July 31- August 7
We have never taken our whole family on an airplane, let alone a plane across the whole country! So this trip felt like a BIG deal. Since the Lindbloms weren't going to Oceanside we decided to skip Flagstaff with the Evans and do a family trip instead. We reached out to the Shaheens to see if they would be interested in a beach trip and they suggested Florida. Why not?! It took quite a bit of researching and planning, but we made it happen! Bron and Lilly had to stay back for a youth conference so Megan drove to Phoenix the night before so she could be on our same flight. I'm so glad she did! The kids loved being on the plane together. It made it go by so much faster. And Megan and I chatted nonstop so time flew for me too! This was Olive's first time on a plane besides the time I took her to Florida as a 2 month old to visit Rachel. She was SO excited. I love the picture of her looking out her window in awe, clutching Rubi's hand during take off. Our flight left at noon on Saturday, July 30 and we had a couple hour layover in Dallas. On our layover we ran into Kyle Kirby, a guy we grew up with in Southern Estates ward. It was so fun to see him and give him a hug! He looks a little rough around the edges so the kids were all standing back looking a little confused at why we were so happily conversing with this "scary" man. Just goes to show you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Kyle is the nicest guy. We flew from Dallas to the Panama City airport, arriving around 7pm. It's a small airport and took awhile to get all our luggage and rental car. It was so different packing for a beach trip that we weren't driving to. A whole suitcase was full of beach toys and games. We also brought two boogie boards, wrapped and taped in garbage bags. It was quite a sight to see all our kids and a mountain of bags and car seats. Given the ongoing Covid situation, finding a rental car was a big hassle. There just aren't as many rental cars as there used to be. Our options were a huge 12 passenger van or a mid size car. The van was incredibly expensive. We decided we'd squish into the "mid size" which was just a tiny, 5 seater. It was comical. Travis has amazing packing skills and in the dark and the rain, he compacted all our luggage and children into this minuscule space. There was barely room to breathe. Everyone was tired and hungry and complaining that someone was touching them.
And off we went into the stormy night, not a clue where we were. It was about a 30 min. drive to our condo, Prominence in 30a. (I learned that "30a" is basically a long stretch of beach on the Florida panhandle between Panama City and Destin.) I called in a pizza order to Hungry Howies and Megan picked it up and we all ate together at our place. Then I helped her find her condo in the same complex, which was easier said than done!
Sunday morning, we got donuts at a place called the Donut Hole in Inlet Beach before heading to church. I was a little disappointed... they weren't as great as they were hyped up to be. The church building was in Panama City and was called the Panama City Ward. When we got there, it had already started, but we weren't late! Turns out, they do sacrament meeting last and they had just started early, thinking they had enough people. It was a small chapel. We found out they have 40 visitors on average every Sunday, year round. That blew my mind. It was fast Sunday so it was testimony meeting and Olive got up to bear her testimony, which I thought was so sweet. It was the first time she's ever done that. Tanner fell asleep for maybe 10 minutes at the end which I ATE UP! He never does that! Snuggling a sleeping kid is the best. I had tried to order groceries from Publix so that we could just pick them up on our way home but I kept getting notifications that my order was delayed so I just ended up canceling it and we went to Walmart after church to get everything we'd need for the week. The whole family at Walmart! Imagine the fun. But poor Megan. She definitely had it worse with one extra kid than us and no husband. We filled our carts to overflowing, grabbing beach umbrellas and soda and all the junk I'd never normally buy.
Squeezing three kids into two seats was their FAVORITE. They loved being squished and never hurt each other or cried. They want us to get a tiny car at home to continue the sibling closeness. ;)
We made soft tacos for lunch/dinner, then went on a walk with the Shaheens 1/2 mile down the road to a beach access point called Gulf Lakes. Oh. My. Heavens. Just walking down the planked path lined with trees to the sparkling ocean, took my breath away! The view was GORGEOUS. The sand was white and soft and the water felt like bath water. We wore clothes so the kids wouldn't get in the water. Such silly parents. They were drenched in minutes. Weston had bought a metal detector this summer with his own money and was SO excited to take it to the beach. The boys were off on treasure hunting adventures! When he actually found a watch, I've never seen him so happy. When the sun started to set, we realized it would be miserable to make our sandy, sea monsters walk all the way back, so Travis ran home and drove back to pick us up in shifts. He took the Shaheens first, so we were waiting awhile on the edge of the highway when Collin started dancing. No music. Just moves. The other kids joined in immediately, trying to get the attention of passing cars. A few of which, gave approving honks. Incentive for more hip shaking. I couldn't stop smiling and giggling. Where do they learn this stuff, anyway?! ;)
We had worked up an appetite and I was feeling whimsical. A bowl of Fruity Pebbles. I really was on vacation. Collin and Weston slept on the pull out bed in the living room and Tanner and Olive shared the queen bed in the bedroom. Poor Tanner was watching TV in bed and fell asleep, his head bobbing up and down. It was a busy, first day!
