vacation - Day 3

Finally, trying to catch up on our vacation posts, ha!

What a week! My one goal was to make some lasting memories for my kids, memories like I have of summer vacation spent in Pensacola. I truly think this goal was achieved. Our day-by-day: Day 3

Monday, July 2, 2012 was our first vacation day with David...and when the Daddy comes there will be…fishing…fishing…fishing…and more…FISHING! Austin Kieff was ready to see his daddy, but he was even more ready to go fishing. Daddy went to McDonald's for breakfast platters. I had had intended to cook breakfast, but the kids wanted McDonald's so we obliged…after all we were on vacation….Picking up breakfast allowed David the opportunity to pick up some live bait as well.

 

After breakfast Caroline and I enjoyed a little picnic in the Florida room with Maggie and Ariel while the boys gathered their fishing gear. It was to be a day of swimming and fishing fun! We started out in the Braithwaite Bayou before heading over to Big Lagoon Park later that afternoon.

Big Lagoon Park was a big hit and definitely somewhere we will visit again. We drove around to an area that had restrooms, a playground, picnic tables and of course beach! The boys fished while the girls searched for hermit crabs. There really wasn’t a whole lot of searching…hermit crabs were everywhere! We even had a little hermit crab race thanks to Grandmomma’s suggestion!

After swimming, fishing and crabbing, we cleaned up and let the kids play on the playground for a bit. By this time we were all hungry and decided to check the GPS for restaurants in the area. I read from the list and both kids agreed on the same restaurant…at the same time. So, it was an easy enough decision to pick where we were eating. What was not as easy was the wait once we got there! However, I definitely recommend a visit to Tacky Jacks if you are ever in Orange Beach.  We explored the various decks of the restaurant, watched people feed the fish and visited the gift shop.  The kids were never too restless because of the scenery.  We even enjoyed a little fireworks show!

Here are a few pictures:

She spread out her "blankets" and had her guests seated beside her.

She is not choking Maggie

 

Skittles, such fancy food and she brought out the good china

Swimming with Daddy

Discovered this...LOVE it

So much fun

This bird was thinking about biting David

Let thr race begin

The big catch

The playground was fun...but not as fun as fishing with Daddy

Our view from the upper deck of Tacky Jacks

Beautiful

Souvenir...that is now broken, but she loved it for as long as it lasted!

Vacation Day 2

What a week! My one goal was to make some lasting memories for my kids, memories like I have of summer vacation spent in Pensacola. I truly think this goal was achieved. Our day-by-day: Day 2


Sunday, July 1, 2012, was to be spent taking Nanny to Three Rivers Baptist Church, visiting and relaxing while we waited for Daddy to arrive. Getting two kids, who stayed up way past their bedtime were too excited to sleep because so much vacation excitement, ready for Church Sunday morning proved to be a little bit of a chore. But, believe it or not, we arrive at Nanny’s house, 30 minutes across town, on time. Well, “on time” for what we thought was the start of Worship Service. However, about ten minutes from Nanny’s house we discovered that Worship Service actually started in oh ten minutes!! Being late did not deter us from our plans. We escorted Nanny to Three Rivers Baptist Church, where we arrived fashionably late and made a grand entrance, ha! Thankfully, they were having a special July 4th service and we arrived during the special music program so there was not really an interruption!! The pastor and his wife were so excited to see Nanny and Nanny was so happy to be there. I was just thankful to spend Sunday morning in Church with my Nanny. Service was followed by a potluck lunch…yum!

We could not leave Seminole, Alabama without paying Aunt Ann (also known as Amen) and Uncle M.T. (called Uncle T by Caroline) a visit. We officially met Pal who is the most adorable and loving little dog, I mean family member. The kids had so much fun playing with Aunt Ann, Uncle M.T. and of course Pal! We couldn’t leave Aunt Ann’s without a prize…that violates some longstanding rule, right? Well the kids each had a banana and I left with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and a few hot peppers for David. I have such fond memories of going to Aunt Ann’s house (which is where Nanny lives now) when I was a child. She always had a prize drawer full of the best cereal prizes and toys she picked up here in there. Uncle M.T. always supplied cool pens and order books to play office. They are the same with my kids. There is always a prize, a toy and SO MUCH love!

Nanny was not feeling well so we dropped her off at her house before heading back to change clothes and spend a little time in the…WATER! I didn’t realize how bad Nanny felt until later in the week :(.  Once back at the Bayou House we changed our clothes and had a snack.  It seems like when we are on vacation these kids are ALWAYS hungry!

