Destin

We just got back from a week at the beach in Destin, Florida. Our beach week was planned for the week before the 4th of July, but Jimmy's grandmother passed away and we obviously cancelled. We had purchased travel insurance when we rented the beach house the first time and since we had to cancel last minute, we were not able to get our money back from the rental company. I was a little skeptical of the insurance since too many times it seems like a scam. We ended up making a claim and received a check for the cost of our trip rather quickly. We had decided not to do a beach week this year and then at the last minute decided to rent the same house we did two years ago (we had rented a different house earlier this year). We got a great deal since it was "off" season. The weather was great and the beaches were beautiful despite the oil spill. We did see lots of the "boom" in the bay as we drove over the bridge and did find a few tar chips and a tar ball but if you weren't really looking for them you would have thought it was just something in the ocean. Uncle Marty wasn't able to make the trip this year due to work so we missed him and I know Ginny and Amelia really missed him!

We spent the week at the beach and pool. I could really tell that Jimmy progressed with his swimming and with the help of his swim vest and goggles he would jump and swim underwater. We took Jimmy to see his first movie at the theater, Toy Story 3. It took about two tries to get him to go. The previews were just a bit much for him so we ended up waiting outside the theater until the movie started and once he saw Buzz and Woody he sat there the whole time mesmerized.

Cecilia had a good time at the beach too. She went a few times in the late afternoon. We went to the beach early in the morning or late afternoon and someone stayed in the house while she napped. She did like the beach and really started to stand on her own a good bit this week and she was able to really get her toes in the sand and stand for a while. It won't be too much long before she is walking! She also liked to crawl around on the sand and she looked like a little crab!

The road trip was a bit long (then longer when we remembered that Destin was on central time) and required a lot of patience, extra stops and lots of movies.

My first week of class started Monday. I am taking two classes this fall to make up for the fact that I didn't take a class last fall when Cecilia was born. I am going to be pretty busy these next couple of months and blogging may be sporadic but I will try to keep up with it all!




Funny faces:




So pretty and no signs of oil:



Insert Uncle Marty: