Navarre Beach

We got back yesterday about 6:30pm from Navarre Beach. Its about 24 miles east of Pensacola. We had a great condo. 2 bed 2 baths, so the girls (Christina brought a friend, Katie) had their very own, and weren't disturbed by us or the boys. Well, they were disturbed a little bit! We arrived there Wed evening about 9:30. It is a 6 1/2 hour drive from Orlando. Yuck. Thank goodness for DVD players! I brought some magazines, (thanks mom!) to read to Mike for as long as it was light out. Then we just had to settle for some chit chat. We couldn't see anything that night, so the next morning we enjoyed the sights! Navarre Beach is on the gulf. The north end of the condo there is a sound that runs along the edge of the state. Our room looked right out onto the ocean. Apparently a hurricane destroyed alot of Navarre Beach last year. Which is why the condo was completely redecorated and updated this year. While the ocean view was spectacular, the sound view wasn't so pretty. We spent Thursday playing at the beach. Christina noticed that her (my) cell phone's time was different from what time the truck said. It was an hour ahead. I guess we crossed time zones. Good thing she noticed, or Mike would of been late for work on Friday! Friday Mikey had to work, and the girls were bored, so he dropped them off at the mall, (which was damaged by the tornado they had there last week.) This is a beautiful place to visit, but with the hurricane and tornadoes, I don't want to live there. The boys and I just hung out at the beach most of the day. The weather was a beautiful 75 degrees. Saturday the tide had gone out quite a bit, and we discovered an island or spit as Mike calls it. It was filled with fishes that didn't get off in time. We collected a bunch of bait fish, but never got around to trying to use them to fish. In one picture, you will see what to us looks like a small sword fish. The boys also found bird skulls. For some crazy reason, Mike decided that he wanted to take them home, but since they were germy, he brought them up to the room and boiled them. The place stunk SOOOO bad! We didn't bring them home with us. I don't think he will do that again! Sunday we had to be out by 10 am. Long drive home. We drove a total of 1010 miles! My poor truck! Here are pictures of the condo's kitchen and dining. You can see the girls room. This is the master bed. I forgot to get pictures of the living area. It also had its own balcony to walk out on.

The white sandy beach is so pretty! Here's that "Sword fish" Zachary decorating his castle with seashells Christina on the bridge Mike and the boys swimming. The pool was heated! The view from our room It was a nice weekend.

Caleb, Mike and I got to see the Space Shuttle take off. About 4 seconds after it leaves the base, we can see it from our house. Its great with binoculars. I wish I could rememeber in time to set up the telescope. 3 of our neighbors came out side to look at it as well. It really is quite a sight to see. Zachary started a 'Boys Club'. Its only for him, Caleb, Daddy, and any of his friends. NO GIRLS allowed!

At his school they are having ANOTHER fund raiser. This is the 5th one! I have been suckered to buy one item at 4 of them. This one is for cookies. If any of you want to log on to buy a tub of cookies, here is the web site. http://www.sallyfoster.com/ Just go to the Icon "give credit to" The schools ID no is 626082. It is called Evans Elementary. The city is Oviedo, Florida. I will log on and create an account when I am done with this blog, if you'd like to buy some. The tubs are $12 each. The school gets 40% profit. They kids have already picked out 3 different cookies. I guess my homemade whole wheat oatmeal raisin cookies just arent as yummy as premade tub M&M cookies. *sigh* Speaking of homemade, I better be off to get dinner ready. Tonight is chinese food night. I know my goal was a different meal every night of the year, but sometimes you just have to go with a staple. Our 3 are, stirfry vegies with a meat, tacos, and spaghetti. I try and change at least one ingredient, but since these 3 are our favorites, there are only so many changes to make to them! I dont write down every meal, so I am sure I have made several repeats, but at least the kids are getting a good variety. One thing I have discovered, if they wont eat it one way, they might eat it another. For example, salmon. We had poached salmon a few weeks ago, and Zachary didnt like it. So the other night I cooked it up, and mixed it with spices and breadcrumbs, to make "Krabby Patties" With hamburger bun, Zachary ate the entire thing and said he loved it and I should make it again. I still havent told him it was salmon! lol The kids eat most everything I make. Caleb really has a broad palette. He loves red, yellow, green and orange bell peppers, tomatoes, olives, pickles, onions, lettuce, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, you name it. Zachary likes things simplier. No dipping sauces, no ketchup, mustard, mayo, no vegies raw. He likes them cooked and soft. If he had his way, every night would be Mac n Cheese. But he will eat most of it if its on his plate without complaining to much. Christina of course has always been a good eater, and for how skinny she is, that kid can eat!! She comes home from school and fixes left overs, or a sandwich, or soup or bowl of cereal, and sometimes she eats two helpings, then she always finishes her dinner, usually getting seconds, and then she eats dessert!! Plus she eats breakfast and lunch! Of course, she does have aerobics and sports. So she burns it all off. Tomorrow we are off! Hope the weather is good.

Here are pics of the Train set Caleb and I built. He loves watching the trains go.