Monday morning, Trav and I decided to go for a run! I knew it would be warm, but early in the morning it didn't seem TOO bad. Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong wrong! Humidity is no flipping joke. I thought I was going to turn into water and die. We ran 3 miles on the sidewalk that lines the highway, getting to Alys beach and turned around. At that point, I lost Trav, but I knew if I stopped running that was it for me, so I just kept going. I think it's safe to say that was the hardest run I've ever done. 6 miles that felt like 20 in a torture chamber. How does anyone exercise outdoors around here?! Not exaggerating, I was as wet as if I'd jumped into a pool. I fell on the floor once I got home and was like a lifeless, blubbery seal. Trav staggered in maybe 15-20 minutes later with his nipples rubbed off. Yikes. I guess I could have had it worse! Word of the wise, run with no shirt in Florida!
We weren't sure which beach to go to first, but we ended up driving about 12 minutes west to Rosemary Beach. The roads were busy and people were everywhere. The parking lot was full but we ended up getting literally the last two parking spots across the highway, up the road. Lugging ALL our crap and all the kids from the car, across the highway, down the stairs and across the beach to the closest, slightly available patch of sand was WORK. Again, poor Megan. She really was being the biggest trooper. Bron was bringing a lot of their stuff when he and Lilly got in that night so she didn't have everything she wanted. But the kids happily played and we sat, amazed, at how stunningly beautiful this part of the earth was.
I brought the book, "Is He Nuts" by Dennis Schleicher to read and I couldn't put it down! It's a memoir by a gay man who converted to the church as an adult. His life and conversion story is fascinating. It feels like so many people are leaving the church and often because of LGBTQ+ reasons. I wanted to hear from someone who was STAYING and understand why. In a recent Instagram post he wrote about his answer when asked why on earth he stays. He said "Because the gospel of Jesus Christ makes me happy. I don't want to throw away my covenants for anything." There were so many parts of his book that made my jaw drop. Put tears in my eyes. And made my heart burn with a confirmation of the Spirit. I was so inspired by him and highly recommend his book!
The van in front us unexpectedly stopped to help a turtle passing by.
We left the beach with enough time to get ready for family pictures. I didn't expect a full blown photo op but just wanted a couple of shots of our family on the beach. But no matter how "low key" I was trying to treat it, every mom knows how stressful family pictures are. I was going to take some of the Shaheens too. Travis drove to pick up Bron and Lilly at the airport so I think we were all feeling rushed. We got all ready and headed to the beach when I saw really dark clouds in the distance moving quickly towards us. My heart sank. I tried to take a few individual pics of my kids but my lens was foggy and they weren't turning out. Right as the Shaheens walked up, the rain started falling. She hurried us into position but the wind was blowing our hair everywhere and we were quickly getting soaked. I was SO disappointed!!! Wahhhh! It felt so pointless to even try but she snapped a few and then tried some of us running toward her. Then I quickly tried to take some of them but we were all so soaked. I feel really bad that none of theirs probably turned out. The rain was coming down in buckets and it was all we could do to scramble back to the cars! For the second time that day I was drenched without ever immersing myself in water. But like a magician, Megan got a couple good ones of us. The irony that the best one is of us scrunched together, completely hiding my dress that I spent the most time trying to shop for, is not lost on me.
After we got changed and fed the kids, we went to dinner with Bron and Megan. How nice is it that we're at the stage of life where we can let our oldest kids babsit?!! Ahhhh! So wonderful! Unfortunately, it was late and we were turned away from several places before finding this one. Brunos. Just a pizza place up the street that reminded me of Fratellis. It was nothing to write home about, but good for 4 starving parents.
