PCB #2

On Christmas Eve we took the kids to a fun little junk shop that everything was priced under a dollar and we let them purchase gifts for each other. I'm kind of kicking myself for not buying a few things there because there were some darling necklaces. 

Afterwards we made cookies for Santa, played some more Pie Face and watched a Christmas movie.

The kids drifted off to sleep in no time and Santa worked his magic. He was a little worried the kids were going to be disappointed and the forecast called for rain, so he made a last minute run and ended up going a little overboard. 

Low and behold, Christmas morning was b-e-a-utiful. We opened presents, played, ate, and were walking over to the beach at 8:00 AM! The sun was shining! We left our phones and cameras at home and just enjoyed our time. On the way back we were all a little sandy and the wind was picking up so we jumped in the heated pool by the condo and swam a while longer. 

After naps and lunch we headed to a park and let the kids ride scooters for a couple of hours. We had planned on coming back to the condo for a fancy Christmas dinner, but we played until we were starving so we ate Sonic for dinner. It was so untraditional for us, but it was such a perfect day! There were no complaints here!!

The next morning we were up and going early, the sun was shining and we were off to Gulf World Marine. At dinner things were going wonderfully and we made big promises of playing through nap time. 

Gulf World was AH-MAZING! And so worth every penny plus some. We got there right when they opened and they had five different shows scheduled. We started with the furry and flying show. A cute show that started with magic and ended with cats, dogs, rats, and birds showing us their best tricks. From there we went to pet the Sting Rays. Then we went to the Rough Nosed Dolphin and Seal Show. It was so awesome. We were sitting front row and the Seal climbed up on the seats next to us and performed all of his tricks right in front of us. The dolphins did amazing flips and tricks. The next show was a Scuba diving Demo. It made Cody want to dive again, STAT. From there we went to the feeding of the sharks and sea turtles. The sharks were small but the Sea Turtles were MASSIVE. From there we walked through and saw all of the different birds, including the flamingos (my favorite) as well as some bottle nosed dolphins. Then we grabbed a snack and went to the Bottle Nosed Dolphin Show. It was amazing and highly entertaining. We were sitting front row in the splash zone and left a little damp. Kevin was picked to lead the Dolphins in some of their tricks. The trainers swam with the Dolphins and it was just an all around fantastic show. About 15 minutes in, Elena passed out in my arms and Lacey discovered we were in the splash zone and sort of freaked out. She spent the rest of the show hiding behind Cody and me. 

Things quickly declined as the kids grew hungrier and more tired and we raced back to our condo and fed them and they all melted into bed. I was so sad to be inside while the sun was shining, but they couldn't take another minute. 

We then raced out for a little more beach fun.

The beach was sea star heaven and Cody ended up catching 10 or 15 different sea stars and even performed some life saving measures for a few of them that were wrapped up in strings and different garbage. The kids collected tons of different sea shells and they played hard. We drove down to the Pier at sunset and played some more. On the way home we stopped again for a dip in the warm condo pool. The kids loved swimming in the dark. Julia has really perfected her front flip into the water. Kevin was swimming laps like a crazy man. Elena jumps in like its no big deal, and Lacey Baby is just like her mother. Avoiding any water that could possibly touch her face. She sat on the stairs the entire time and anytime I left the pool early to get dinner ready so was more than happy and ready to depart with me. (I must record however that upon our arrival at the pool on the first day and Lacey discovering how warm it was let me hold her in my arms and jump in the pool, going completely under water. She didn't let me do it again, but that's huge for this girl of mine.)

It was forecasted to be cooler and raining on Sunday morning so after the kids were cleaned up and sleeping Cody and I packed up all our stuff and we left first thing Sunday morning. As it turns out, it ended up being hot, hot! But I think after ten days we were all ready to head for home. We raced home our first snow storm of the year and got in just a few hours before it started coming down. I dare say the next morning the kids were not sad one bit and ended up playing in the snow the entire day. 

I must say, it was a little bit weird to be in the sun for Christmas. It was a little bit sad to not have a Christmas tree. But it was a lot awesome to do something new and exciting as a family. It was a lot fun to soak up the sun at the end of December, and it was a lot fun to be together.