Ready, Set, BEACH... Part 2!

So, where did I leave off?  Oh, yes… Rob was supposed to bring me back a chocolate shake.

Well, he decided the “ice cream was just not very good, so I just drank it all.  You wouldn’t have liked it anyways.”  So, yeah… no ice cream. 

But, the next day we definitely went on a bicycling adventure.  We started at Big Daddy’s Bicycles where we had the others rent their bikes.  Rob and I brought our own bikes and gear.  Of course, my family did not wear a helmet… but rest assured that Rob and I did.  We then travelled 6 miles east and had to do the 6 miles back to where our car was.

Click here if you want to find out about Highway 30A and their scenic bike path.



Notice Rob and I are the only two with helmets. Tsk, Tsk.

It was a great little ride.  Okay, little might be a bit extreme.  It was a bit warm as we started around 4 o’clock.. but we had to start early so we could make sure we had time to stop and eat dinner and ride back before dark.  It does get dark really early in Destin… I guess it’s because its right there on the edge of the Eastern time zone, but its still in the Central zone.

It was really funny during the renting of the bicycles.  Kate somehow ended up with a bike that had white tires.  Now, who invents a bike that has white tires?  In case they didn’t notice, the road is black.  Not a good mix, I tell ya.  Mom’s on a bike but every so often you’d look up and she’d be zooming down the parking lot going, “I can’t turn!!! Help!”  Kirstie’s tires were flat.  And dad just sits on his bike while drinking his Diet DP.  Kyle & Trav are zooming around on their bikes with this look of “I’m definitely cooler than this, but I’ll just show you how awesome I am instead.” 



I love you Kate.



Oh, yeah.. see that look on Trav's face?!  :-)

 At any rate, we get going.  Kirstie and Trav, the track stars, are at the front and Kate makes up the rear.  Poor Kate… she’s just not as athletic as the rest of us… but she does try!  I’m the one that that offers water to everyone because I know if someone faints or gets dehydrated, it will quickly become the biking trip from hell.  So, I make sure we are all drinking something.  I can’t help my dad who would prefer DP to water.  J

See what I mean?  Bike & DP in one hand.

We bike through some rare coastal dune lakes (made up of fresh & salt water) and some really cool coastal communities.  These little communities were very touristy and right on the beach.  Made up of mostly condos and townhouses.   There are also all of these little vendor places out on the street and with loads of bike parking.  This path we were on was completely dedicated to bikes (and walkers).  But it didn’t share the road or anything… it was its own little path that went for 20 miles.   Kate manages to keep up but in the background here her saying the little villages that have names on them in her best British accent.  “Oh, let’s stay in at the Water Hole.”  On a bike… with white tires.  Comical nonetheless.

We checked out the beach and stopped at the Shrimp Shack.  Most people had cocktail shrimp, but I got myself a grilled cheese from a dedicated grilled cheese vendor and Kirstie got her a hot dog from a dedicated hot dog vendor.  Trav also got a sandwich from the grilled cheese vendor, but it wasn’t a grilled cheese… too manly for that!



At the Shrimp Shack along the beach.  This was after the first 6 miles.





Here's the grilled cheese vendor!

Then, we made the long trek back.  I’d have to say we made good time coming back, we didn’t linger as much and we just plain lost site of Kirk and Trav who left the rest of us slow people.  Alas, Barbie & Ken are just too much for us.



Notice:  Trav & Kirk are nowhere to be seen. 



Aren't they cute?



That pretty much summed up that day.  At night, I baked chocolate chip cookies and Kirstie & Trav went and got their Henna tattoo’s.  Sorry Gretchen (Travis’ mom), I think this fake tattoo only gave further steam to him getting a real one! (Side bar:  Since Trav is a Track All-American, its tradition that they get a hog tattoo.)

Kirstie got a fish.

If he gets one for real, it will just be an outline, not filled in.

The next day everyone but mom & dad went jet skiing for an hour.  I’d have to say jet skiing for an hour is a little long in the gulf when you have all that salt water hitting your face.  We had to stop every few minutes to wipe our eyes and dry our faces.  But I will say we saw a school of dolphins!  Is school the appropriate term?  In any event, there were about 8 of them swimming together at a leisurely pace.  Rob and I just stopped for a while and watched the swim.  We were actually so close to one that we could have jumped off and touched it.  But, if you know, I’d never do that.  Animals are okay to look at, but not touch!! 

