A Day in Destin

Since Jake was born we have been blessed, and maybe even a little spoiled with how much time we have been able to spend as a family.  Even being in the army gave us almost 4 months of nearly 24 hour 7 day a week time.  However, since Arthur has started training again this past June, we have all had to transition Daddy being away during the days.  We are all excited to be back on track and getting closer to when Arthur will finally get to fly again, but needless to say we really miss all that "family time."  So this past weekend we decided it was time to take an overdue trip to beautiful Destin beach for some quality time...just the three (and a half) of us.

It was an awesome day!  The last time we visited Destin was during Aunt Robyn's visit back in May, and Jake had no interest in even putting his feet in the water.  So this trip we made sure to come fully equipped with a bucket full of sand toys with the expectation that Jake would not be leaving the beach (at least not willingly).  However, I was pleasantly surprised when, after just minutes, Jake asked me to take him to follow Daddy into the water.  I guess our trips to the pool have really paid off.  That and Jacob has really grown up this summer.  He is a little less cautious and has much more confidence trying new things and doing things by himself. 




While Jacob did great, as a California girl, there are several things about the Florida Gulf that I had to adjust to during this trip.  

First, the water is crazy warm which would amazing except that this appears to provide the perfect environment for green algae...lots and lots of thick green algae.   Second, it is strange to be the ocean and not have any real waves.  While I missed that amazing sound of crashing waves, the calm water does make playing in the water with a toddler much easier.  Finally, after spending time along many of California beaches all along the coast I cannot recall many times when the temperature has exceeded 90 degrees and even then the heat is usually accompanied by a nice coastal breeze.  Nope, no coastal breezes here...just 100 degree hot sticky air.  Nonetheless, I shouldn't complain, we had such a great time playing in the ocean as a family and a little (or a lot) of algae wasn't going to ruin our fun.                                 

However, even with our trips into the water and our frequent water breaks, Arthur and I were ready to get out of the sun after about an hour and half.   

Jake on the other hand, would have stayed and played in the sand all day, but his flushed cheeks were tell tale sign that his little body was also ready for air conditioned climates.  

Destin is a vacation town so we had no trouble finding thing to fill the rest of our afternoon.  We made a stop at Bass Pro shop for the boys.  Arthur left with a hat, and Jake left with a shirt, a fishing pole, and a bag of licorice.  We don't mean to spoil him...it just happens.  Then after an overpriced lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, it was time for some sale shopping at the outlet mall.  I can't pass up a trip to Oshkosh.  If your look at our pictures closely, you will notice it is all Jake wears.  Luckily for our bank account, we did not yet know the gender of Baby #2, but I had no trouble finding some cute things for Jake.  We ended with trip at the Stride Rite outlet, where both Jake and Arthur walked out in a pair of new shoes.  As you read this you might be asking yourself, "Mom, what did you get?"  My answer, a perfect day with my two favorite people and a really quite drive home.  I love family days.