Tarballs and Little Else

It's been three years since we've had a beach vacation - so, it was the first real experience for Jack, Wyatt and Ella. We used to always vacation with my family at New Smyrna Beach, next to Daytona, on the Atlantic coast of Florida. This year, with my sister and her family now living in the Panhandle, we booked Destin (not realizing the Gulf oil spill debacle that soon came about). Heading down, we were concerned about the oil, but turns out the rainy weather is what kept us from the beach (and the pool for that matter = the water was freezing from the rain)!

We headed to the beach and pool on Day 1, which ended up being the only day of decent weather. Of course, I didn't take my camera ... figured we'd enjoy the experience and worry about catching it on camera next time around ... so, here are the only shots I have. None of us on the beach or at the pool! :(




L to R: My mom (Cindy), Jason with Wyatt, Jack, Jennifer with Ella, my sister (Jessica) and her husband (Giff) with their son (Hayden)

My 21-year-old brother, Jamie, and his friend also joined us. Poor things - I'm sure that was way too much kid-exposure for a college guy's idea of "vacation!" They were good sports, though, especially considering Wyatt practically had the show Dinosaur Train on a loop! Since Wyatt's still just starting to talk, his comments about his favorite TV show are pretty much limited to "ROAR!!!" ... which quickly became his nickname :)

Jack's come a long way in his swimming abilities since last summer ... donning arm floaties and jumping in off the side of the pool (even if his lips were turning blue!) So, we did have tarballs - most were the size of your pinky nail and weren't noticable ... Wyatt has a white UV shirt that is stained with dots of oil - it's his badge of honor ... better than some airbrushed t-shirt that says, "I survived the Gulf Oil Spill 2010!" :)

Everyone was happy to get back home (where, of course, it had been dry and sunny the whole time we were gone)! The kids caught up on some major sleep last weekend!!!! I can't tell you the last time they slept until 10 a.m. on a Saturday!!!!!

Picked up some impressive fireworks on the trip home ... on July 4th, after the first one went off, Wyatt was clawing the door to get back inside. He was so frightened ... I hated to laugh, but it was so darn cute! Jack soon joined Wyatt, complaining of the fireworks being "too loud." Yeah, right ... he was just as scared. :)