Yeah, yeah, I know… Flipper is not likely an animal to attack… but if a dolphin ever decided to attach a human, I’d probably be the first human to experience it with my track record of animals.  I don’t really have a track record with fish or mammals in the water, come to think of it.. but I do have this intense story that involves a petting zoo and a goat that has scarred me for life when I was like 6 years old.  Anywho…

The jet skiing adventure was quite nice and we spent the rest of the day sitting out on the beach and picked up a quick game of sand volleyball.  The other team was no good.  Combination of drunkenness, little athletic ability, and the heat did the other team in.  I believe the scores were like 21-11 or something like that. 



Let's kid yourself not, I'm not putting a picture of myself with a life jacket on in this blog.
This was after we finished jet skiing.



Those were our main activities for the rest of the trip.  We made a hog in the sand… it almost looks like one, too.  We realized our project was slightly ambitious a quarter of the way in.  Each couple did cook a meal and they were all fantastic as well.  Many card games and domino’s were played in the evening, too.  Kate and I are learning how to solidly beat Kyle and Rob in spades.   Take that yo!  On our last night there we played a good game of Monopoly where I won, if I do say so myself.  Kyle also broke a chair during monopoly b/c he was so intense into the game!

Overall, it was a really great trip.  Substantially more crowded than last year and a bit hotter too, but definitely just as fun.  I have a great family.  Check out some beach pics we took... I could put up about 10,000 of Barbie & Ken because they are so good looking, but I don't have time for that and this is MY blog, so they will only get a few just like the rest of us.

I love my parents.



Love this picture of Kate & Kyle.



Phew, Rob doesn't look like he's in TOO much pain.

The whole clan!  Again, don't worry about those giants on the left.

Ready, Set, BEACH!

Well, today was day one of family vacation in Destin, Florida.  It all started with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 8 people.  So, given the small quarters for the large amount of people, we were anxious to hit the beach on Day 1.  Here’s who is here:

Mom  & Dad, Me & Rob, Kate & Kyle, and Kirstie & Travis.  So, we all have significant others.  First vaca where we’ve all had someone to attach to.  For Kirstie at least.  And let’s not kid yourself, this kid Kirk is seeing, Trav… if he wasn’t so young I’d think I’d have a semi-crush on his body.  Just take a look for yourself.  His momma should be proud!  GQ, don’t ya think???

See, I wouldn't lie.

Further known as Barbie & Ken.

Anyways, Day 1 was all about hitting the beach and resting up from the long drive down on Wednesday.  We really didn’t do much besides hit it out there.  The boys played baseball with some 8-10 year olds on the beach and Travis bought a skim board so we all tried our attempts at that.  The baseball game was rather exciting.. Both Trav and Kyle hit homeruns!  Oh, Kate took dad’s place in the game when he was too tired.  (I think secretly Dad was tired of the young kids saying “Batter’s got a big butt!”, hehe jk).

Trav after his home run.

Go Kyle!

Ohhh yeah.

To learn how, Robert went up and asked some young kids doing it on the beach and they said, “Oh.. just throw it down, it’s real simple.”  So, that was our instruction.  Let me show you a picture of Robert doing it.

Yep, that's Rob falling onto the beach.

Nonetheless, he definitely crashed and burned trying to skim board.  It was so funny to watch.  He kind of gave up after he crashed into the sand.  A little while later I worked up the courage to give it a shot.  And I picked it up rather quickly if I do say so myself.  And of course, that enticed Robert to give it a go again.  We finally kind of got the hang of it.  Enough to stay up a few seconds at any rate.  (Side note:  I definitely busted it as well, but Robert wasn’t watching, so it really didn’t happen).  We even got mom up on the board.  Or well, I don’t think she ever actually caught the wave, but she threw the board down and jumped up a few times.

We're discussing our strategy here.

Check it.  I caught the wave.

Once mom got on the board, some old man came up to us and was saying how we should leave the skim boarding to the young kids.  However, I can’t be certain if he was talking to me or mom because I was holding the board at the time….  Weird.  We’re just having a good time, no matter how unsuccessful we may have been.

Each couple has a night to cook dinner and Robert and I went first.  We cooked a turkey sausage pasta with cherry tomatoes and baby spinach.  Of course, only after I opened up the pasta shells, they went flying onto the kitchen floor.  Whoops!  Broom, please!  Nonetheless, we managed to have enough food for all 8 of us.  I’d say it was a pretty successful meal myself.

Once we ate and were all cleaned up, we headed to the Destin Harbor where we caught a firework show and grabbed a snow cone.  Unfortunately, my cherry snow cone tasted a little like cough syrup. :*(  It was a pretty nice firework show, however.  At one point in the car, Kirstie said, “Dad, you’re like a dog” and we all burst out laughing because she was absolutely right.  Every few feet, dad will just shout out something that he sees.  “DONUT HOLE” “SQUIRREL” “STOPLIGHT” “SQUIRREL” hahaha.

