By Wednesday, everyone had gotten the thrill of the first day out of our systems.  Everyone had a day to recover from the sunburn from said excitement and lack of sunscreen in hopes of getting a level five tan on day 1.  So by Wednesday, we were ready to relax!  Millie Janalee donned her latest in baby fashion-forward swimwear for her morning photo shoot.

It may or may not have worn her out...

Daddy studying under his umbrella on the beach

Now, he is not blood.  You can tell this because of his umbrella usage.  There have been several years that my dear, sweet husband never came out from under the umbrella.  This year was not one of them.  Unless he was relaxing while Millie Janalee napped.  As for the rest of our family...no umbrellas.  Soak in the sun!

Unless of course, I happen to bring umbrella headgear.  Now that's an umbrella worth using!

Dustin and Sheila

Like I said, everyone took this day to relax and enjoy the Vitamin D provided by the great PCB sun!  Most of us fell asleep at one point or another.  Some sang.  Some visited.  By the way, look at that water!  Did I mention how crystal clear it was?!  Even on into day 4!

Daddy asleep, no doubt

Kristin getting her tan on...with SPF 30-60!

Let me make this clear.  SOME of us relaxed.  Then, there were the ones who played.  Millie Janalee splished and splashed around in her pool while pulling up on the umbrella pole.  I'm quite sure that wasn't the safest move.  Refer back to the day Dustin may or may not have broken one of those umbrellas.

While Millie Janalee did her own thing, I asked Russ to be in charge of keeping an eye on her while I closed mine.  Next thing I know Russ and Dustin are busily playing in the sand.  Taking Millie Janalee's toys and buckets from time to time.  They were busily building a sandcastle...a sea turtle.  I think the goal was for Russ and Millie Janalee to build a sandcastle.  Or as I suggested the night before, "Why don't you show Millie Janalee how to build things in the sand."  Which resulted in this...

Did you see Millie Janalee engaged in the sandcastle building process?  Yeah.  Me either.  I'm pretty sure if she crawled over there to get a closer look, the boys would have repositioned her back into her pool so as not to mess up their masterpiece.

Which actually turned out to be merely a practice piece.

What Russ did do was show Millie Janalee the finished product.  All the way down to the crabs crawling on the turtle's shell.  Or maybe they are catching a ride like Crush in Finding Nemo.  It's the least he could do, I suppose, since they used all Millie Janalee's toys.  I'm pretty sure I witnessed one of the boys take a toy directly from her hand.  Poor baby!

Daddy, Millie Janalee, and Crush

Mama and Millie Janalee checking out the waves

It was a full day of sunny relaxation on the beach.  Millie Janalee and I stayed out all day.  We brought lunch down that morning so we could take it in without interruption.  The sun was shining, and we still managed to keep our umbrellas down.

We don't use them, remember.

On principle.

Unless they come in some variety of fun headgear.  We're always up for good headgear!

June 5 is Kristin and Lee's wedding anniversary.  Yep.  Our beach vacations are filled with family romance.  Ha!  Kristin and Lee invited us to join them at Margaritaville for dinner and "whatever" afterward.  We decided to play it by ear and see what we felt up to after dinner.  While I finished getting ready, Millie Janalee hung out with Auntie Kristin watching Sprout and sucking her toes.  She was getting ready for a fun night "in" with Pawpaw, Susu, Uncie Bucket, and She She.

Once Russ and I were ready, everyone posed on the balcony for the traditional "going out to dinner" and "anniversary" shots.  I love our view at sunset.  The sun sets just to the right of these pictures.  We can sit out there and watch the sky change colors as the sun slowly lowers behind the horizon of the ocean.

Kristin and Lee

My sweet family!

After dinner, I suggested we all walk out on the pier.  I hadn't done this since I was a child, and I thought it would be a "romantic" thing to do.  That is until we learned it cost $3 each.  From that moment on, we tried to make sure we "got our $3 worth!"  Ha!  Nevermind that by the time we reached the end of the 1500 foot pier, it started pouring down rain.  Visualize us running as fast as we can back to the entrance while fishermen sling fishing poles and hooks over their shoulders nearly catching Kristin once.  Ha!

Yes.  So romantic.

A relaxing and romantic day of vacation.

Eight Years and a Mornin' With the Gals {Day 3}

Tuesday morning, Russ ran to Destin to take care of business for work.  Lee was borderline sun poison-ish, so he and Kristin went shopping.  And Daddy usually doesn't get out until later in the afternoon.  And if he does, he sits under an umbrella until near 4:00. 

He's always done that. 

Which brings me to the afternoon everyone was coming in from the beach and Dustin says, "Look at that guy."  Kristin says, "It looks like Daddy."  They look again.  It is him.  Sitting in his beach chair laid out right by the tiki hut at the beach entrance.  Random?  Absolutely!  You just never know with him.  Ha!  Once Kristin and Dustin confirmed that he was, in fact, breathing...they made their way to the elevator where the condominium worker asked, "Do you know that guy?"  To which Dustin answered, "Yeah.  That's my dad."  So proud.