I forgot to mention that on the way back from Nanny's on Saturday evening we did a little exploring and discovered Perdido Kids Park.  We literally just did a drive by to check it out before calling it a day.  But, on Sunday after some time in the water we decided it was time to pay the park a real visit!

So back to the WATER...the kids packed there things in the wagon and were ready to spend the afternoon playing!!  And, boy did they play!  We swam, we built sand castles, we caught minnows and tried to catch blue crabs.  We searched for hermit crabs.  We watched the birds and the jets.  We had a WONDERFUL time together!!

We played in the water for a couple of hours before deciding to change out of swimsuits and try out that park we found.  What. A. Park.  Perdido Kids Park is an awesome place take children of all ages to play.  There is a Big Kid area and Tot area.  There are misters that are fun for children and nice for adults if you are just a little hot.  The kids of course made quick friends of other children there...Austin met a sweet little girl and Caroline met a mischievous little boy! 

After leaving the park, since we did not have anywhere we had to be, we took a right towards the water instead of heading back to the Bayou House.  Well, what did we discover but Big Lagoon Park!  The super friendly Park Ranger gave us a free pass to tour the park before sunset (well 8:00).  Another place was added to our "places to visit while on vacation" list!

We made a quick trip to Publix before heading back to the Bayou House.  It was almost time for Daddy to arrive and our family time to officially begin!!

Here are a few pictures:

Caroline before church

Austin Kieff on our way to church

Playing in the water AT LAST!

Hot and read to play...not take pictures!

Future Blue Angel Pilot

My busy bee

My wall climber

Big Lagoon Park

Vacation Day 1

What a week! My one goal was to make some lasting memories for my kids, memories like I have of summer vacation spent in Pensacola. I truly think this goal was achieved. Our day-by-day beginning with Day 1:

Saturday, June 30, 2012 we left Jack, Alabama bright and early to make it to Pensacola prior to Aunt Sue’s and Uncle Bob’s departure for the airport. The kids were hoping to see their plane take off, but with security the way it is now we thought it best not to take them to the airport if we weren’t actually flying out. So, we arrived at the Braithwaite Bayou House about an hour before Aunt Sue and Uncle Bob had to leave. We went over a few housekeeping items and then spent some time chatting prior to Aunt Sue’s best friend Renee taking them to the airport. We (read I) unloaded our bags and put everything in our bedroom for the week. Caroline and Austin Kieff wanted to go straight to the water, but I had a few errands that needed to be ran.

First on my list was a trip to Life Way. I wanted to pick up the Frazzled Female bible study. The study I am going to attend actually started the week before, so by the end of our trip I was two weeks behind, but that’s okay! However, this Mommy had a surprise; Kazoo was at a local car dealership. For those of you who do not know, Kazoo is the mascot for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. The kids enjoyed meeting Kazoo in a less intimidating environment than game day (hundreds of fans swarming and or yelling) and even met some of the baseball team and obtained their autographs! Fun start to our vacation!!

 Note:  Caroline is still apprehensive of some mascots...make that all mascots with the exception of

Big Al!

We did knock out item one and having the memory of an elephant (so I thought since I did navigate us through Mobile, Mt. Vernon, McIntosh and Sunflower the weekend before and was feeling pretty confident) I felt like I could disregard the directions of the GPS and skip getting back on the interstate to find 9 mile road to accomplish the next item on my revised list.

Second on my list was a little shopping for strappy plastic footwear, but two very tired kiddos nipped that one in the bud. Instead, we decided to head to the Cock of the Walk for lunch. Back to that memory of an elephant…boy was I SO wrong. The kids lucked up with a trip to the airport anyway and even saw a few planes in the air. Depending on what time the actual flight left it could have even been Aunt Sue and Uncle Bob’s flight! Well, after two other almost right treks I decided enough was enough and listened to the GPS. We did find 9 mile road, but much to our disappointment, the Cock of the Walk serves supper and doesn’t start serving until 4:00! Chick-fil-a to the rescue!! Grilled chicken nuggets, an ice dream and a cursory perusal of my Bible study later…I mean two 6 counts, fries and a half hour in the play area later…we decided to run into Target prior to heading out to see our Nanny.

Me and my silly kids at Chick-fil-a

Now, remember my errand of wanting to shop for strappy plastic footwear? Well, we did shop and find strappy leather footwear for Caroline…so technically I guess I could cross that off my list, ha! We finished the day with a visit to Nanny and Papa John’s pizza…and cheese bread…and bread sticks. Nanny wasn’t feeling very good so we did not stay too long. Austin Kieff slept through supper, but enjoyed a late night snack when we arrived back at the Bayou House.