Oh yeah, check out the hair.  Oh, and don't mind those giant people on the left.

Now, we’re just lounging around the Condo where some people are playing 42, I’m organizing pictures and writing this blog.

Oh.  PS.  Rob looks like a GIANT LOBSTER.  BEWARE. 

---- Friday Day 2----

Well, I never could get the internet to post for Day 1 on day one, so I’m posting it with this one.  We had a pretty laid back day.  The boys went golfing in the morning at San Destin and the ladies went…. Shopping!  Of course.  The only thing to do when your men go out and play, duh!  We didn’t spend too much money tho, I even came back with all my purchases and realized that I bought more stuff for Rob than for myself!  See how sweet I am?!

When we all got back home Rob and I stayed out on the balcony reading our respective books and everyone else went all the way down to the beach.  Us sunburned people wanted to stay in the shade!  Trav, Kirk, and Kyle picked up a sand volleyball game where they dominated the other team. 

Kate & Kyle were also in charge of cooking dinner tonight.  They cooked pulled pork sandwiches.  The pork cooked all day long in these chipotle peppers soaked in Adobe sauce and then also 2 cans of Dr. Pepper.  It was a recipe that she took from the Pioneer Woman’s blog.  So, check it out if your interested.

We then had fun taking pictures on the balcony.  See some pictures below. 

After that we headed down for some Frisbee tossing.  We decided it was too windy and switched to some sand volleyball.  Note to self:  playing sand volleyball means you get sand where sand should not go.  Including your pockets, mouth and everywhere else in between.  However, I most definitely blocked a ball by the 6’5 Travis Southard.  Granted, I’m pretty sure it still landed on our side, but it does go to show you can’t count the short people out! 

Everyone is heading to get ice cream now, except myself.  I had to take a shower after the sand volleyball game so I’m holding down the fort.  Rob promises to bring me a chocolate shake though. Yum!!

I’m not sure what tomorrow will hold, except I think we’re all going on a bike ride in the evening down highway 30A.  Should be interesting!

He Leans... He Reaches... He Crashes... The Cycling Adventures Begin!

Imagine… we are both bike riding, Robert flying at me with a look of semi-dread…literally, this is what his face looked like :-/) …. He reaches out, I peddle harder, push back and then BOOM, he lands smack on the concrete.  All the while an Aston Martin watches on waiting to pass us and turn into his driveway from what I’m sure was a hard day work.

Yes.  That was ride #2 of Jessica’s new biking routine.  The only good news here:  I wasn’t the one who fell.  Because, as we all know, once that happens, its likely to take a small miracle to get me back on my bike.  But never, fear, the fall did not stop Rob (other than I think he was a bit embarrassed b/c he’s like a professional mountain biker who fell on a solid concrete road).  Okay, I take that back.. it was not a solid concrete road.  It should have been a solid concrete road.  After all, that is what, as taxpayers, we are paying for. It had a gigantic crack running down the middle of it making the two sides of the road uneven.  His tire got stuck in the crack and he went down.

I’m still saying tho, if his shoes hadn’t been clipped in, he might have been able to save himself.  I just cannot imagine riding a bike with my shoes hooked in.  I prefer to try all methods of saving myself before I hit the ground and that would require me reaching my foot out to prevent my body from falling all over the place.  Any who… he survived.  I survived.  Although, when he reached out I believe he was wanting to use me as more a rock to right himself and well, when you start going down, you’re on your own in my book.

Plus, I don’t fall.  Ever.  I’m the queen of not falling.  (I’ll write this and then go bust my butt later somewhere).  But, just ask the Meier’s.  I went skiing with them all through the trees and hills one winter and I’m pretty sure every single male busted it out on the slopes, but not me!  My arms might have been swinging everywhere and poles up in the air with one leg off the ground, but I do not fall.  I’ll do all that I can to stay vertical.  Gravity will not prevail!!

So, lessons learned while bike riding. 

1)      Riding with padded shorts still leaves your butt being sore.

2)      I’m not a fan of road bikes all that much.  The tires are just too big and too skinny.  I need a little for substance to my bike!  I’m currently borrowing a road bike from someone right now (I plan to buy a hybrid in a couple of weeks).

3)      Bikes have become complicated with all their gears.  Plus, this road bike I’m using, I couldn’t even figure out how to shift down (or was it up?).  When did it become so hard.  Rob asks me on ride #2 how my gear changing has been, and I said that I hadn’t changed my gear at all for the entire ride.  I was in a nice & comfortable one, no need to change it!

