Our week started early as our flight out of St. Louis was
at 7am. We took the hotel shuttle to the airport, checked our bag and got in
the long security line. After a layover in Atlanta, we made it to Panama City
without incident, quickly got our luggage and rental car and were on our way.
It seemed so easy after traveling to Italy and all the little road bumps along
the way. I called our rental agency an hour out like they suggested we do and
they said they would let us know when our house was ready, but normal check-in
time wasn’t until 4pm. I knew this, but was hoping an early heads-up would get
us in earlier. Our first stop was for lunch at the Donut Hole. I inquired about
getting a Key Lime Pie shipped back to my parents, but it wasn’t a possibility.
Andrew had a Cuban sandwich and it was huge. It was cut in half and each half
looked like a really big sandwich. He was able to save one half and eat it for
lunch the next day. We also stopped in Alys Beach and walked over to the street
that the house my family rented for later this summer was on to see if we could
look at it, but the street was all gated off. There was two walking paths into
the area, but they were locked up too. So, all I got was a picture of the house
through the gate. Next we made our way to Seaside. Since we couldn’t do much
yet, I decided it was a good time to do my shopping for the kids and my
parents. Andrew decided it was a good time to stay in the cool car and rest
since he hates shopping. After being in shock again at some of the prices in
Seaside, I found t-shirts for the kids. I had a hard time picking out something
for my parents and only ended up with a tumbler for my mom to use for her
smoothies. Later I had the idea to get some gift cards they could use when we
came back down and put them in the tumbler.
Soon it was three and we still hadn’t heard anything, so
Andrew stopped into the rental agency’s office that I happened to notice when
walking around and they told us we could go ahead and go in and someone would
meet us there in a bit. I had been by the house, Little Feet, earlier and it
looked like it was all ready to go. It was a pretty small house, but still airy
and cute. I met the lady there while Andrew got the car and she got us all
situated. I was sad to learn that to use the pavilions and be on the beach in
Seaside, you had to have a wrist and that showed you were staying there. I
wondered why we I rented our chairs online, that I had to put in a code that
was given to us by our rental agency that showed where we were staying in
Seaside. I guess only guests staying in Seaside can rent the chairs and sit on
the beach. Visitors are allowed to use the Coleman Pavilion in the center, but
aren’t supposed to set up camp on the beach. I understand, since it has gotten
overly crowded, but it also makes me nostalgic for the days when we first came
over 20 years ago and it was a quiet town. It already seemed pretty busy even
though it was the middle of May. But I quickly unpacked and we headed to the
beach to get a little bit of time in before they started packing up the chairs.
It was beautiful. The water was perfect and the breeze felt good. We only got
to sit in the chairs maybe ½ hour before they started packing them up, so I
ended upon the pavilion reading for a bit. That night we drove back over near
Donut Hole and ate at a new Italian place called Amici. We got to sit outside
and enjoy a nice, quiet dinner. The rest of our time there was super-relaxed. I
did go on a couple of runs and they weren’t much fun because it was so humid. I
did reward myself with some chocolate milk from Modica Market afterwards
though. But other than that, we spent many hours on the beach. Andrew didn’t
last as long as I did, but I would spend probably 8-9 hours down there reading
and would come up to eat lunch for about an hour and go back down. We just ate
lunches a couple of the restaurants up in the shopping area. I made it through
2 ½ book and Andrew ended up downloading a couple Louis Lamour books that he
read a long time ago and finishing one of them. I didn’t get out my computer,
look at my to-do list, and only watched a tiny bit of TV while I packed up. The
weather was perfect and it was all wonderful. Andrew kept saying it was my
Mother’s Day gift and I thought it was perfect. We ate dinner the second night
in Seaside at The Great Southern (we had a 1 hour wait for the two of us at
8pm) and then at a new restaurant called the Surfing Deer (in the old V
restaurant building) the last night. We were able to walk there, which was
nice. You did have to watch out for all the bike traffic though. There were
some people, kids especially that were going pretty quickly. And we sat next to
a celebrity of sort at Surfing Deer. Reed Robertson, of Duck Dynasty fame, was
sitting at the table next to us. We think he was with his wife and her family.
They even sang Happy Birthday to him, so we knew for sure his name was Reed.
After dinner Wednesday night, we made our way back to Seaside and got some
Frost Bites. I wanted to see if they had gift cards to get one for my parents
and I felt obligated to get some shaved ice too. Their gift cards were
unique-they just wrote it out on the back of one of their stickers. Hopefully
they accept it when my parents come back to use it in August. Then it was back
to the house to pack up. Andrew and I agree it was a good amount of time to be
gone-just enough to relax a bit but not too long. I did feel guilty leaving my
parents with the kids and all their activities. It wasn’t as busy when we first
planned the trip, but that changed. A friend texted me about seeing them and
she said that what they were doing was a labor of love and that my mom said she
was happy we were able to go and that it is good for marriages to be able to
get away every now and then. I’m so grateful for them!
