Down By the Bay

I've mentioned many times how happy we are to be closer to my family in central Florida, but we are also very lucky to have family close by us here in the panhandle!  Phil's stepmom's parents, Chuck and Juilene, live over in Destin and just built a brand new house on waterfront property that was owned by Juliene's parents.  It is the most gorgeous location and their new house is very beautiful, too.  We've been to see them in their previous home several times since we moved back, but this time we were very excited to see their new place... and the boys could not wait to go fishing.  Chuck and Juilene are always SO kind to us when we go to visit and do all they can to make us feel at home.  And they are so good with the boys and so loving to them (and always ready with a cold beer to help mommy and daddy relax!  Lol!) 

Juiliene gave the boys some bread and bacon to use for bait and they were catching fish left and right!  They were so happy.  :)

We put some of the fish the boys caught into a bucket thinking we might take them up to the Destin Fishing Rodeo that was going on (kids got a free fishing pole for bringing in a fish they caught), but we waited too long and the poor fishies didn't last.  :(  We did get to see the food chain in action, though, when we saw a blue crab in the shallows making off with one of the dead fish in its claws.

You may be able to see the excitement in this next series of pictures when Reid caught his first fish.  :)

Juilene was enjoying baby time... :)  (Can you get over that beautiful view?  The Choctawhatchee Bay is right out there...)

And Chuck helped out with the fishing...

I took some pictures and then went back on the porch with my beer.  Haha!

I tried to take a panoramic pic with Phil's camera and I think maybe I did it right... Their property is seriously so beautiful!

Best 24 Hours in a Long Time

Soooo.... this is the first time in 12 years (15 if you count casual status and pilot training) that Phil and I haven't been part of a fighter squadron.  And yes, I know that we chose this, but I can't help it if we really miss the squadron camaraderie and fun... a lot.  I actually didn't think we would miss it as much as we do.  Anyway, one of our favorite squadrons, the 95th FS "Boneheads", was closed down a few years ago.  And lo and behold... just last Friday it was opened again!  When we were in it it was an F-15 squadron, but now it's being opened as an F-22 squadron.  Phil and I aren't current members of it right now, of course, but in accordance with the squadron motto "Once a Bonehead, always a Bonehead" we went to the opening party anyway!  I was SO excited for this night... to go out with my husband, to be in our old bar again where we had so many memories, to get a sitter at 4:15 and have her feed ALL FOUR kids dinner and put them to bed (which actually went really well!), and to maybe see some old friends and make some new ones.  The "party" was a little "meh" and actually ended way early, but Phil and I and three old friends stayed in the bar and had some cocktails and laughed and laughed and reminisced for several hours... it was so, so great!

The bar is all clean and shiny and new and bright, which was kind of weird... but it looked nice.

We were laughing a little because the F-22 wall decal malfunctioned after a few hours.  :)

There is a nice, new, shiny squadron patch sign in the lobby!

And for any of my Bonehead friends that may be reading this... when some young guy was carrying Mr. Bones out to put him to bed for the night he let Mr. Bones' LEG FALL OFF!  In the middle of the bar! And then he proceeded to walk right through the middle of the squadron patch on the floor.  These young 'uns these days... No respect!  Haha! There was much booing and grumbling over this.  LOL.

Then on the way home we stopped by a hole in the wall biker bar to play some pool.  Oh my gosh I almost got black lung from the smoke smell in there but we had so much fun!  I was a little nervous walking in there... afraid we might get beaten up or stabbed for not being regulars but the people were so nice... a few men walked over and thanked the guys for their service and the bartender brought us free jello shots and thanked us for coming in.  Can't judge a book by its cover!  :)

This picture was taken right after I sunk five balls in a row and WON THE GAME!!  I haven't played pool in years and it was a total lucky fluke, but exciting nonetheless. Haha!

Then the next day was gorgeous and we finally broke out our E-Z-Up tent and went to the beach.  It's taken us a year, but we finally got smart with how to take a baby to the beach.  That pack and play and tent made the biggest difference.

That's Emmett out there... (I think)...

We stayed for five hours.  It was amazing.  There was no fighting, no complaining, and very little bugging mom and dad.  Haha!  Everyone (including Reid) played so well by themselves and with each other.

