Spring Break 2018 Fun!

I know many of you are waiting for an update on Eli.  I promise there is one coming, we are just waiting for a couple more things to be decided before posting a full update.  He is doing about the same, but instead of playing basketball it's now baseball season.  His heart rate is very low, but he is tolerating it well enough to play, go to school, and pester his siblings.  This update is about all of us.  WE WENT ON VACATION!!!!

It was a much needed vacation for all of us.  We had it planned since January, before Eli really began having issues.  Because of his health, we didn't know if we would be allowed to go or if we'd even want to go that far.  The Wednesday before the boys' Spring Break began, we were told by two of Eli's cardiologists to go and have fun.  We had nothing packed or ready to go.  And we had a house to get ready to put on the market.  But we did it all!  We got clothes packed, got the medication refills ready to go, supplies packed, the house listed, and took off at bedtime Saturday evening.  "Funny" story about leaving:  We were going to leave Sunday after Z's travel team had a double header.  It was cancelled because of the weather, so Bryan and I hustled and got everything ready to go Saturday night, but we didn't tell the kids that.  We got the kids in pajamas, had bedtime meds done, teeth brushed, etc. Then instead of telling them to get in bed, we told them to get in the van because we were leaving for Florida!  They were ecstatic!  Except Charlotte who had already fallen asleep.  Everyone gets in the van, we're buckled in and ready to go....and the van wouldn't start!  Our battery was dead! So after the we jumped the van and made sure our battery cables were easily accessible, we finally left about 10:30pm!  We drove all night and arrived mid morning Sunday.  

We went to Navarre Beach, Florida.  It's between Destin and Pensacola.  We have been to the Destin area several times, but had always stayed east of Destin.  This is west of it.  The traffic was so much better in this area.  It has the same sugar sand beaches, several attractions in the area, and is close enough to Destin to drive there for the things we wanted to do there.  We didn't do anything major, just lots of relaxing and having fun.  It was a little cool (not like home where it rained all week long!), but the highest temps we had were 77 one day.  Most days were low 70s, but it was windy almost all week which made it feel cooler too.  The only thing we didn't do as much as we'd hoped was be in the pool.  It was a heated pool, but anything out of the water that was wet was subject to the wind and it was COLD!  Eli's poor little hands, feet, lips, and nose were purple in no time.  He was shivering and begging to stay even though he was miserable.  Once he was dried off and changed clothes he was much happier!  He wasn't happy at the beach much either, but at least once a day we'd hear "this is the best day ever!" so I think he managed some fun!

Our last day at the beach.  Eli was cold and ready to go back, but we made him get in the picture with us.  By the grace of God, we were able to have one photo with all five of us looking at the camera.

Our condo was actually right on the beach.  We had to drive across a bridge to get to the grocery store and several other places in Navarre.  At the other end of the bridge was the Navarre Beach Welcome Center.  Eli found this in one of the tourist books and wanted to go there.  We are so glad we went.  The playground was fun for all three kids, they had a large pond full of turtles (I counted at least 50 at one point), a butterfly exhibit will open in May, and it was right on the beach so there was a lot of ground for Zachary and Aunt Ashley Veale to explore.  We were there for 2-3 hours and only left because we were hungry.  Eli chose a pizza place (not sure why because he NEVER wants pizza).  It was the perfect choice that day because their special that day was kids eat free with a paid adult.  Since we had six adults (me and Bryan plus Bryan's mom, grandma, and two of his sisters) and three kids it worked out well for us.  Eli got lots of credit that day for lots of great choices!

This is the view from the Welcome Center.  You can see part of the bridge on the left.  Our condo is the building on the left.  From the front of our condo we could see the Welcome Center.  From the back of it, was our beach view.  

Tired kids, but this is the selfie we took at New York Pizza Depot in Navarre Beach.  Great food and great service.

We all went back to the condo after lunch.  Bryan and I were heading back into Navarre to grab some groceries and other supplies.  Granny sat out on the balcony watching the ocean.  The rest of the group went to the beach.  It was too cool to swim, but they wanted to build sand castles and play.  Before Bryan and I left we got this picture of all of them on the beach.  This was taken from our balcony. 

From left to right:  Linda, Ashley holding Eli, Kendra holding Charlotte, and Zachary.

One lazy morning we were all just playing around as we figured out what to do that day.  First picture is Granny, Bryan, Eli and Charlotte just being silly.  Later, I was in the bedroom making plans with one of Bryan's sisters.  More people kept coming in and we got this goofy selfie of seven of us in the big bed!

Once we finally made plans, we headed into Destin.  The kids wanted to feed the alligators at Fudpuckers and play at the arcade next door.

Lots of lazy gators sunbathing.

Charlotte's first time feeding the gators.  She loved it!  She kept telling us over and over a long story of every move an alligator made before taking her bait.

Eli didn't want to feed them so that was left up to Zachary and Charlotte.  He had a great time watching and directing how to do it though.  Ashley took my camera and got a picture of the five of us.

Charlotte is squished, but once again, we're all looking at the camera!

See that smile?  He did have fun!

Goofballs

Charlotte was gatored out by this point, but Eli, Kendra, Ashley, and Zachary posed for a great picture.

