Thanksgiving Day in Destin

Thanksgiving Day was our last day in Destin, FL.  (We had to leave the next day so I could have Saturday to unpack and get organized before living at the church for a week during the Nativity Exhibit.)  We really packed it in on our last day and it was definitely not your typical Thanksgiving Day.  

Although we had the most beautiful warm weather all week long, this day turned quite chilly.  So, we spent most of the morning in the hot tub.....until Don challenged the family to "The Ultimate Polar Bear".    The kids were all over it.  I decided to stay behind the camera, or in other words, stay warm!  

Straight from the hot tub, you run to the beach and roll around in the sand...

then run into the ocean and you must go all the way under...

then rinse off in the showers...

swim across the coooold pool...

jump into the kiddie pool...

swim across the warm pool...

then your back, safe and warm, in the hot tub.  Phew!

Well, I thought I was off the hook, but Don and the kids kept pressuring me to do it and I couldn't say no!  I actually did the Ultimate Polar Bear!  And it was cold.  But really fun.  The few people on the beach looked at us like we were crazy.  We were definitely a spectacle rolling around in the sand!

It was time to leave the beach for good and head up for Thanksgiving dinner.  The kids caught one last look of the beautiful view from the balcony.  

With 7 people helping, we whipped our feast together in no time.  Everyone had an assignment and it all turned out beautiful and delicious.  (Yes, that's just a boneless turkey from Costco, and no, those are not homemade rolls.  Our focus was just on being together and not slaving away all day.  Although that is fun, too)

Looks picture perfect, huh?  Don't worry.  Within 2 minutes I spilled my drink all over everything, including Don's lap.  Oops.  

After dinner we just started snapping pictures.  I was trying to get one of Ginger, but the boys jumped in and this one ended up being one of my favorites!

Me and Gingey

Me and Gilli

So, then I wanted to get a picture of Ginger and Gillian and they could NOT sit still or stop laughing!  Silly girls.  

I finally got one!  But, I actually love the other ones, too:)

It was a wonderful, memorable Thanksgiving Day.  How grateful I am for my little family. 

Destin, Florida....AGAIN!!

Our first year to Florida in 2011 was so perfectly amazing that we just couldn't NOT go again!  Who can compete with clean, white, sugar sand...

crystal clear, warm water...

bright, blue skies and sunshine in November...

and a resort on the beach that we fell in love with the first time around?   

The kids get a week off for Thanksgiving so we packed up early Monday morning and drove the 12 hours straight to the condo.  The weather was perfect and we were all ready to play... except for Ryan Jane.  She was not feeling well at all.  

She spent the first night throwing up and was just miserable.  Don and I tag-teamed helping her all night.  In the morning we discovered that each time I got up, I just had to rinse out her bowl, but for Don it was cleaning bedding and/or carpet.  I guess I kept forgetting to give her bowl back and Don paid the price!  Oops.  The next day was spent sleeping and recovering.  We all felt so bad for her!  At least she got to rest and nap in pretty amazing surroundings.  

Heading to FL in late November, you really never know what kind of weather you're going to get.  We totally lucked out again and had the most amazing weather!   We spent our days as a family walking, swimming, digging, playing, relaxing, and being together.  It was heaven. 

It's sad to see these pictures with Ryan missing.  She was just out of it for the first 2 days.  

One of our favorite things to do is to take looooong walks on the beach.  It is so relaxing.  So beautiful and peaceful.  We really miss the beach so we spent every waking hour enjoying it.  

Don took the kids out to teach them to body surf.  

The waves were small, but perfect for the kids.  They had a blast!

Ethan stayed close to the shore, but practically lived in the water.  

I love this picture of Don and Ethan out in the water.  

Lunchtime back in the condo.  It was amazing living right on the beach for a week.  

By the end of Day 2, Ryan was feeling so much better and we were all so glad!

Ok, we have found the secret to finding amazing shells at the beach.  We spend hours and hours walking on the beach and hardly find anything to scream about.  But, Don discovered that if you stand in the shallow water, you can see beautiful, big shells just roll around in the waves!  So the kids went to work and found some really cool shells.  It definitely helped that the water was so clear.  During their hunt for shells, Gillian came upon something a bit more exciting and a little scary!  She spotted a huge crab and the kids were determined to catch it.  

Look at that thing!  It's nasty and huge.  

Ginger wanted all the glory.  Ok, not really.  I made her hold it and pose for a picture.  She was a good sport.  

Ethan, too.  :)

Love my little beach kids!!

You can tell Ryan was just getting over being sick, huh?  Poor girlie.  

A sweet lady on the beach snapped a family picture for us.  Maybe this will be our Christmas picture.  NOT!!