Davis was periodically fussy, but he seemed to enjoy his view and was pretty content staying in the "sand-free zone".  Phil and I just traded off holding him when he got fussy.

This, however, was a very hard-fought battle, but I eventually won.  :)

Then we came home to pulled pork in the crockpot.  Seriously... best 24 hours in a LONG time!   :)

Life Lately and Grandpas ♥♥

Some things we've been up to lately.... First, we've started going to the beach in the evenings again when we can.  It is so. freaking. beautiful.  I just cannot believe I wasted some of the three years we lived here last time being grumpy about our assignment and not appreciating the gorgeous beach.  I'm determined to make up for that now.  I totally appreciate and am so thankful for where we get to live now.  Hence the reason we are building a house two minutes from this gorgeousness.

The boys are obsessed with the beach.

Right before we left something washed up on shore and I thought it was a plastic bag from our pile of stuff or something but when we went over to investigate we found it was a huge jellyfish!  That sucker was at least a foot and a half across.  Really cool.

Had to document a moment that Reid was actually occupied for more than five minutes at one time.  He was stringing these wooden beads onto a shoelace thingy.

Once those remaining two beads were on there he was like, "Okay, I'm done now Mommy!  I need get down." Standard.  :)

A new bouncy place opened up in the mall and is owned by an older couple from a friend's church, so I thought it might be fairly clean and worth checking out.  It was.  Totally clean and new and the boys had so much fun!

While Phil was gone for a week in September the boys and I caught an online John Mayer concert that was streaming live from the iHeartRadio Music Festival.  It would have been nicer if it was an hour later instead of right at bath/bedtime, but it was still fun to watch and feel like we had a front row seat.  :)

Then everyone got in the bath together... :)  That's a lot of washing for Mommy but so worth it when they're all clean and sweet-smelling afterward!

Davis is so much happier now that he's feeling better (ear infections... keep reading... I kind of wrote this post backwards/in pieces) and is loving crawling all over the house and exploring..

With the start of school we implemented some new house rules and a chore chart, etc. and the big boys earned a reward after a few weeks.  They chose to go to Red Lobster with mom and dad.  Kind of random since we've only ever been to Red Lobster one time over a year ago when we first moved back to Florida, but that's what they wanted so that's what we did.  I think they only wanted to go there because of the lobsters in the tank in the lobby of the restaurant.... seriously.  :) Anyway, we got a sitter for R and D and then Phil and I dumped J and E off at home after dinner and went out and had a drink by ourselves.  Lol!  We had a fun time at dinner, though.

Reid is very into holding Davis right now.  He always asks to hold him right when D wakes up and Phil caught this sweet shot the other day...

Sweet baby fell asleep on Daddy during the singing portion of church the other morning.  He had an ear infection for about two weeks (finally gone thanks to a second round of antibiotics) so that must have worn him plumb out.  He only slept for about 30 minutes but still so sweet.  My heart melted.

Aaaand... we have actual walls in the house!!  Hooray!  We were there putting up some paint samples yesterday.  So exciting.

And last, but certainly not least, I wanted to share some pictures of my sweet Pap-pap who went home to Jesus on Monday.  He was almost 96 years old and married to my Mimi for 67 years.  Please say a little prayer for comfort and peace for my Mimi.

I have been very blessed to have all four of my grandparents alive and a wonderful part of my life until spring of last year.  My other Gramps (my mom's dad) passed away last year and I just realized I never did a post about how special he was. Gramps was 84 years old and was married to my Grammy for almost 65 years.  My sisters and I were truly blessed with such wonderful grandpas... both loving, hardworking, kind men who loved Jesus and their families so much and served their countries with pride.  Gramps was a diver in the Navy and Pap served in the Army Air Corps.  It is, of course, always very sad to have them leave us, but I am so thankful that they both lived such wonderful long lives and that my older boys got to meet them both.  And it is so very comforting to know that they are pain-free, active, and happy in heaven with Jesus right now and that we will see them again.

This is my Gramps and Grammy right after they got engaged... I wish I had one of my Mimi and Pap, too!  I love this picture so much...

 

Thank you, Lord, for my amazing Pap and Gramps, for the wonderful lives they lived, for what blessings they were to our families, and for the legacies they left. ♥♥