you're fun, pensacola.

okay, back to the cermak vacation - day 5.
we opted for a day out of the sun and to pensacola it was.
our first stop was the naval air museum.

we jumped on a bus when we arrived and got a tour along with an explanation/history lesson of each plane.
after the guided tour, we explored the museum on our own.
i didn't take very many pictures of our exploration though...

 we did manage to take pilot pictures of each other...
and then we went to hubble at the imax theater.
my first imax movie...it's pretty cool :)

 

 

once we put in a few hours at the museum, we drove to pensacola beach.

we searched and searched for a restaurant on the water and ended up at hooter's.

our table was perfect - 3 tv's - vikings, bears, and nascar.

everyone was happy.

 the night was ended with a little sunset walk on the beach.

 pensacola was a good switch up for day 5.

a day to remember.

i still have a couple of days left to blog from the cermak vacation, but dusty, gray, and i had such a wonderful saturday together i had to document it.

 

the weather has been cooling off just a bit and we are taking full advantage.

how awesome is this bike?

we got this and the boy version from my lovely parents...i may have told y'all this before, but it's worth mentioning twice.

also, i'm starting to prefer riding the vista over the trek...whoa.

we are making that thing gray rides in, last as long as we can...it's starting to be a tight fit.

do you know how long it would take if he rode his own bike to the park?

we would probably arrive at sunset.

 

alright, back to our saturday.

we started the day off with a bike ride to the park...

it takes a while before dusty feels like our bikes are condition ready for a ride...every single time, he fills up all of the tires - to the brim. both bikes' tires and gray's ride.

and our pump sucks a big one (i went cheap on that), so it lengthens out this process quite a bit.

rarely do we agree on when they need air...i'm convinced around every fourth or fifth ride would be sufficient...at the most. 

 

upon arrival, water was needed:

gray's favorite way to reach the water fountain.

it's tradition.

 

after gray played on the equipment momentarily, he joined us in the shade.

and then we sat and played lots of games.

rock, paper, scissors.

and gray showed us new games he has learned during recess at school.

do you remember the ones where you say a jingle, point at shoes, and then whoever's shoe you land on last is out?

not the best explanation, but that's what he's been learning from the girls at school, so that is what we played.

and then we made up our own games...fun, very fun.

gray is very good at ad libbing when we make up songs - he can create a whole song without hesitating - i think he gets it from his dad. dusty is making up jingles daily.

i tried to make up a song about thomas and friends...i don't have the same talents as they do.

 

we also talked about animals.

 

tigers in action:

above picture: love.

dusty being dusty...love him.

 

after our park adventure, dusty had to get some shots at the festival of flavor, so gray and i tagged along.

while dusty was shooting, i had a photo shoot with gray.

he's getting more into the camera and i'm very happy about it...he's starting to think poses are fun...this is big.

bottom left is my favorite.

 

gray had been eyeing the rock climbing wall since we had arrived.

when dusty finished, we hit that thing up.

look at the excitement on his face - so cute :)

he made it about half way up, got very nervous, came back down, and then repeated that sequence three times.

he'd get to the bottom and then was convinced he had to try it again.

 he ended up leaving in tears because he was so disappointed in himself for not pushing the button at the top.

next time, gray, you got this.

 

i'm pretty sure that every rock climbing wall we come across in the future, gray will be getting strapped up.

he's bound and determined to hit that button.



day 4 - swimming, flora-bama, and a sleepover

i worked yesterday at the school and felt the urge this morning to go to work again.
i wasn't feeling being alone all day, so dusty suggested i join him at the office.
i'm happy.
i'm sitting at a desk with co-workers in the next room, drinking coffee, and ready to get to work on editing projects.

however, day four was needing to be posted...since i have work calling my name, this one is going to be short and sweet.

DAY 4
break from the beach on this day and went swimming instead at bella luna (condo).

*sweet sister picture.

 after a morning full of swimming, we walked across the street to the flora-bama.

we had lunch, the kids danced...

(gray's first dance...abby told him exactly where to put his hands...abby is good at giving dance lessons) 

...and then we went swimming again in the gulf.

there is something about seeing the water when you're on vacation and just needing to get in it immediately. i like it.

