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!