Ashley, Eli, Charlotte, and Z looking out at the nighttime view at supper that night.  We were at Gilligan's in Destin, which has been one of our favorite places for several years.  

The next day, we were going to go fishing on the pier.  The pier was literally next door to our condo.  We packed our drink cooler, bait/catch cooler, hats, long sleeves (it was VERY windy), and sunscreened ourselves.  We walked across the parking lot and found out they had no more fishing poles to rent.  So most of us headed down to the beach while Bryan and Ashley went to the nearby Walmart.  They bought two poles and had fun for the rest of the day.  Well, mostly had fun.  After fishing through the afternoon with some luck, we took a break for a while.  Since they had paid for the whole day, Ashley and Bryan headed back to the pier for some evening fishing.  They came back about 9pm.  They had caught some ocean catfish.  One had cut Ashley's middle finger on her left hand.  It had bled pretty well, but was a deep cut that actually went through to the other side of her finger.  Mean fish.  So after a quick supper, she and Linda headed to a local ER.  No stitches, but she definitely needed it cleaned well, started antibiotics, and got a tetanus shot.  But other than that, they had fun fishing!  In addition to Ashley's excitement, as Kendra and I tried to leave to go grocery shopping for that night's dinner, our van wouldn't start again.  It was dead, dead, dead.  So the next morning, Bryan used his mom's van to jump start ours.  Then he took it to buy a new battery.  So we got windburnt and a battery on vacation!

Zachary waiting at the beach.  He is a water bug!

There was a no swim advisory because of the riptide, but we let him stand where the waves would get him.  He was happy with that!  On our last day he was able to get the boogie board out and get into the water a while.

Fisherman Zachary

Mommy and Charlotte enjoying the views off the pier

Bryan caused quite a stir when he caught this 16" pompano.  Other fisherman around there couldn't believe he caught it using shrimp.  That was his best catch of the day.

The pompano

One of our guys couldn't take it.  The fierce wind was too much for Eli and he snuggled up on my lap and fell asleep.  He was wearing his long sleeve shirt, a t shirt, Zachary's long sleeve shirt, my long sleeve hooded jacket over him like a blanket, and Kendra's long sleeve shirt on his legs.  He slept there for nearly two hours.  

On our honeymoon, Bryan and I took a sandy feet picture.  Since then we've tried to take a sandy feet picture every time we get to go to the beach.

Our photobomber!

We got him to quit being goofy for a minute and pose with us.

Charlotte LOVED the water....if someone held her & let her get splashed just a little.

Mommy & Daddy with their sweet girl!

Linda with Ashley, Bryan, and Kendra.  I made them pose for this, but they all cooperated very nicely!

Granny with Ashley, Kendra, & Bryan.  In Ashley's hand is a crab she tried to give Granny :)

Ashley, Linda, Granny, Kendra, and Bryan.  You can see our condo in the back.  We were on the second level, left side of the photo.  Wonderful views.

Bryan and I couldn't get Eli to pose with the two of us, but we got this one as he pretended to sleep before going inside.

Eli and Ashley in our living room.  Ashley was getting ready to go somewhere and Eli stole her shoes.  He's wearing them in this picture.

Eli and Charlotte relaxing on our balcony.

One afternoon we went to a dinosaur themed miniature golf and arcade.  Since we had done an arcade a couple days before, we just golfed and got some cool dinosaur pictures.

Turns out Eli is a pretty serious golfer!

Lots of dinosaurs along the golf course.  Thankfully we all made it out alive.

After golfing, we shopped at the outlet mall nearby.  Eli got comfortable watching something on Kendra's phone while Z tried on new shoes.

Bryan and Zachary.  Can you tell whose foot is whose?  If not, it's because they're wearing the same size now!  Zachary was wearing men's 10.5 when we walked in the store.  I decided to check and see how much room he had left in those only to find his big toe was hanging over the edge!  So we began trying larger sizes and wound up with a 12.  He and Bryan are in the same size shoe....for a few months anyway!  

As we waited for Bryan to pay for our purchases, I commented how the mannequin's pose was so unnatural.  So Kendra mimicked the pose!

Then Zachary did!

Then Eli did!

On our last day in Florida, the weather was really nice.  We went to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola.  We've been a couple times before, but it's always fun.  And it's free!  That afternoon we spent at the beach.  It was getting cool, but we played in the sand and prepared ourselves to leave the next day.  Even though our weather was slightly cool, it was a wonderful vacation that we really needed.  

Zachary asked for my phone so he could take this picture.  It's in the belly of a submarine.  This particular area was where someone would sit to intercept and translate Japanese telegraphs.  The clipboards on the wall and desk have directions for translating.  After seeing the picture he took, I asked Zachary what specifically about this interested him.  Was it the map?  The machinery?  The idea of being in there, doing that kind of work?  "No, Mom.  I thought this was funny"  as he zoomed in on my phone to point out the pinup photo hanging on the wall (left of the clipboards).  Ugh!

My loves.  

So there's a little bit of our trip.  It was mostly relaxing (as relaxing as vacationing with three kids can get!), it was a lot of fun, and it was very appreciated to be able to get away from things for a while.  Thanks for reading and remember to cherish Every Little Beat...