Top 10 favorite memories of our vacation...

in no particular order...

1. spending time with my husband without the distractions of everyday life

2. every time we saw a group of palm trees J shouted, "We're in HAWAII!" in his most EXCITED voice

3. hearing J talk about all the fun things he was going to do at the "condoor" (AKA condo)

4. Watching MG play in the sand and ocean for the first time ever

5. an entire week with my Mom (she was great company and a huge help to us)

6. taking J on his date with Mommy and Daddy

7. four extra grown up hands to help meet the needs of our two munchkins

8. our beach portrait session...it was pure craziness...but I have one of the most breathtaking photos of my babies to show for it.

9. the fact that MG ended up with the Master Bedroom, J slept with Grammy in the other King bed and Daddy and I ended up in the back bedroom in a full size bed beside the building air unit.

10. our date night

On the road again...and headed for home...

This is our world traveler. He'll ride anywhere you want. "Are we there yet" or "that's gonna take FOREVER" may be uttered at least 421 times but he doesn't complain about riding. Just taking in the scenery, singing, Auto Bingo, a few toys, books, a gameboy or an occasional DVD...any of the above and he's good to go. We used to drive him around as a baby because he enjoyed being in the car so much. Some things never change... Enter a little girl named MG. She despises the car seat. DESPISES IT! She has from her first ride home from the hospital. Again, some things never change. She cried and at some points screamed her head off on the way to the beach. We did everything but stand on our heads to keep her occupied. Backseat entertainer (AKA Grammy) was out of her seat belt too much. Poor Jonathan said way too many times..."MG!!! BE QUIET, I'm trying to _____read, listen, eat, sleep, play, etc.______". Thankfully, after a week of protesting any all things van related, she mellowed a bit for the ride home. This is the moment where the sky parts and the angels sing "Hal-le-lu-jah". Being trapped inside a van with a loud shrieking little girl who can break windows with the decibels emitted from her mouth is less than enjoyable. She is definitely going to struggle in the "seen but not heard" category. This is what SHE thought of the car ride.
9 hours later we are home safe and sound. The end of vacation is always a bit sad for me but I have plenty of wonderful vacation memories to keep me laughing until my toes hit the sand again.

So long ocean...see ya next year...

OK, MG, I'm done with the photo op. So long ocean...see ya next year...

Our babies...

The jellyfish encounter...

J must of asked 50 times this week if there were jellyfish out there. We told him yes but they were WAAAAAAYYYY out there. Well, lo and behold, what did we spot in the water mid day today? You guessed it...a jellyfish. Daddy pointed out the first one to J and that was it. He was distraught and had a hard time going back in the water. The second we saw when we were all out in the ocean together. Daddy pointed it out to me but we kept it to ourselves. We just admired it from afar...or what I thought was from afar. Next thing I know, my leg is stinging and burning with this weird pain I've never felt before. I didn't see anything on my leg but I knew SOMETHING was there. Out of the water MG and I came with the boys right behind us. Apparently Mr. Jellyfish had a long tentacle that made it's way over to my unsuspecting leg. It was the weirdest feeling ever. I would have to know the pain of one wrapping itself around my leg. Oh, and JIK you ever need this little tidbit of information...how do you treat a mild jellyfish sting? White Vinegar and hot water. Needless to say, after my little encounter, we bailed on the ocean and headed for the pool (and the hottub) until lunch. Thank goodness it was deserted or the other guests would have wondered who smelled so bad. White vinegar is definitely not a fragrance of choice.MG was not impressed with J's attempt at a swimming train. He was the engine and she was the caboose. I don't blame her, who wants to be called a caboose?

Last day of vacation fun...

It was a beautiful Florida day today and the ocean had calmed quite a bit. It was practically like the lake and the children could stand up without being knocked over. They both became a little more daring without the waves.









MG and I spent most of our morning playing in the sand. J played a little but he was more interested in hanging in the ocean with Daddy..















And a REALLY far away picture of us in the ocean. No closeups of me in a bathing suit...wouldn't want to scare you all away. Ha.MG became our little "sticky fingers" this week. Every time J would put down his juice box to go play, guess who was waiting to snatch it up? Just call her "the juice box stalker". It was pretty funny.