 

and then...

it was sleepover time...(dusty and i designated this night as date night for amy and ryan).

we were excited to spend the evening with these three.

we pulled out all of the stops - pizza, cookies, unlimited sprite refills (ayden was most excited about this one), movie, and donuts for breakfast.

 it was great.
we loved every minute of our sleepover.
i'm ready for another this weekend.

p.s.
dear abby and emery,
abby singer told me that she really misses you.
she's ready for you to come back.

dear ayden,
we've done even more decorating since you left.
we painted another wall with chalkboard paint and have new artwork on the walls...i think you would like it.

day 3 - beach and scarecrow contest

after the happiness that the beach delivered on day two, how could we not return immediately the next day?

 

i love that it is a child's natural instinct to run after the birds on the beach.
i suppose i would do the same thing if it weren't for needing to act like an adult :)

we were able to attend lots and lots of emery's beach performances...

she is quite the entertainer.

and her moves...much better than mine.

love birds.
ryan's one request was to have that sailboat in the background and i was sure to fulfill his request.
 

going to catch some waves on the boogie boards.

see? always covered in sand :)

emery was sure to keep her distance from the water...at all times.

 day two at the beach = success

 

next, it was scarecrow contest time...
which turned into a lot more work than expected or probably needed.
dusty had us cutting patterns, sewing, stuffing, stapling...everything had to be just right.
while we were at the beach, him and gray were at thrift stores gathering all of the supplies.
he's not very good at half-assing anything that has to do with creativity.

the kids were a lot of help...

luckily, they were able to venture off and make caramel apples with toppings, smores, do the cake walk, eat hot dogs, chips, and juice, and check out the other scarecrows in the making.

okay, after much hard work...

the finished product:

we didn't win anything.
i'm still disappointed.



time flies.

time sure does fly.

it seems like just yesterday that my sister and her family arrived at our house.

in actuality, they arrived seven days ago and flew out this morning, but it seems like just yesterday.

also, goodbyes are not fun.

but, we'll be home soon for christmas and that's what i have to keep telling myself.

 

side note: my memory is getting worse and worse. i can hardly remember what i did yesterday, let alone a week ago.

i've decided that in order for me to remember my life, i'm going to need to take lots of photos and write about it...this is your warning that some of my recap might get a little lengthy...and some of you asked for it :)

 

so, let the recap begin:

 

Day 1

the cermak's arrived at our place in the evening.

we hugged, we kissed, they received a tour of our humble abode, and then we headed to mcdonald's. i admit, i was not prepared for supper that evening. i probably should have had something made and ready for them, but i didn't, so fast food had to do.

we got our food to go and enjoyed it on the cermak's balcony overlooking the water.

the rest of the evening was spent together, and that's all i wanted.

 

 

Day 2

a pool right outside of a child's window = swimming first thing in the morning.

 

 

she looks happy :)

also, over that fence behind abby is wolf bay and there are dolphins in it - fun.

 

the morning swim was followed by the beach...their first time.

i think it's safe to say that they loved it.

 

emery was in love with the softness of the sand.

she could not get over it.

for the entire trip, she was amazed.

she rolled in it, stuck her face in it, rubbed it all over her body and everyone else's body, and told us over and over again just how soft it was...it was adorable.

this girl got some good exfoliation in during her trip.

she only entered the water once, against her will, and the rest of her time was spent on the beach...entertaining herself. 

 

the big kids, they liked the water...the waves, in particular.

i'm with them - the waves are my favorite part too.

 

 

ayden and ryan were out in the waves too, but somehow, i managed to not get any pictures of them on this day.

for ayden, the bigger the waves, the better.

for abby, the smaller the waves, the better.

 

when a swimming break was needed, we walked along the beach and looked for seashells to collect.

(when they arrived at the condo, i had sand buckets for each of them filled with beach goodies...this seashell holder was one of the goodies :))

 

after our first day at the beach, we met dusty and gray at lulu's for dinner and more play time.

ayden and abby even braved the ropes course.

and these two bonded:

day two was awesome.