I digress.

Soooo...since most of the men had other plans, it was just a mornin' with the girls.

Clancy and Millie Janalee

Millie Janalee didn't seem to mind.  Except for the tiny detail that no one was there to take her out into the ocean.  I'm a champ when it comes to helping her jump waves coming onto the beach.  But way out there?  No ma'am.  There's sharks and sea monsters and whales out there!

Susu, Millie Janalee, Carol, and Emma Kate

So, I got us all loaded up on the wagon and batted my eyelashes ever so politely until Uncie Bucket offered to take the wagon down.  Bless his soul!  He also got Millie Janalee's area all fixed up complete with two umbrellas (one that he may or may not have broken), two baby pools (one filled with water...using a teeny tiny bucket), and her little pink chair.  Let me highlight the fact that there was NO RAMP going from the boardwalk to the sand.  So whoever pulled the wagon downstairs had to lift the two ton thing to get it onto the beach.  Dustin is also Superman.  (My dad is too.  He did it later in the week too.)

Uncie Bucket throwing the girls a little swimming party by filling the pool with more water!

On this particular day, we decided to go up for lunch.  We went in various shifts, so no one had to carry their belongings up.

That was unplanned.

But very nice all the same.

I had counted Millie Janalee's swimwear selection and knew we would not get close to wearing them all.  [This is my excuse for lots of trips to the swimming pool this summer.] So I opted for a wardrobe change.  She was pretty excited about the whole ordeal.  Can you tell?  Special thanks to the Easter Bunny for her cute sunhat and Auntie Kristin for her cover-up.

By the time we came back out, Millie Janalee was ready to relax.  So we did.  Oceanside.  I covered her lathered body with a towel, and we relaxed (while she napped) with the waves crashing at our feet.  She napped for-ev-er!  It was so lovely!  Holding that sweet sweaty head on my chest, looking out at the ocean (which NEVER ever gets old), and feeling the salt water on my feet.  All the while getting the best awkward tan line ever.  I'm calling it a badge of honor that says "I'M A MOTHER!"

By the time she woke up, I'm pretty sure I had worked up a sunburn on my shoulders from not reapplying.  Everyone knows that you never move when holding a sleeping angel.  She popped her little head straight up, as she always does, with those bright blue eyes and smiled at me.  Then she said, "Bwuuun."  We interpret that as "What?" or "One."

I love this girl!

I'm sure you can tell by the quality of the pictures that Russ had returned by this point.  He did not come down to swim or tan.  He was fully clothed.  But, he did take a few pictures.  Which I'm always appreciative of.  Because I have no idea how to work that piece of equipment!  Millie Janalee and I took some time to play in the waves once she woke up good.

The girl loves the water!

Such a beach babe!

It was a great mornin' with the girls!  More importantly, it was a wonderful day with my favorite girl!

Mommy and Millie Janalee

Millie Janalee played with Pawpaw a while, while I worked on evening out those awkward tan lines.  I sat with Dustin and Sheila in the sun for a while longer before we all went in for the day. 

Pawpaw and Millie Janalee

Dustin and Sheila

It has been eight years.  EIGHT YEARS! It has been eight years since I married my high school sweetheart.  Tuesday was our anniversary.  If you've read my blog long enough, you know that it was also my parents' anniversary.  It is tradition that we all go eat at Captain Anderson's for Mama and Daddy's (and now our) anniversary.  It was the only night Nonnie and Pops ate out during our trips.  It's the one night that everyone needs the showers, hair dryers, and mirrors all at the same time.  Ha! 

My sweet family!

Let me help you with that...there were eight adults and a baby using two bathrooms and limited mirrors.  Russ and I didn't have a bathroom or a mirror, so we used my parents' bathroom and the mirror in the living room.  The plugs stopped working because of all the hair dryers and straighteners I'm sure, and the maintenance guy was called.  It's not a beach trip without the maintenance man coming to our room.  We all got dressed and ready for our 8:00 dinner.  And I'm thinking everyone looked very worthy of a Captain Anderson's dinner.

We always know there will be a wait, so we put our name on the list and walk around to look at all the boats.  Deep sea fishing excursions also leave and dock here.  I remember taking many pictures on and near these boats.  I remember particularly a picture of all the grandchildren standing on the ladder of a boat.  That was the year I had a perm.  Maw Maw saw that picture when we got back and said, "I wish you had not done that to your hair."  Thank you, Maw Maw.  I appreciate that.  So that picture is engrained in my memory.

Millie Janalee and Pawpaw

So, Pawpaw took Millie Janalee to look at the boats.  And we all got our annual picture by the huge propeller at the front of the restaurant.  You don't mess with traditions in this family.  We don't like change. 

Have you not heard?