Tuesday morning was supposed to be cloudy and a bit cooler than the rest of the week so we thought it would be a good day to rent bikes and go explore! The Shaheens had several included in their condo, but we had to go to a little shopping area across the street called The Hub to rent ours. The bike shop was named Frankies which, of course, reminded me of Grandmother. We rode east to Alys beach and stopped for some acai bowls and smoothies. Everything was so clean, white and trendy. I really don't think I've ever experienced a place like this before. A whole, little town so immaculate and Mediterranean, you'd have thought we were in modern built Greece. We took our entourage around the whole place, drawing many stares, I'm sure. Megan wanted to take video of us each riding by and waving in front of the beautiful town-scapes, which took about 5 tries to get right. Our kids and husbands were being so patient, haha! I absolutley LOVED riding around and admiring the white washed walls, perfectly manicured shrubs and picturesque architecture. We must have oooo'd and ahhh'd a lot, because I heard Ivy trying to make fun of us to the other kids saying in a hoity toity voice, "Ohhh wow, look at all the architectural buildings." Haha. The only bummer part was that we weren't allowed to go out on the beach. Apparently in posh Alys, you have to rent or own a place along the 3/4 mile strip of luxurious real estate to be permitted on their special sand.
We were sufficiently sweaty and hungry after seeing Alys so we biked back to the condos for lunch and a break. We wanted to check out Seaside, which was 5 miles west and wondered if we could make it on our bikes. I was optimistic, plus had heard you couldn't drive in downtown Seaside (not true) so off we went! Thankfully there is a boardwalk of sorts that follows the entire highway with grass between the sidewalk and road so I didn't have to feel too nervous about the kids. It was a pretty ride, but also so sweaty! We had already biked about 6-7 miles in the morning and now were adding on another 13ish miles to see Seaside and get back. The kids rocked it. We stopped in the main plaza of Seaside where they had all the food trucks and cute shops to take pictures and get shaved ice. The Post Office was adorable! Who knew mail could be so charming?
Seaside is known for being the filming site of The Truman Show! We watched it as a family in preparation for the trip. Truman's actual house is still there at 31 Natchez Street. I had the kids wave for the picture to imitate his infamous scene and line "If I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and goodnight!"
Well, Seaside was just as entrancing as Alys but in a completely different way. The houses were all brightly painted, quaint and cheerful, like the architect's inspiration was to recreate Candyland.
Sweetest thing.... Lilly's chain kept coming off and Collin would put it back on. He probably did it 5 times and not without considerable effort. I thought it was so gentlemanly of him!
On the way back to Prominence, we passed a beach entry called Deer Lake State Park. Megan took Navee home, but the rest of us parked our bikes and walked 10 min. along the really long bridge to get to the beach. It was crazy but the place was completely deserted. I could hardly believe my eyes. It was like we had just walked into paradise. And we had it all to ourselves!! The kids gleefully threw off their clothes as they ran to the water; me right behind them. I jumped in the warm water and played in the waves with them as happy and carefree as a child! My constant thought was "How is this real life?!" It was just too good to be true! I don't know if we initially thought we'd stay for very long, but we ended up being there an hour or two at least. We just couldn't drag ourselves away!
We did a repeat of the night before, bathing and feeding the kids, then letting them play together at the Shaheens place while we went to dinner. There was a restaurant called Georges at Alys Beach we wanted to try, but it was impossible to get a table. Luckily, next door was another good restaurant called The Citizen. The guys went earlier to get the table, then Megan and I came together when it was ready. We sat down right before the appetizer came. $130 Chilled Seafood Tower. I was literally speechless. I would feel indulgent spending that much on our entrees much less the appetizer, haha. But Bron was definitely in the "treat yo self" mindset and we were happy to oblige. Bring on the oysters! Bron could probably get us to eat a sock if he said it was tasty. Megan also ordered the Whipped Feta appetizer and now THAT was amazing. I think we basically licked the plate. Trav ordered some sort of smoked short rib and I got fried fish over grits. Then we got just about every dessert they made. And.ate.it.all. These are the types of friends you keep for life. The eating it all kind.
