Watercolor 2018

For our last hurrah this summer before first grade started for Winn, we vacationed with my family at Watercolor, FL on 30A. It is a charming planned seaside resort community where the people are encouraged to bike to the beach and explore the many trails that crisscross the landscape.  We cooked in a lot, played lots of board games (thanks to Annie), and upped our tent game on the beach.  Winn had a stomach virus preceding the trip so Roberts came down with him seperately on Sunday. We celebrated my 42nd birthday with a rainy day and egg-free strawberry birthday cake and dinner at Bud & Ally's.  After dinner we went down to the beach and chased sand fleas and crabs.  It did end up raining 2 days of our trip, but the last day the sun was out and even though there was a red flag, everyone was swimming in the rough surf.  The waves were huge! Unfortunately, mom and Ann Elise got caught in the riptide and Eustace thankfully saw Ann Elise struggling to keep Mama afloat and rushed into the water to rescue them.  I was just going out there to join them and Mama came staggering into the shallow water looking like she had almost drowned and she had!  It was a very frightning experience for her and for us! I had gotten caught in it earlier that day; it was like being in a washing machine. While I was trying to escape its pull, Roberts was standing about 5 feet from me and that kept me from panicking and eventually I was able pull myself out. Riptide is very deceiving because it looks smooth and calm because that is where the water is returning back out the sea.  The best thing to do is to ride out to sea with the current and then swim back in. Easier said then done, which is why so many people get into trouble in a riptide.  Besides the scary near-drowing episode, it was a fun, busy week of biking, playing, eating and swimming.

Early Summer 2018

We took a trip to see the Romanos at their home on the Burnside River in Savannah.  Winn celebrated his 6th birthday with Reeves and Marshall in Savannah with a Harry Potter party!  They were so cute with their ties, wands and wizard hats. One of the highlights of our Savannah trip was an excursion to Sharktooth Island where we hunted for prehistoric shark teeth and fossils! Reeves found the most!  We made an impromptu trip down to St. Petersburg to see Aunt Augusta, Uncle Billy, Bloxey and Augusta Elliott.  The hightlight of this trip was a trip out on Billy's dad's boat into Tampa Bay and the first fish we caught was a shark!  The only downside of this vacation was that Winn got sick on the road trip home.  

Spring Break 2018

Well, Spring Break feels like a while ago, and it wasn't too spring like, but so wonderful to get a change of scenery from Oxford and go to Gulf Shores.  It was a little windy and chilly but we still were able to do alot and it is nice not to be fighting the heat and sun.  We went to the Gulf Shores zoo when LaLa was there and celebrated Meredith's birthday.  Meredith is 4! We went over to the Naval Aviation Museum and saw the Blue Angels up close.  The highlight of the trip was a hike through the maritime forest of Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge and finding a giant whelk shell that was having its lunch on a mussel.  It was a much needed vacation and truly felt like one with the kids getting a little better with entertaining themselves and not needing constant supervision.  We can't wait to go back!