A much needed vacation

We are home from a much needed vacation. It was such an awesome trip and I don't think it could've went more perfectly. Well, in a perfect world, your 3 year old would like to play on the waterslides and stuff. LOL She did love the lazy river and has turned into a fish over the past week. She was just using her swimmies until yesterday when we pulled out a Mickey Mouse ring float which she proclaims to be "beautiful." We hit the pool early, 7:30 a.m., to get in just a little more fun before we had the long trip home. She wanted Taco Bell, but it was only 9:00 a.m. when we left so they weren't open yet. We did not come across one until Montgomery. Gotta love the bleakness of the drive through Alabama. :) But, we made it there with about 3 side of the road bathroom stops behind us. The lady at the counter wasn't much for knowing how to run the cash register. I'll leave it at that. We crammed our food in and left with Summer finishing her soft taco supreme (which they forgot to leave the lettuce off of :( ) in the car. She at the whole thing!!!! We made it the rest of the way, you know the more civilized part with public restrooms and restaurants, without any potty stops (oh yeah, we did have to stop for Daddy once). We stopped at my aunts for a nice BBQ dinner and then headed home to get unpacked and ready for bed. But, not before Summer got to swim in the pool a little more. She had to show off her new skills. I wish I could say I slept like a baby, but I did not. But, it was nice to be in my bed and Summer must have enjoyed hers too because she is still in it.

Ok, to recap the fun of our trip:

Wednesday we headed down to Florida leaving around 5:00 a.m. At 5:32, Summer asked if we were there yet. :p At 5:47, my brother did (he's 21). We made it to Panama City around 1:00 p.m. after stopping only at Hardees for breakfast and once for gas. Then we checked into our awesome room on the 20th floor. Later in the trip, Summer wanted to know who lived there. :) We had lunch at the poolside grill. We went out to Sharkys for dinner. We swam, we beached it.

On Thursday, we got up and built a sand castle. Glad we got that out of the way early in the trip because it was the only one we built. We got up early every morning and tried to hit the beach before the sun did. I was always the first to rise, shortly after 6:00 a.m., waiting for Summer to get up and join me. She slept in Memaw and Nanny's room which was nice because I did not get woken up once by her. Of course, I was the early riser anyways. My poor brother was stuck on the couch so he had to listen to everyone walking around him while he slept. Good thing he was in a deep sleep in the morning. :)

After lunch, I was flipping through a little tourist book and found the perfect expedition for us: Jet Ski trip to Shell Island. It was a two hour trip in which the first part was guided and then we had the rest of the time to do as we pleased. Summer was not too excited to get on the jet ski, but we just did it and did not fall for the whining that started as we walked towards it. It wasn't too bad at first because we were just sitting there in the water waiting for everyone to get ready. Then the guide got in front and laid into his accelerator and we were to follow, in a single file line. We were two behind him. It was okay until we started hitting some waves and jumping. Poor Summer was in between Clint and I holding on for dear life. Probably crying. I was trying to maintain my cool and not yell at Clint because it wasn't his fault we were traveling at the speed of light. The guide had already gotten onto him for going to slow and having his nose in the air. So, Summer starts babbling things like: "This is not fun!" "I'm not having a good time!" "I'm ready to go home." "I'm done with this." "I want to get off this thing." "I'm finished." "Mommy, I don't like this." Oh yeah, great fun!!! Go Mommy for picking such a fun excursion. Well, everyone else was having a pretty good time, but not really enjoying the speeding so much either (except my brother, I'm sure). We saw a few dolphins on the way to the island. Then when we got there and thought we were home free, he passes it up and keeps going fast through even bigger waves. Water in face, mouth, eyes. Poor Summer. She did have on sunglasses which I am glad I made her wear and a hat which shielded her somewhat, but there were times when she could not see because of the fire in her eyes. I know it was there because it was in mine. When we finally arrived at the real dolphin spot it was pretty good because we were mostly going slow or sitting. She started to enjoy it a little at this point. We saw a LOT of dolphins too. It was great. Then the guide took us to the beach where Summer was happy to get off the jet ski. Of course, she didn't want to be on the island though. She wanted to be home. :) We found a few shells before she planted herself in Nanny's lap. My brother and I took off on the jet skis which was really fun. It was actually fun to go fast by myself! I guess the guide wasn't really thinking about the 3 year old two jet skis when he was hitting the gas. He was just enjoying the ride! It wasn't too hard to get Summer back on the jet ski for the trip home. We left in plenty of time so we wouldn't have to go fast. This trip was much more enjoyable for Summer. Overall, I think she liked it, but definitely not the fast part. It was definitely something I would recommend to friends with a little bit older kids.

A faithful cartoon watcher....even at the beach!!!!

The rest of the trip was spent in between the pool and beach. Summer loved the lazy river the best for sure. She did enjoy listening to music on the beach too, with a special request for Mommy's Jazzercise music. :) She also loved the arcade. They had a mini bowling alley and a air hockey table that she loved. We played horse shoes in the sand and flew the kite my aunt got her for her birthday. She watched her Dragon Tales video 100 times (slight exaggeration). All in all, it was the perfect vacation. Relaxing and fun! I just wish it would've lasted longer....but then who in their right mind doesn't?

Happy as a lark with her DVD player and powdered donuts on the way home!