PCB 2013

Each year, vacation gets a bit easier and a lot more fun. We have been truly blessed (and maybe a little crazy) to be able to take the kiddos to the beach every year since their births. I LOVE VACATION AT THE BEACH. I think that it is because I have a lot of great memories from my own childhood. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. We have also been very blessed to have a lot of helpful hands each year on vacation. We've been with my parents twice, and this year marks year two of going with Cody's parents. Did I mention how lucky we are? Anyway, this year, our destination was Panama City Beach...for a whole week. That's the longest length of time that we have braved a vacation with these busy, little ones, but I was super excited...no need to feel rushed to pile everything in...we would have plenty of time to do anything that we wanted!

Vacation 2013 was great with great weather. The kids did awesome. The ride was practically uneventful, but there were funny moments and funny things that they said (which I was steadily making notes in my phone to remember). Two preferred to stay in the ocean while one would rather play in the sand (although we had ZERO wanting to hit the beach by the last day). The pool was a hit. I realized that I have some daredevils (oh...but maybe I already knew that). Dinners out were NOT unpleasant. The kids were FABULOUS....for the most part. I realized that they were growing up. Here are some details that I don't want to forget:

The ride:
We woke up bright and early (but not as early as intended) to head out on  a Sunday morning. I had dressed the kids the night before in t-shirts with the idea of waking them, placing them in the car, and heading out! The planned worked out very well. The kids took turns dozing back to sleep and we were able to drive a couple of hours before stopping for breakfast. We only stopped one other time to get gas! The kids snacked on the way, and we were able to make it to PCB by 2ish....and we had a late lunch. Like I said before, Faith, Cam, and Mallory did well for such a long ride. There were your typical cries, requests, and occasional fights. Here are some of the funny things that we heard/did on the way:
  ~"Is this the beach roaaaaaddddd???? Is this the beach roaaaaaddddd???? OVER.AND.OVER.
  ~ "Are we going to the beaaaaaach?????"Notice how they drag that last pleading word out.
  ~"Can we go hoooooooome????" After many hours of riding they began repeating this.
  ~"We can't hear!!!" I love the movies for the ride, but c'mon!
  ~Fights over their favorite colors....sheesh.
  ~Watching Christmas movies on the way to the BEACH....gotta' love that! :)
  ~ My request for listening to music because I was "tired" of watching movies was met with, "Well, just go to sleep." If you now my kids, you will certainly know who came out with THAT smart comment.

Gotta' LOVE my kids.....

The Beach:
Cameron and Mallory loved the ocean for the first two days. Cam loved jumping the waves. Mallory liked to float around. Faith was a bit fearful and only let the waves wash up on her feet. She finally got brave enough to go down and fill up her bucket to make castles. I felt a bit guilty and rather boring because I didn't want to step foot in the ocean, either. I am continuing to take physical therapy for my knee, and the PT continues to note progress but points out that my knee tilts greatly (hence a good chance that it will dislocate again). A small pivot could cause it to happen....so...NO. OCEAN. FOR. ME.  I was also scared to walk in the uneven sand, down the stairs, etc. I think the kids noticed that I was a wimp because they practically ignored me the whole vacation and asked anyone but me to help them! :) They had too many other exciting people around! ANYWAY, Cam and Mallory did not like the sand so much. I can't blame them!

The Pool:
The pool was a hit for the kids! They didn't love the kiddie pool like I had thought. They preferred the zero entry side of the large pool. They called the shallow end the kiddie pool, which they misinterpreted as the "kitty" pool. Faith noted, "I have a kitty at home." Mallory even wanted to go to the "cat pool." Isn't that the cutest? One of our darlings often mispronounced "kiddie pool," calling it the "titty pool." Isn't that hilarious???!!!...slightly inappropriate, but I had them say it over and over again. It never got old to me. :) I cracked up each and every time. They enjoyed MANY snow cones poolside and lived the dream! :)
One embarrassing moment was when my dear Faith noticed a friendly man's hair. We were sitting their talking to a nice man, who happened to have a pony tail. Faith looked at me and not-so-quietly said, "Mom, boys don't wear ponytails!!!" GAH!

Nights Out:
I am so proud of my babies. They were super sweet during long waits for dinner. Often, one fell asleep on the ride, but they always woke up ready to go again. Two nights, we took them to some kiddie rides. WOW....they really ARE daredevils. I was shocked that they liked to ride things that go high, spin around, etc! All three jumped right aboard every ride that they could....WITHOUT us! I think that watching them ride would be the highlight of my vacation. Too bad I didn't have my camera to get some shots. We will definitely be heading to small fairs that come around here in the future!

So, we had a blast. The kids say that they are ready to go back. Me? Well, you always feel that you need a vacation from vacation.....so.....maybe we will just wait until next year!

Here are some pics:

Faith in the sand.

 Being a brave girl

 Stuck to her best buddy, YaYa

 Floating with her "gobbles"

 Cam was so excited

My two boys