4)      Just because you follow a sign that says “bike trail” does not mean it won’t be dangerous.  We followed one down Washington and it was definitely not “bike trail”ish in my mind.  For one, we were right next to the road… at any given time someone could have taken us out, and two,  the sidewalk was so messed up that you could not have possibly ridden on it.  I was convinced we made a wrong turn somewhere, but I did check the map and we were doing it right.

5)      I’m fan of these bike jerseys.  It has three pockets in the back and I can put my chapstick, phone, etc in them and not be bothered!

6)      I love that Robert carries the camel back for me and lets me take a drink any time. J

7)      Robert does not like to share his bicycle. I haven’t convinced him yet to ride my road bike and me his bike.  He gets this look in his eye like he’s giving away his most precious toy ever.

8)      Installing a spare tire rack on the Jeep is not as simple as it looks.  For Rob.  For me, however, I’m two for two.  Rob is 0 for 2.  I did all the hard stuff.. and he kept saying I wasn’t reading all the directions!  He just wasn’t following them. J

9)      Not a super brilliant idea to bike after it has rained.  While it is cooler, its also more humid.  It’s also muddy.  Even out on the road.  A sidewalk was like washed out and we definitely got stuck in about 2-3 inches of hardcore mud.  Not so much fun. 

10)   Biking is expensive.  I’ve probably spent like $400 on all the gear it takes to bike (including a bike rack that will hold two bikes for the jeep) and I haven’t even bought the bike!!!

11)   Robert will continue biking with blood running down his leg.  Me, I don’t think so.  I’m thinking of packing band-aids from now on.  Probably not so cool for a mountain biker, but I’m just really not a bloody person.  Plus, he carries his tools, I’ll carry band-aids!  They can even fit in my shirt pockets!!!! Hahaha.

Needless to say, I’m curious to know how ride #3 will go.  We currently are averaging somewhere around a 7-8 minute mile, which I think is pretty slow.  People run faster than 8 minute mile.  I think its because we tend to stop a lot b/c we have to figure out where to go, mud washes out the concrete, people fall, must obey stop lights and stop signs, etc.  

We’ve still yet to find a great bike trail that isn’t on the road and isn’t a mountain bike trail, but I did read about one online at Terry Hershey Park, so we might do that either today or tomorrow.  I told Rob he could decide since he’s the one still bleeding from yesterday’s excursion!

I do love my husband, but if he ever drags me down with him on fall, I will kill him.  Hehehehe.

Oh yeah, this is me.  Haha.  Skirt & all.  JK!

More on our future bike riding adventures.

Even The Husks Caught Fire!

Happy Fourth of July!

Over the 4^th of July, my whole family came down, minus Kirstie.  I’m talking mom, dad, Kate, Nana, Pop, Mema, and Pepa.  And let me tell ya, my apartment may feel big for two people, its definitely small with all of those people.  We even have to break out the lawn chairs so that everyone can sit down.

Mom & Dad came down Thursday night, before I got back from BFE Arizona.  So, I met up  with them on Friday.  We did a little shopping at Highland Village before Nana & Pop got in.  Exchanged Kirstie’s sliced off James Avery ring for a new one (got $30 credit), picked up some Jalapeño Lemonade (more on that later), fruit basket thing, and a plastic lemonade pitcher.

When Nana & Pop came in we went and saw Larry Crowne with Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks.  While the movie wasn’t bad, it definitely wasn’t great.  It was the most disappointing I think because they are two Oscar winning actors and they didn’t really have synergy.  Don’t get me wrong, parts were definitely funny and cute.  But it just wasn’t near romancy enough to really get it off the ground.

Then, we bought and cooked some Kabob’s out on the grill by the pool.  We actually managed to stay out there for a quite a while too.  Very nice out.  We also broke out the Jalapeno Lemonade mix.  Tastes like lemonade in the mouth and then you can feel the heat in your throat on its way down.  Very interesting.  I’m not so sure I’d recommend???  But nonetheless, almost half of it got drunk by you know 10 people.  So, I guess that means not many people wanted to drink it.  I had my one swallow and that was it.

Nana & Pop went off to their hotel and Kyle picked up Kate from the airport Friday night.  In the meantime, mom, dad, rob, and myself watched 127 Hours, the movie.  It was okay…  Amazing that it is a true story.  Ingenious in all the ways he tried to escape.  Nasty in the fact that he cut off his arm.

That pretty much rounded out Friday night.

