Catching Up - Florida - Shell Island

I am ridiculously behind in my blogging. Sorry about that.  Life is too busy and at night, my mind is too fried to write anything coherent.  So nothing has been written for a while now...Hopefully, you will get blitzed with many, many posts that should have been written in the past month.  Or this may be the only one you see until Thanksgiving.  We'll just see how it goes.  :-)

So anyway, one day in Florida we took the Captain Anderson's Dolphin and Shell Island Boat Tour.  It was a very enjoyable time.

Once we got to Shell Island, we saw a crab in the surf and a family caught it in their red bucket.  Isn't this a fun picture?

Crab in a Bucket

One of my children did not take the sunscreen thing seriously.

The big kids went to play in the surf.

The surf back on the mainland was a red flag day (Dangerous - swim at your own risk)  The waves here were monsters.  My big kids LOVED it.  They could've stayed all day.

Cupcake and Steve went looking for shells.  After all, it was Shell Island.

One thing we learned about seagulls- they LOVE Chee*tos   Actually, we already knew that**.  Now we know why.  Tour boat operators give passengers Chee*tos to hand-feed the seagulls.  Swarms of seagulls engulf the boat as it's leaving the dock.

**Last year, in Virginia, we brought a new bag of Chee*tos to the beach for a snack.  It was all tucked into our stuff, under towels.  Everyone jumped in the ocean for a short time.  When we came back, the bag was completely ravaged.  We had no idea that seagulls got the munchies like that.  Now we know better.  :-)

 After Shell Island, the boat went out into the waters to look for dolphins.  We came upon this one right away.  We stayed with her for quite a while.  The kids loved it.  (The grown-ups too).

All together, it was a really fun day.  And I think it counts as a science field trip.  :-)

Blessings to you,

Mamita

Florida

Times of Refreshing

Florida was good.  Really good.  We arrived at the house late afternoon on Sunday.  Took a quick inventory of the things we would need for the week and drove into Panama City Beach to get the needed supplies.  After dinner, we stopped at the beach for our first look at the Gulf.  It was a nice first impression.  :-)  The girls waded into the water just to get their feet wet.  (We put Cupcake into a swimsuit based on our experience with "just getting your feet wet".)

Panama City Beach Pier 

 

At Seacrest Beach, the sand was fine and white.  The water was warm (and a little seaweedy).

Seacrest Beach

 

 

God sends times of refreshing in various ways.  Florida was that for us.  I suggest the following ideas for allowing Him to refresh you if you find yourself at the beach.

Rest and enjoy His beauty.  Spend time with family and friends, laughing and talking, playing games until the wee hours (like 10:00 pm).  Listen to soothing guitar music wafting down the steps.  Let the warm sand squish between your toes.  Peek under the water with your kids, looking for fish (and seaweed) around your toes.  Jump waves until your whole body is a wet noodle.  Build sand forts as high as you can before the waves take it down.  Dig a deep hole in the sand until you reach water.  Try boogie-boarding.  Belly laugh.  Ride bikes on flat streets, plowing through the standing water.  Buy a coconut monkey for your son.  Eat ice cream cake late at night.

May God refresh you in simple, unexpected ways.

  

Blessings to you,

Mamita

Why My Post-Vacation Purse Weighed More Than 7 Pounds!

For your entertainment this morning, please read the following list of purse contents.
 

• 3 Boxes Orange TicTacs
• 1 Granola Bar
• 2 Pkgs. Mint Gum
• 2 Pkgs. Cinnamon Gum
• 2 Packets Fruit Snacks
• 1 Travel Pill Case
• 1 Stain Stick
• 3 Pens
• 3 Sharpies - One in Each Size
• 2 Travel Bottles Hand Sanitizer
• 100 Reciepts
• Miscellaneous Coupons
• Cupcake's Wallet
• My Wallet
• Checkbook
• Phone
• 1 Pile of Trash
• 2 Lipsticks
• 2 Chapsticks
• 1 Listerine Spray
• 1 Hair Brush
• 1 Wide-tooth Comb
• 1 Regular Comb
• 1 Kleenex Pocketpack
• 1 Headband
• 3 Sets of Keys (Van, Car, Church)
• 1 Broken Necklace
• 1 Business Card Holder
• 6 Cough Drops
• 1 Guitar Pick
• 2 Chinese Finger Traps ---- Huh?   Don't ask.  I have NO IDEA?!?!
• 1 Cootie Catcher
• 1 Large Pile of Change  - $6.70 Worth.
• 4 Bandaids - 3 new/1 used ----EWWW!

This doesn't explain where my tape measure and credit card pocket knife are.

It does explain, however, why my back and shoulders hurt so much.

Blessings to you,
Mamita

Golden Anniversary

The night before we left for vacation, we had big plans. 

One of Steve's brothers and his wife came in to town to help celebrate his parent's 50th wedding anniversary.  All three brothers went together and had a beautiful flower arrangement made.  In the midst of the bouquet, we placed gift cards to some of their favorite restaurants, one for each decade of their marriage, along with a matching photo of them during each stage of their lives.  It turned out perfect!

Then, they took us out to a nice Italian restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious meal and wonderful company.

 

After dinner, we came back home for a photo shoot.  I have two camera shy sons and two hams (or divas, depending on the mood) for daughters.  (On a side note:  Sugar is becoming a beautiful young woman right before our eyes.  YOWZA!  And Cupcake fixed her hair and mine for the evening.  She did a fabulous job, don't you think?!?!)

 

This is one of my favorites, Cupcake and her Aunt S cracking up...

It was truly a special night to celebrate a dear couple.  Fifty years is noteworthy and honorable.  Faithfulness runs deep in this family.

 

Congratulations to the happy couple, and may God bless you with many more years together.

Blessings to you,

Mamita

Back From Vacation

I'm back...I have lots to blog about...much laundry to do...jumbled thoughts in my head...hope to write something coherent soon.

We had a great time on the Gulf Coast.  We stayed at Seacrest Beach (near Panama City Beach) with some friends who invited us to share a house.  Both families survived the week, and we are all still friends, I think. ;-) 

We swam and had adventures, hunted shells, and got sunburned. 

Good. Fun. Stuff.

Two thumbs up to Seacrest Beach.  It is a high-end community, but very affordable with two families footing the bill.  Someday, when we're all retired and the kids are grown, it would be fun to share a house with several of our best friends.   

For now, I will leave you with a picture (or two...)

 

 Blessings to you,

Mamita

The Devil's in the Details

So, I met a new bloggy friend today.  I've been reading through her blog when I should have been cleaning or packing or parenting.  ;-)  But she has a beautiful heart and I just had to introduce myself and leave a few comments on some of her posts.  I will probably introduce her to you soon.  I think her thoughts are very important to adoptive parents who have biological kids as well.

But, while I was leaving comments, this came up...

We all had a good laugh. I hope you do too.

Blessings to you,
Mamita