Cullman

We had a fun, if quick, trip to Cullman a few weekends ago.    The kids and I met David in Troy.  We are definitely enjoying this "work truck" deal.  We were able to leave straight from Troy (David left his "work truck" at the office) instead of waiting for David to get home so that we could load the truck up!  It only saved about 45 minutes, but every minute counts when you are traveling with small children.

The kids were wired when we arrived at David's parents' house.  Caroline was the first to notice that Uncle Chris was not there to greet her.  Her disappointment was short lived.  Not only did she get some very much enjoyed one-on-one time (well almost since she had to share them with Austin Kieff!) with Grandmother and Granddaddy, but when Uncle Chris arrived the next morning, he had Hunter with him!  This made for two VERY happy children. 

We enjoyed two fabulous breakfasts prepared by David's Mom and Dad.  We also shared a couple of yummy meals off the grill.  We spent time with Great Grandmother, Chris, Hunter, Mr. Charles, Mrs. Brenda and of course, Grandmother and Granddaddy!  David was even to visit with one of his high school buddies.  We left Sunday morning so that the kids and I could go to VBS at Hebron with my Mom. 

Here are a few pictures that cannot even attempt to capture the fun these kids had:

First Time!

I think he likes it!

Caroline went for a ride, too!

She is a pro!

Hunter and Austin Kieff

My boys

Mini-Vacation

The kids and I left this past Friday to go to Pensacola.  We spent Friday night with Nanny.   It was almost 10:00 when we arrived and the kids were live wires!!  All the pictures from Friday are on my cell phone and I am having trouble posting from my phone (they are on FB!).  Austin Kieff and Caroline were all over Nanny...hugging,  kissing and saying "I love you."  It was late when we finally went to bed, but both kids were up super early!  Nanny cooked bacon, sausage, eggs and biscuits.  Austin Kieff was in heaven and Caroline enjoyed her favorite food (eggs) even more so because Nanny cooked it!

We left Nanny's and made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for snacks and drinks.  Then we drove over to Aunt Sue's and Uncle Bob's house.  We were excited to see them and the kids were surprised because I had not told them that Uncle Spencer and Alison were going to be there!!  We followed Aunt Sue to Joe Patti's where we bought some beautiful tomatoes and Georgia peaches (which were delicious!!).  Austin Kieff and Caroline were not too impressed with the seafood market, but the big boats outside were a hit!  Captain Joe's boat had two little dogs aboard which we watched for quite some time.

The trip across the 3 mile bridge and over to Ft. Pickens road was definitely a walk (or drive!) down memory lane.  I have so many fond memories of staying with my Grandparents in Pensacola as a child.  Aunt Ann always took us to Pond Creek which I have always thought was the coldest, most refreshing water around.  Aunt Susie usually took us over to the beach.  We had such fun summers and weekends with our family and cousins!

When we arrived at the Beach House both kids were asleep!!  This was perfect because I was able to unload my car and help unload Aunt Sue's car before waking them up and taking them inside (yes I kept a watch on the temperature inside the car...).  Bedrooms were on the second floor and the living rooms and kitchen were on the third floor.  The views were amazing!  Out the front was the beach.  Out the  back was the canal.  "Water everywhere" according to Austin Kieff!   The kids did great going up and  down the stairs.  They both loved the room we stayed in and had a blast in the HUGE shower.  The outside shower was also a hit for both kids...neither has one ounce of modesty right now, ha!

Sunday morning I had grand plans to take pictures of Caroline and Austin Kieff. Needless to say, it did not happen as I had hoped!  Grady, Mary Margaret, Jacob and Lily arrived around 4:00.  Aunt Sue had prepared a yummy shrimp boil.  My kids were super excited to see their cousins!   We spent Sunday night and Monday night at Aunt Sue's and Uncle Bob's house.  There is so much more to tell, but  these pictures will have to do for now!!

My camera fogged up and most of the pictures are blurry...not to mention Caroline did NOT want

her picture taken at all!

My sweet boy!

Beautiful

Spencer's Boat

Getting ready for a boat ride!

Alison

Captain Spencer

Sweet Caroline

Aunt Sue waving goodbye!

Beach Time!

Austin Kieff LOVED "sliding"

Sliding-walking to the water's edge and running/sliding back before the waves knock you down

Beautiful Sky