A little snapshot of our condo and rental car! I should have taken more of the inside. Guess who we ran into?! Ezra and Candace Boekweg! We hadn't seen them since dental school. Ezra graduated Bron's year and they were in our ward. Turns out, they were in the condo two doors down from us, but they were actually leaving on Wednesday. It was really fun to chat with them for a bit. They like in Waco, TX and have two kids... Avery and Greyson.
On Wednesday, we thought we'd try a new beach so we packed up our tiny clown cars and drove a little past Alys to Rosemary Beach. Tricky part about Rosemary though, was finding a public beach access point with parking. We ended up parking illegally among some vacation rentals and a kindly older couple used their key to let us through the gates, onto the beach. But then we had to walk a ways to get to the little stretch of "public" sand. Everywhere else was owned by specific resorts and covered with matching umbrellas and chairs. We packed food for lunch and plenty of snacks and drinks to last the day. The kids would boogie board and snorkel then occasionally play in the sand. It sprinkled on us for a few minutes, but was clear skies the rest of the day! I don't know how many times I would look out at the blue/green water and sugar sand and sigh. We were literally in a postcard. It was AMAZING! I think I've got my beach pictures mixed up a bit, but oh well. Megan brought her camera and I'm SO GRATEFUL for her pictures!! They captured the colors so much better than our phones. Bron and Travis spent so many hours in the water, helping the kids boogie board. They are such fun dads!
Wednesday night, we went to dinner at an intimate restaurant called Roux 30a. It's the type of place you have to show up to right on time and stay the whole night as 6 courses is brought out to you one by one. Before each dish, the chef would ding his glass and solemnly proclaim (as though the brie he had used was bought with the life of his firstborn) what special ingredients and farms his food was sourced from. It was quite the experience. A $125 per person experience. It was very interesting and we had fun, but I could NOT get myself to finish the sea urchin sitting atop the pasta. May as well have been a poisoned booger. And I am always up for trying different types of food! Each course was about 3 1/2 bites so we left full, but lacking somehow. The best part was probably cracking jokes and laughing hysterically on the drive home at the chef's expense. I think Bron's face in the second picture sums up his feelings about it all, haha!
Some of the antics we came home too!
On Thursday and Friday we decided that the beaches were all basically the same in 30a. BEAUTIFUL. So, no need to drive and figure out parking anywhere else. We just stuck to the Gulf Lakes access point 1/2 mile up the road from Prominence. We still had to pack up the cars but at least we could just park along the highway and could go home fairly easily if someone needed to use the bathroom. I think it would have been considered maybe Seacrest beach? On one of the days I had swam with Olive out pretty far. She had a boogie board to float on and I was just enjoying the ease with which I could float in the salt water. It felt magical. We probably floated and soaked in the crystal water for 30 min. at least. (It wasn't until we got back to Arizona, someone informed me of how prevalent sharks are in Florida. Ignorance is bliss.) Apparently all our frolicking far away made Collin very very nervous though. At one point he decided I was flailing my arms, asking for help, so he raced to Travis on the beach. Trav didn't think I looked like I needed help but at Collin's insistence, he started making his way toward me. I noticed and wondered if he was coming out to help someone in the water so I started swimming in, toward him, in case I needed to help too. He dove in suddenly, swimming hard which terrified me! I thought surely someone was drowning now. My heart stopped beating as I frantically started swimming too. The closer we got, he realized I was fine and I realized *I* was the drowning person needing rescuing. Slowly the feeling reentered my body and we both glared at Collin for letting his anxiety cause us panic. However, we couldn't help but finally laugh at the situation. That Collin! He definitely inherited all my nerves!
I may have succumbed to a Nutty Bar or two. (Or three)
Ok, listen to how sweet. I came out of my room one evening to this. Olive was presenting different outfit ideas to Weston to get his opinion on which one she should wear to dinner. They normally fight terribly but Weston was patiently evaluating each choice and kindly giving her his thoughts. Which ultimately helped her make a decision. (She's not great at making decisions) I was so proud of them! Warmed my mama heart.
