Mommy N' Me PC Beach Vacation - Day 1

Yeah Baby!!! First Annual Mommy n' Me Beach Vacation!!!!

Oh, I'm hating that I haven't posted this sooner, but I'm ready to let loose the details on our WILD Mommy n' Me Vacation that happened just a few short weeks ago. For those of you who don't know this about me, I'm a complete last minute planner. Most of our vacations are usually totally last minute. And the last minute ones are usually the funnest ones, too!! Our first trip to Walt Disney world, planned on Wednesday left on Saturday. Our St. Augustine Vacation, planned on Monday left on Saturday. Our Cancun vacation, planned a week and a half in advance....you get the picture. After just having a really rough week at work and at home, I called my dear hubby the last Wednesday of June and said, "Lets go to the beach." He promptly said no....not that he didn't want to, but he couldn't, so I asked if I could take the kids. He stalled for a moment, but then realizing that he'd have the whole house to himself for almost a week, he agreed that we could go if someone else went with us.

Luckily, I knew another Mommy who might need the same kind of get-away. So, on Wednesday, I booked a 5 day trip to Panama City Beach for Jennica, Myself, and our kids!!! The following Sunday morning, the car and kids were packed and we were off to sunny Florida!!! The kids did great in the car. DJ, Olivia, and Zachary sat in the middle row, and Amber had the whole back seat to herself. (Kristina was in Orlando competing in her Nationals Gymnastics Competition.) We only stopped once for about an hour and a half to let the kids play and to eat lunch, so we made great timing considering that we were traveling with little ones!

We arrived late afternoon at the Condo, and it was really overcast so we didn't even hit the pool or the beach the first night. We grabbed dinner and hit the grocery store to stock up on staples. Then back to the condo to unpack and get ready for the next day. Unfortunately, Monday was VERY overcast too! The wind was blowing and the sky was dark...but did that stop us???? NO WAY. Only lightening itself could keep us from those blue waters and white sandy beaches..... but we didn't realize how DARK it really was until we looked back at the pictures. And now I present, Day #1: Dreary Day at the Beach! This is Olivia and Amber and their first sight of the ocean. This is the VERY FIRST time Olivia has EVER seen the ocean. I'm not sure I captured the "Oh My Goodness, what is this??" face. She was actually smiling, but it was hard to get too excited when the wind is blowing so hard that you're hanging on for dear life! Poor DJ did let go, and he almost blew away! Thank goodness Jennica had a good grip and did have her arms bogged down with the "load" of beach gear that we left in the van!!! Hold On DJ!!! DJ was actually the first one to dive in head first! He was running into the water and up and down the beach...poor Jennica had her work cut our for her keeping up with him! I loved that he was just fearless! He had a great time splashing in the water and playing in the sand. He really didn't stop for one second the entire time we were there! Zachary was really cool about the whole thing - he's such a chilled out kid! He explored the beach, put his toes in the water, splashed around a bit, and just....chilled! It was hard because I couldn't really just let him do his thing because well.....Olivia completely flipped out once we got into the water.

Here is Olivia before we went down to the ocean.......

And here is Olivia after she went into the ocean. Yeah, she's hiding. I'm sitting right at the surf, Zach's beside us playing, and Olivia had a choke hold on me the entire time. Jennica did stay with Zach while I took Olivia out to "look for Nemo", and she was okay as long as we were talking about Nemo and she had the death grip on my neck. But if she wasn't holding on to me...she was crying!!! How is it that I LOVE the sun and the beach and my family does not. My husband is afraid of the sun and now Olivia is terrified of the ocean....come on Preston Family...we can only have so much Mickey Mouse before we have to explore other vacation possibilities!!! And while Olivia is cutting off the circulation to my brain....Amber and DJ are in the ocean have a darn good time!!! Aren't they cute!!! After a long walk down the beach looking for sea shells, we decided to head home for a late lunch and naps. That night we went to a place called Hammer Head Fred's, which was recommended to us by a friend from work. We loved it!!! We were looking forward to some SUN the following day!!!