We enjoyed a delicious 8:30 dinner by the window overlooking the ocean and boat dock.  Millie Janalee's bedtime is 8:30 in case you didn't know.  So I did it.  I'm one of those moms.  I brought her iPad with Sesame Street in the restaurant and pulled it out the minute she got fussy.  Our neighboring patrons were thanking us.  Even if they didn't know it.  Because without it, it could've been ugly.

But it wasn't.  Because Millie Janalee is the bomb.com!  (I do realize that is not cool anymore.  But it seemed appropriate.)

Mama and baby girl

Eight years of marriage was celebrated.  And honored.  Russ and I didn't give gifts this year.  Well, he actually gave me extra spending money.  He's so sweet.  On the way down, I looked at him and said, "You didn't get me a gift, did you?"  He was quiet.  "Please tell me you didn't, because I didn't get you one." 

We're so romantic. 

Seriously though.  Gifts is one of my love languages, but I really feel like I have everything I've ever wanted right here.  One look at that smiling blue-eyed face, and I melt every time.  My heart overflows and nearly bursts!  Tears sometimes fill my eyes.  And when I see my little family together and watch her play with her Daddy...I am filled with joy.  I don't need a thing. 

But if someone gave me a gift, I would have to keep it. 

I mean, it'd be rude not to, right?

Meeting Beach Buddies {Day 2}

Our second day on the beach was a day of rest.  You know how you get all excited on the first day and everyone ends up sunburned?  Yeah.  That happened to most of our group.  Except Millie Janalee and me.  Ha!  So most of this group was lathered in anything between SPF 30 and SPF 60...but still in the sun.  We don't use umbrellas. 

We just don't.

On principle I guess.

Dustin and Sheila

Even Millie Janalee took time to rest

We rested until the excitement began!  When my sister, brother, cousin, and myself were younger, we met up with another family who has also been vacationing in their timeshare for many many years.  Kadie was actually closer to Kristin and Dustin's age.  They spent their week playing, parasailing, taking rides with Kadie's mom down "the strip," and playing goofy golf.  There are very few Panama City Beach vacation pictures without Kadie (or her sister) in them. 

Well, Kadie is now married and has a little girl herself.  Carol, Kadie's mom, and I have talked on Facebook leading up to this trip.  We just couldn't wait to get these two together!  Carol and I both have a love for lots and lots and lots of pictures, so we may or may not have discussed the girls' photo shoot wardrobes.  Ha! 

"Well hello there.  Nice to meet you, Emma Kate."

Kadie and her mom brought Emma Kate over to meet Millie Janalee.  They were instant friends.  I'm pretty sure if our chairs had been next to each other, we could have just let them play in the little pool all day.  In between Emma Kate's tendency to chase the "chickies" (birds) around the beach.  Ha!  They will surely be beach buddies for years to come! 

Kadie and I think we could just turn this into a Mudpie advertisement!  Ha!

After our little playdate on the beach, Millie Janalee was absolutely certain that it was time for a nap.  Not more than five minutes after Emma Kate and her family walked away, she was dead to the world...

Oh.  I used an umbrella here.  It was a necessity.

Of course, after a good nap, Millie Janalee was ready for her ocean time with Daddy!  Russ took Millie Janalee out to jump the waves and wade in the water.  Uncie Lee joined them too.  Kristin and I laughed that they looked like "Two Men and a Baby."  All we needed was one more guy to go out there to make it complete.

(In case you didn't get it.  I'm alluding to the movie Three Men and a Baby.)

(Just making that clear.)

Two men and a baby!

Then it happened.  Jack joined them!  Clancy did too, but just for a second imagine that she isn't there.  Those three men and my baby in the big ocean.  A scary sight.  Especially since Millie Janalee kept grabbing for Jack's Bubba Keg.  Oh dear! 

Lee, Russ, Millie Janalee, Jack, Clancy (and Selah Grace!)

Millie Janalee spent the rest of the day sitting in her little pool playing with her boats and shovels and crabs and elephants and buckets.  She was perfectly content under her umbrella.  Even if the rest of us would have no part in it. 

But I couldn't help myself.  I enjoyed lots of good playtime in the shade with my sweet girl!  Who can resist those little hands waving and splashing?  And the squeals and smiles?  Oh, how fun it was!

"Thank you Mama."

Watering my baby.  She's growing!

We made plans to eat at Pier Park Monday night.  We chose Pompano Joe's.  Although it wasn't like the Pompano Joe's we all knew from Destin, the food was very good and the atmosphere was fun.  The beach was across the street and all the walls were open, so we could listen to the waves and the palm tree branches swaying.  A delightful evening.

But I guess in full disclosure, I should say that the inside of the restaurant was very humid as a result of the open walls.  I'd hate for my mom to say, "What about all you said about the heat and humidity and how fussy Millie Janalee was?"  So, I'm telling you now. 

It was humid.

And Millie Janalee was fussy.

Mama and Millie Janalee after supper

But she was a perfectly delightful shopping partner after dinner as we strolled through the shops!

Day two was certainly full of rest, recreation, and really good company!