Our family vacation recap

Floaties? Check. Sunscreen? Check. Snacks? Check. Noise maker for nigh-night? Check. Movies for the car? Check. Full tank? Check. Ready to go!!!

The boys had been looking forward to this beach trip for a while. Paul was in Israel the week before, so we were all missing him and really ready for some family r&r. We went to Panama City Beach Florida. Some really sweet and generous friends let us use their condo for a week! It was beautiful. The water was so blue and clear and the waves were RIGHTEOUS! :)

It's about a 6 hr. drive down there. When we arrived Sunday night, the boys bolted out of the car and headed straight for the beach. We didn't even go up to the room first. One of my favorite moments - as Will was running down to the ocean, he screamed with his arms up in the air..."I LOVE OUR LIFE!". As a mom, that made my day.

We had a "swashbuckling" good time on the pirate cruise. The boys got to sword fight, mop the deck, shoot a cannon and we even saw dolphins. Wesley got attached to one of the pirates named Hammerhead. Let me tell ya, this guy was scary looking and Wesley couldn't stay away from him. So much for "don't talk to strangers". If your kid would go up to this guy...? But, no fear, Hammerhead was a teddy bear at heart. Wesley asked him to be held and I saw Wesley look in his eyes and say..."I just love you Hammerhead." Oh, dear. It was cute though.

Paul rented a pontoon boat one day and took us OUT TO SEA! Just our family and the open water! Paul was hitting huge waves in our PONTOON boat. We got soaked a couple of times. You know how a ski boat will go up and down, hitting the water...our pontoon didn't stop us. I think Wes may have been a little sea sick, or just scared. He warmed up to it just as we were heading back in. Will stood on the front of the boat, and yes, he shouted..."I'm the KING OF THE WORLD!"

The elevator, oh, the elevator. My boys would have played on that ALL day. They would argue over who gets to hit the button. One night, really late, we were waiting for the elevator and we noticed a TON of people waiting with us. They had all obviously had a little too much to drink. One lady kept trying to be SPIDER MAN for Wesley. It was really hilarious and freaky at the same time. When it opened, we tried to get on quickly, and every single person crammed in with us. It was HOT! And way too full. When it closed and started going up, one lady was jumping up and down. It made the elevator STOP - in between floors. The boys were S-C-A-R-E-D! An elderly man in back, said "Please just let me get off! All you people are crazy and are going to break this thing and I'm not going down with you!" Well, I was with the old man. Let's get off and walk up! Thankfully, after starting and stopping 5 more times, we were able to get out of there. We found another elevator. That really wasn't a highlight of the trip or anything. But I had to share.

Paul took Will to see the Narnia movie Prince Caspian. I stayed back at the condo while Wes took a nap and watched P.S. I Love You....and cried. I also had my first Five Guys burger on this trip. That was fabulous! Such a treat.

It was a week full of crab hunting, eating, swimming, watching movies. Just perfect. God really blessed us with a great time together. I put together a slideshow of pic's from our trip below...