my bickerings and banterings: August 2010

Since I've lost my breath venting about the vaca gone awry, I'm gonna catch my breath and go on about how we managed to enjoy the vaca nonetheless. First off, we loved the view from our hotel in Pensacola. For a great price and the amenities we needed with kids plus being clean beyond our expectations and right on the beach as the hotel was described, we got a good vibe from the get go.

The weather reports said this area of FL would be overcast and rainy for the majority of our stay, so upon arriving, seeing a clear evening and night skies, we were hopeful. We drove around looking for a place to eat, opting to save the beach for the next day. We were looking for something unique to Pensacola Beach, i.e. seafood. But we finally decided on Carrabba's, an Italian favorite of ours, upon realizing there was really not much to choose from! It was all good and dandy though. The kids can't go wrong with pastas!

We had to settle for this place because most of the eateries along PB consisted of bar and party atmospheres, which were not so kid-friendly, especially since we noticed they were all catering towards a specific crowd. About 4 out of every 5 places had big rainbow banners. You get the idea. We later found out from some locals that Memorial Day weekend in Pensacola is Gay Pride weekend. Just our luck..haha! Nothing against them though, but it's not cool when it's inappropriate behavior. Ah well, I don't want to go on sounding like a prude, because anyone who gets into it these days is considered non-PC, so I won't even go there.

The next morning, we slept in a bit. When one of the little guys managed to crawl out of bed and open up the curtains, the sun shined through the sliding doors as if saying get out of bed and get out here fast! I then got up, opened up the curtains all the way, stepped out onto the balcony, and breathed in the salty, humid, wonderful beach air. I admired the white sands, blue waters, and especially how peaceful it was. For a popular weekend, we were fortunate enough to get a hotel on an area of the beach that wasn't crowded.

Before I could even take a seat on the balcony to wake up a bit more since I'm totally not a morning person, I hear banging on the windows. I turn around to see four little hands and two huge smiles wanting to come outside with me, which I let them.

"Mommy, beach!!! I wanna go on the beach!! Go put on your shoes, Mommy!" Preston cried.

To the beach it was. We had to get Daddy out of bed first. "Let's see who can wake Daddy up first! Monster time!! ROWRRR!!"

^^Look how clear that water is!! We were lucky enough to be here a week before the BP oil leak polluted the Florida coasts.

^^Why so serious? Because P was afraid to go into the water, like always! As much talk that he does and as excited as he gets, he almost always backs down from new things (i.e. getting on the plane). Well, it takes awhile for him to warm up to the water as you'll see, which was rather difficult because the water was C-O-L-D.