We thought it would be fun to go adventuring with the kids for dinner on Thursday! There was a restaurant about 30 min. away in Santa Rosa called Stinky's Fish Camp that got good reviews. No reservations though so it's usually hard to get in. We drove out there and was told it was a 2 hour wait. So, we got ice cream appetizers up the road to pass the time! It was surprisingly delicious ice cream! Then tried shopping at some little souvenir stores in town. While we had half our circus touching all the things in the store and half outside waiting, it started POURING rain. Cats and dogs and geese were falling from the sky. We finally got the text that our table was ready! We put all the kids at one table, and we sat at one right next to them. I have to say, Stinkys brought it! I loved my shrimp and grits. And it was fun to finally try fried green tomatoes, which we got as an appetizer. Bron got the Stinky's Stew.... Shrimp, mussels, fish, oysters, snow crab legs, roast corn, potatoes, basil butter broth, a wedge of pressed crab po'boy. It was a hit. All the kids wanted a bite. They are known for their key lime pie so we ordered a whole one to go. It was late and we still had a drive back to the condo.
Last day at the beach. Wahhh! It's been such an amazing week! It was so hard to pack our stuff up at the end of the day. Why were we born on the west coast?!
We wanted to make the most of our last night so we walked across the street to The Hub where all the action was happening! It's the coolest place. A huge stage area surrounded by cute shops and restaurants and tons of seating. They had a DJ playing music so loud it could be heard throughout the whole place. It was packed with people dancing, eating and shopping. We actually left the kids home for dinner and we got lobster rolls and crab cakes, then went back to get them to dance and get dessert. I could not stop dancing. Every song the DJ played, my hips were moving. There was so much energy and happiness everywhere! We made our way to the stage with the kids and boogied on down! Me dancing + humidity made for a VERY sweaty experience. It's a wonder people didn't clear the area around me just to make sure no sweat dripped on them. I was for sure in my happy place. Trav, Megan and Bron were spectators for most of it, but at least the kids were willing to dance! It was a highlight of the whole trip. I actually had a group of other women tell me to come join their group because they thought I was fun! Ha! They all had drinks in their hands, but I didn't need one! Around 9pm we headed back to the condos to play a round of Mafia with the kids before saying our goodbyes. The Shaheens had an early flight in the morning and they were going to have to make two trips to the airport to get all their luggage there in the small car. It must have taken at least 5 min. for everyone to hug everyone. We love this family SO MUCH. It felt like such a gift that it worked out for us to do this together. I say "worked out", but I know it was actually very intentional and required sacrificing other things and putting in a lot of effort. Mostly on the part of the Shaheens. We will always treasure these memories!
Our flight wasn't until later in the day, so we booked an airboat ride in the morning in Panama City. It was an hour long and started with us all getting to hold a real alligator! Glad we did because we didn't see any on our boat ride, which was a big disappointment. The marsh was really pretty though. Made me think of a book I had just read called Where the Crawdads Sing, which takes place in a swamp. Weston's hair got the windblown look!
After that, we thought we'd check our luggage in at the airport so we wouldn't be so cramped the rest of the day. Big mistake. The line was the longest I've ever seen at an airport. Travis stayed with the car and the younger two kids so I had Collin and Weston's help, lugging at least 7 big suitcases all the way through the terminal to get to the end of the line. Then slowly dragging them back again until we got to the front and realized they wouldn't let us check any bags until 4 hours before our flight. We had 30min. to go until that time. UGH. So we scooted to the side to wait another half an hour to check them. Finally, rejoined Trav and drove to the beachfront to try a restaurant called Pineapple Willys for lunch. Well, the internet failed me on this one. It certainly is a popular place but eww. It is trashy. And I would say that is true of the entire area. Driving up to it felt like driving into Las Vegas, but on the coast. SO glad we got to spend our week in 30a where there wasn't a drunken, frat house vibe going on. We ate on the pier and that was pretty, but the food was flavorless and unremarkable. Oh, yeah, we did order alligator bites as an appetizer, so that was fun!
Driving back to the airport, we passed a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum and Weston shouted, "Hey, I researched that place for a project in Prenda!" How about that!
Getting home was quite the process. Our flight got delayed and then delayed again. When we finally took off, we barely made our connecting flight and got in a few hours later than we expected to. It wasn't anything like the Shaheen's drama though! We felt so bad for them. Their flight was delayed so they missed their connecting flight, had to be rerouted to another city and basically spent the entire day in the airport, getting to Phoenix late and having to spend the night in a hotel instead of driving home. What a nightmare. We really need Florida to move closer!
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