Saturday started early with mema & pepa arriving.  We all just kind of hung out for awhile and then all the women set off to DSW shoes and The Container Store.  I swear, you can spend hours in the Container Store.  They have so many neat gadgets!  Nana bought me an air-tight cookie container.  Like you press a button on the top it seals the lid and then to get it off, you press the button again.  It’s pretty clever!!!  Mom also bought a cabinet holder thing for the spices.  Well, its basically like this shelf raiser thing so that you can see all your spices in the back.  Also very clever.

Then, we headed back to the apt where we proceeded to attempt to grill corn, potatoes, and sausage.  However, the grill wasn’t readily available so the food kind of had to wait outside for a while before it could be cooked.  And, when you grill corn on the cob, you need to make sure the husks are wet so they don’t catch fire.  We soaked them in water before we took them out, but they dried out pretty quick when they sat outside for a little bit.  And well, they caught fire.   Smoking fire.  Mom and I took them inside and boiled them and then finished them up in the microwave.  However, while you may not think this process would work guarantee good tasting corn, it was quite great.  The butter really soaked in and it tasted quite great!

We ate outside by the pool in 104 degree temperature and like 95% humidity.  It was HOT!  We were all dripping in sweat by the time we finished eating, but I think all the grandparents made it okay.

We headed back in for a little siesta and mema & pepa headed to Seguin.  But, not before I saw mema dump in that Jalepeno Lemonade in pepa’s Dr. Pepper!  I wonder if he was wondering why his throat was burning on the way home?!

Then, me, rob, kate, and kyle went to the Astro’s game while mom, dad, nana, and pop went to Galveston and checked out Nana & Pop’s timeshare on the beach.  We had a great time at the game and got to watch a fantastic firework show.  It was really long too.  Since that’s the only show we’ll get to see over the Holiday weekend, it was very good!!  Then, Kyle took us to his office downtown and got to impress us with his cool digs.  He had his own office and window view!  You can’t beat that!!!

Aren't they cute?

We came back where we then proceeded to act like goofballs and pretend we were shooting each other with machine guns.  Okay, maybe I should say we… it was more Me & Rob while Kyle and Kate laughed at us.  But it was pretty fun.  Maybe one day when Kyle comes home from work he’ll find Robert and I hiding around corners with our fake machine gun hands and noises.  That would be really funny!

Kyle's office.

Sunday morning we all kind of slept in a little bit and made a list of things to accomplish:

1)      Ikea

2)      Outlet Mall

3)      Sun & Ski Sports

4)      Crate & Barrel

Amazingly, we made all the stops and had lunch at Whatburger within 4 hours.  You should be impressed b/c I’ve never spent less than 2 hours in IKEA and it takes like 45 minutes to drive out to the Outlet Mall.  SUCCESS. 

At Sun & Ski, Kate bought me bike helmet.  I bought myself padded shorts and a bike top.  You gotta have the right outfit, you know!  Now, all I need is a bike!!!  Nothing like putting the cart before the horse, but you know.  J  I do actually have a bike to ride…. One of Robert’s co-workers bought a nice bike for his wife and she’s ridden it like twice.  He spent  a lot of money on the bike and ‘didn’t want the same thing to happen to him.’  So, I’m taking it for a test ride tonight.  That may be its own blog!

Anyways, I’m going to look cute riding my bike and that’s all there is to it.  Looking good is half the experience! J  While at Sun & Ski, dad, kate, and kyle rode the tricycle around with a seat as big as an elephant’s rear.  You’d just look around and you’d see one of them down the aisle trying to make a curve.  I guess that was better than mom and me feeling butt pads, trying to figure out which was the best.

Kate & Kyle then went on a date together and mom, dad, rob and me were left to our own devices.  Well, when that happens it can’t always be good.  We decided to drive up to the The Woodlands and do a little wandering around.  To protect the innocent, I’ll leave it at that.  We had dinner at Guadalajara, which was excellent.  Then, we searched for a Auto Zone or something similar to repair my one break light that is out.  We amazingly found one open and on our way out, saw a restaurant as dad said, “CrabbyDaddy’s”  of which Robert then said, “or Crab by Daddy.”  Who is right, we’ll never know! Then headed to The Chocolate Bar in Rice Village (not in The Woodlands) and had an excellent piece of chocolate cake.  It was delish!  Then, we came back and watched the Food Network Star.  Can’t miss that show!!!  And that ladies and gents, pretty much concluded our weekend.

I had to work on the 4^th and Rob is repairing this bike that his co-worker sent so I can “have the best riding experience ever.”  We’re headin out in like an hour.  Keep your fingers crossed that I don’t fall down, because you know once that happens I will never touch a bike again.  J