Gratituesday: Crystal Blue Water and White Sand

So with my hit and miss blogging I'm sure no one noticed the absence...however, we got back Saturday from a week long break in the Florida sun.  Well  half of us did.  Bella and I spent the week with some of the Carlisle ladies in Florida, while the boys roughed it in some crazy heat in Alabama with some of the Carlisle boys.  I was definitely homesick from my boys, so I was thrilled when they met up with us Thursday night to finish our vacation together and the trip home.

The boys stayed at my Father-In-Laws property in Alabama, camping camper style.  Caleb and his cousin Zac, however, wanted a chance to experience  some real camping and spent one night in a tent.  They spent quite a bit of time talking into the night with flashlights.  I did say ONE night, as they soon realized it was too hot for that!  They also had a chance to fish, nearly every day and you bet Caleb was ALL over that!  And, it wouldn't be a Man's camping trip for my Hubby without bringing the guns along, so they each took a turn at that as well.

First Catch

Kiss for LUCK!

Camping out with flashlights!

Target shooting with the boys!

We were hardly roughing it!  We met my Mother-In-Law's sister and some of her family at Ft. Walton Beach, right next to Destin.  We each had a condo overlooking the breath taking ocean.  The comparison to our muddy Texas gulf water and and less than desirable beaches was night and day.  (Don't believe what you 'see' on TV folks, Florida beaches are BEAUTIFUL and OPEN for business!) Just so we are clear I love Texas and we had a blast when we were at Mustang Island last year, but you CANNOT beat white sand and crystal blue water.  To be completely honest a storm blew in some murky waters with seaweed, but it was still beautiful.  We also saw a few tar balls, but they were more or less pebbles in size and in no way affected our beach time!   We did our fair share of site seeing and shopping, but the best view was beach side.  We also lucked out with a pool, when we decided to forgo the ocean.

Balcony Beach Shot

Hermit Crab Hunting

Bella Boo Boogy'n

Boogie Board Battle

Sand Castle

Suntan anyone?

My Honey and I

My Babies!

We were so thankful for our getaway!  We will treasure our break from reality and the memories we made!  We did learn however, that we are creatures of habit and while we LOVED our trip we were also ready to be home and back to our 'routine'.  Nothing beats quality time with family!