Her next act of theft: shade. The weather had been perfect all week...a bit overcast and breezy. My family has no need for chairs and umbrellas. They can't be still long enough to enjoy them and with perfect weather we didn't really need them. My children refuse to wear hats so we just coat them up in sunscreen and let 'em go. So, today was very sunny and HOT. So what did MG do? She just camped out under the chairs and umbrellas next to us. They belonged to someone else mind you. Someone else who also paid $25.00 that day for the shade MG was "borrowing" for free. How do you explain to a one year old that we didn't pay for that shade so we can't use it? Mom and I finally decided we were going to rent the chairs and umbrella. Then along came my jellyfish encounter. After that, we changed our minds. Off to the pool we went. The pool...you know the one with free chairs, umbrellas, shade and no sea creatures?

Like brother like sister...

If her big brother is doing it, she wants to do it too. Hopefully next year she'll be big enough to FLOAT in the ring as opposed to falling through it.

the NW Florida Zoo...

My super duper friend Courtney and her family were vacationing the same time we were, just three hours away in Orange Beach, AL. Before we left we made plans to meet half way at the nearest midpoint tourist attraction: the NW Florida Zoo. Grammy decided to hang out by the pool today. So, the Womble 4 headed out early and left her to enjoy a little alone time. The zoo was, um, different than any zoo I have ever known: a jaguaar in a silo, one lonely giraffe in a tall barbed wire fence and way too many monkeys. You can see J. checking out mini-monkey in his cage below.We made the best of it; but, had the company not been worth the drive I think it would have been Bust #2. J. ran around glancing at the animals and MG cruised in the wagon. We fed our zoo pals the contents of the $1.00 multi-species animal food bags (AKA Ole Roy dog food) while making our way back to the exit. Just in case you've ever wondered, ducks and rabbits do not like dog food but aligators love it. We had had enough torture, oops I mean fun, for one day so we skipped out on the miniature train ride at the end. It was hot, we were hungry and ready for a change of scenery (preferably one with AC and withOUT stinky animals). Here is the one and only group photo of our zoo excursion. Can you feel the love?

Afterward, we headed for lunch with our pals and compared vacation stories. Then we were off again for the 1.5 hr drive back to the condo. Court--next time we need to stay a little closer together, don't ya think?

Mommy and Daddy completed our Thursday with a night out...ALONE! J. asked me where we were going. I told him Mommy and Daddy were going on a date and he was staying with Grammy. His reply: "What's a date?" Does that tell you anything about the frequency of date nights at the Womble house? Haha. It is a rarity and we enjoyed every second of it. Sorry, no photos from date night :-)

Bust #1: AKA the Treasure Ship

We made plans for us, mostly on J's behalf, to have dinner at the Treasure Ship. It was about an hour away from our condo but we just KNEW J. was going to FLIP over it. The Treasure Ship...a HUGE authentically created pirate ship docked in the marina full of employees in full pirate attire providing families with fun memories, yummy (reasonably priced) food and great entertainment for all 4 year old aspiring Captain Hook impersonators. That is what we THOUGHT it was. Hahahahaha.
The Treasure Ship was quite different than what we envisioned. I was waiting for a very young Chevy Chase to step out of the shadows. It was like something straight out of his movie National Lampoon's Vacation. Picture it...a huge, deserted, musty and smoky smelling dining room with two older couples over in the corner...blue-green checked carpet and vinyl booths (both of which were clearly older than I am)...an outside deck on the back of the ship filled with birds, plastic chairs and dirty, wobbling tables with PVC pipe legs. ONE, yes you read that correctly, ONE middle aged man dressed as a pirate at the front entrance. He did say hello to us, in his normal grown up voice, and asked J. where he was from. J. replied and his reply..."Well, you are a long way from home". Then he walked away, never to be seen again. NO eyepatch, NO pirate voice, NO "Ahoy thar mateys", NO "shiver me timbers", NO "walk the plank", NO "yo ho ho". Nope, NONE. OF. THE. ABOVE. We joked that he must of gotten lost on the big ship while passing through the adult beverage area. Maybe with his pirate hat in one hand and a strong pirate drink in the other.