And the kids did keep them very busy. Jackson and Lincoln
had football camp from 3-5 after school all week. Then Ellie and Lincoln had
soccer practice Monday and Wednesday, they all had one ballgame during the
week, Ellie had field day and Laura Day at school, Jackson had a field trip,
and I believe the twins ended up having a field day. Then add in just getting
them all to and from school and making sure everyone had everything they
needed, plus Miles being sick at the beginning of the week and having Buddy
staying with them. But they made it through, as no one would doubt, and we
loved getting updates now and then (plus some from friends). It sounds like
they all had good games…Lincoln got to play catcher and got some good hits,
Ellie got some hits which I’m sure eased her worry a bit, Jackson played all
over the field-center, third, second and even pitcher and we got a video of one
of his hits. Ellie had an awesome time at field day getting first in one of her
relays and soccer punt and second in long jump. And the twins were super
excited to come home with medals from their field day. They also colored a lot of Paw Patrol pictures for my dad to put up in his office.
Andrew and I flew back to St. Louis Thursday morning and
got back to Kirksville at 6:30, so we went straight to the ballpark to catch
the last of the twins’ game. We got to see them bat once and play in the field.
The older ones saw our car coming down the road, so they met us in the parking
lot with big hugs. Then when the twins noticed us from the dugout, they ran out
to give us hugs. We were excited to see them again. After the game, we went
back to my parents to get all of their stuff and Buddy. Buddy saw me first and
started jumping up on me, but then when he saw Andrew, he went crazy. He wouldn’t
stop jumping and whining at him. Best buds reunited. We got everything back
home and the younger kids helped me unload the car while the older ones picked
up the yard and Andrew did a quick job of mowing the yard. Thankfully, he got
it done since we got some decent rain that night. But we also had to get ready
for school the next day, so it was baths and showers while I unpacked and then go
through all the kids papers. Andrew took the older kids to school on Friday and
the twins and I went to Aldi before I had to go to Mrs. Bishop’s, my second
grade teacher, funeral. There weren’t as many people there as I was expecting,
but it was still neat to see the wide range of people that she had affected.
She was a very passionate person-about her relationship with Christ and her
love for teaching others. I was glad I was able to go. Once I got home, we didn’t
have much time before the twins and I headed out to Lincoln’s End of the Year celebration
for his class. The did some group reading, handed out awards (Lincoln got
Amazing Attitude), we got to look over their portfolio of classwork and then we
watched a very sweet video of the class throughout the year. Lincoln has had a
great year and we were so thankful for Mrs. Banner.
We were actually able to bring Lincoln home with us. They
ended up canceling football camp for the younger boys because of the chance of
impending rain and lack of enough facilities to take care of all the ages. And
then Andrew brought home Ellie. She had an awards ceremony at her school, but
they never really tell the parents about it, except for the 5th
grade parents. But, Ellie got an award for going to State Math Contest, for
reading over 1 million words, for having the highest typing speed in her class
and for being the only 4th grader to read all of the Mark Twain
Nominee Books. So proud of all her hard work. She and Lincoln were supposed to
have ball games that night, but they were canceled because of the rain. So, I
took my time making dinner and we vegged out at home. I did go to Wal-Mart
though since I wasn’t able to do that earlier with the twins. Ellie was the
only one awake when I got home and helped me carry stuff in and put it away.
The next morning was cooler and drizzly, so Andrew didn’t go to the ranch until
later. I took Lincoln to his friend, Miguel’s, birthday party. His house was
very close to our old house, so I went by Home Depot afterwards and finally got
some flowers for the house. I went Amanda’s route and got some pre-planted
hanging baskets and just put them in my pots. I also got some flowers to use
for teacher gifts. When I got back home, Andrew and the other kids had headed
out to the ranch. I put the flowers in my pots and set them up around the house
and then potted the flowers for the teacher gifts. One of the flowers broke off
so I had to pick up another one when I picked up Lincoln. I got everything
cleaned up and then went back to pick up Lincoln. He had a lot of fun. He and
Miguel are so funny together. They have their secret handshake they do when
they see each other and when they leave. After stopping by Home Depot, we went
by my parents and dropped off some stuff and picked up Buddy’s cage that was
still there. Back home, I got us both lunch and then I got on the bike. Andrew
and the other kids got back as I was finishing up my ride. Then Ellie was off
with her friend Ella for her birthday sleepover and Andrew went to the office.
Lincoln and the twins played outside with Ty and Josh while I worked on
designing, printing and cutting out tags for some end-of-school gifts. I
decided I wanted to give the kids I worked with in Lincoln’s class a little
something and did bubbles. And I also did little bags of gummy worms for the
twins’ class. I was able to get them all assembled and finished up later that
evening.
Andrew surprised me and picked up mulch before he came
home from the office. But first, he went out for a ride after dinner. Lincoln
and Jackson met up with him when he was coming back into the neighborhood and
then Andrew and I went around the block with the twins. Andrew and Jackson got
around to putting all the much out as the sun was setting and finished up in
the dark.
Sunday ended up being a little cooler but the kids still
go outside and went to the ranch for a little bit with Andrew. He also worked
with all of them on baseball/softball. Jackson and Ellie learned to use a
turkey mouth call, which will probably prove to be pretty annoying. And we
grilled steaks for the first time since it has started to warm up. The kids
were very excited. And we are in the home stretch with school…only two more
days.
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