Fort Walton Beach via Auburn

Mama, A.E., H.J. at Poppy's House


Last week we were able to get away for a long weekend with Poppy at his house in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It's a five-hour drive from our house, which ends up being a seven-hour trip with the obligatory stop in Auburn. Yes, my husband requires Byron's BBQ every couple of months to get him through the tough "season" between football seasons. We have a mixed marriage within the SEC. He's a Tiger while I am a VOL. At least we have one color in common. So far in our marriage, the two teams haven't had too much contact. Although I am reminded of Auburn's undefeated "national championship" year when I left the AU/TN game midway through. I was NOT HAVING FUN. We'll see what happens this Fall when the two reunite.

So back to the beach. My dad, aka "Poppy," lives on the intercoastal waterway. It's absolutely beautiful and such a blessing to have family time there. Poppy has a pool, a motor boat and a membership at the local yacht club. Once the girls get old enough, I can't wait to see him teach them how to sail like he taught me and my brother growing up on the lake in Tennessee.


A.E. impressed us with her fearlessness and complete independence in the pool which solidified my feelings that next summer will be swim lesson time. H.J. shared the same enthusiasm for the water but lacked the floating skills. We got to see all kinds of crabs, dolphins, fish, and a pirate ship on our trip to the bay near Destin. Poppy even caught some crabs for us to eat. He set two traps and caught 5 blue crabs and one big stone crab. A.E.'s eyes about popped out of her head when she saw "those things" moving in the traps.















Mama with H.J. and A.E. on Poppy's boat















A.E. braving the wind on the boat



















H.J. and Poppy with his cool hat



















Hermit Crab races













Mama, A.E., H.J. and Poppy


On the return from our time at the beach, we stopped in Auburn, yet again, to eat lunch (Byron's is closed on Sundays--we went to Sonic because the crazy dog was with us) and visit with some friends, Todd and Randi. They have twin boys, Parks and Wyatt, who are about a month younger than H.J., but they outweigh her feminine self by at least 5 lbs. We tried to get pictures of all 4 of the kids together, but you can see what happens when you put them all on the couch together. Jumping time! The last time we all saw each other together was last summer. They once were extremely docile. What a difference a year makes!














A.E., Parks, H.J., and Wyatt jumping

The Foursome a year ago



Parks, H.J. (sucking her thumb), and Wyatt



Parks, H.J. and Wyatt

Wyatt, Parks and H.J. a year ago

2 comments:

Chad said...

Just in case anybody was wondering, I am the guy standing behind the camera.

Todd and Randi said...

Just in case you were wondering, those are my kids.