We were seated in the outdoor dining room per the hostess' recommendation. Since there was no problem with overcrowding we had an unlimited choice of seating. Unbeknownst to us, our very kind and generous son decided that feeding tortilla chips to the hungry scavenger bird around our table was a nice thing to do. Well, what can I say, birds do not usually travel alone. Enough said. To follow came three brown lettuce salads, a charred salmon, an $8.00 greasy cheeseburger kids meal she wouldn't touch and a few more marginal entrees on our plates. I wish I had taken a picture of our salads. By the time Daddy picked his to death he had about five pieces of lettuce bathed in Ranch dressing. The best looking plate on the table was J.'s chicken and french fry basket. It is sad when you are salivating over a kids meal vs. your own. Between the five of us, three grown ups and two little people, we spent $115.00 for our "treasure" of a dining/entertainment experience. What do we have to show for it? Two paper pirate hats that were torn and broken before we made it to the car. Ha.I commemorated our outing with what seemed to be the "come back and see us every vacation to take your kids picture in the same spot" yearly photo opportunity. It is safe to say that, for us, this will be the first and last photo op at this establishment.As a side note for those who remember Miracle Strip Amusement Park in PCB, I have some news to share. I went once on my Senior Trip and Daddy went once as a child so we remember it pre-children. Do you remember riding the big wooden roller coaster, the Sea Dragon, the Kamikaze and the Abominable Snowman? For those who have at some point had secret visions of taking your own children there to eat cotton candy, ride the teacups and admire the ocean from your seat on the Wave Swinger. Well, sorry friends, it closed in 2004. Now it's just a huge deserted lot with a few reminders of what used to be. Sad. The entire area was not at all like we remembered it. I can't say we'll ever venture there again. Blue Mountain Beach was much more our speed.

So, what did the Womble family learn from this experience? Do not drive an hour to a tourist attraction that was supposedly great when YOU were a kid. Just because you thought it was neat but never experienced it as a child DOES NOT mean your child will also think it's neat. If it was great back in the day, it probably passed its prime back then as well. Trust us on this one.

Fun in the sun...

Our day today was much of the same...beach, pool, lunch, nap and out to dinner. Our kind of vacation day.

a J afternoon...

This afternoon we took J to a place called THE TRACK. MG stayed with Grammy at the condo and we went out on a "date" with our little man. We have not been able to do anything like that since MG arrived.

The place was deserted upon first glance. We were certain they were closed...not a soul in sight. I found two guys in Hawaiian shirts (who I later learned were employees) and they pointed us in the right direction. I am not kidding when I say there were TWO other families in this entire park. No waiting in lines for us today!

The three of us had a great time doing big boy stuff: riding go carts, a kiddy ferris wheel, a kiddy train, bumper boats, an airplane ride and arcade games. The Ferris Wheel was a little too loud and he made sure Hawaiian shirt boy knew it. J screamed at him the entire ride..."I want to get off, it's TOOOOOOOOOO LOUD". repeat. repeat. repeat. He finally got the picture and let him off. We topped off the afternoon with a good ole game of miniature golf. Daddy tried to work on J's form but gave up after a little protest. 4.5 year olds don't need any help, ya know? We didn't keep score but we're certain J won. ;-)

We were headed for ice cream to complete our "date" when we found J fast asleep in his car seat. It was late afternoon so we let him power nap and headed home to pick up Grammy and MG. Then it was off again for an all-American dinner at a cute little place called Pickles in Seaside. Little man thought that name was toooo funny. Pickles. Can't you just hear him saying that in his silly voice followed by that crazy 4 yr old laughter? Good times, my friends, good times!

a MG morning...

MG's favorite trick today was kicking her legs up and splashing them down in the water. She thought that was sooo funny! Grammy was a good sport and humored her longer than I could.


Hey Daddy, this stuff on my fingers is sand. Have you ever put sand in YOUR mouth? It's interesting. Here, try some...MG wasn't interested in having her picture made with Grammy. That grouchy face is usually accompanied by a loud whiny voice. She had had enough of the sun and sand for one morning but I took the picture anyway.

Beach Portrait day...

This evening we had beach portraits taken by Camera Shy Photography. We received the proofs before we headed home and they turned out great. J was BUSY as ever. I am surprised she captured one image with him looking at the camera. I have asked her permission to post a few watermarked images here. When I hear back from her I'll let you know.

Favorites from our first day...

Beach babies...