Fall Beach Trip

Back at the beginning of October, we took a quick weekend trip to the beach as part of the girls' birthday celebration. Because we have had an eventful hurricane season, we should not have been surprised that our fall beach trip -- although the  skies were smooth sailing when we planned this trip two weeks out -- was going to have some hurricane action. Our pre-paid trip was in jeopardy because the initial point of landfall was Destin, Florida, where we would be staying. Because the hurricane continued to "jog" west and ended up in Mississippi instead, we decided at the last minute to take the trip anyway. If it rained, so be it.  

We packed up so quickly that I didn't have time to change the bears into their beach gear.  

We left after school, and the trio were euphoric! Climbing into the car during school pick up and driving straight to the beach is just the best ever. I remember once our family left for vacation on the day school got out. I got off the bus and climbed into our family camper van and marveled at the quick transition from classroom to vacay - the best contrast ever!  

Saturday was gorgeous, albeit a little windy. We hit the pool early and found it deserted because the big attraction was the beach. The trio opted to take advantage of having the pool to themselves.  

The hurricane blew through Saturday night, and we barely heard the wind whistling around this very well constructed building. Even George, who still has some occasional concerns about bad weather, didn't register that anything was amiss.  

There was still a little rain Sunday morning so we opted to take in a movie and have lunch at Tommy Bahama.  

Running around on the courtyard is a family tradition.  

After the rain finally stopped, we were back in the pool Sunday afternoon. After the trio had been swimming for about an hour or more, George came up to my chair and said, "Mommy, there's a snake over there!"  

I initially responded with, "I'm sure it's just a palm frond in the water... but dad will come check." While I was delivering that sentence, I was taking in all of the wind-blown debris and thinking, well... anything is possible. While Skip was explaining that what George was seeing was a sliver of frond, the sliver started moving, slithering, if you will, and it became obvious that it was, indeed a small snake. Skip borrowed a beach implement from a passerby, and can now add snake removal to his resume.  

Needless to say, the trio lost interest in the pool after that, and we decided to check out the beach.  

Although double red flags were on display, the beach was a little more crowded than you might anticipate. We enjoyed watching the big waves and then made dinner plans.  

The next morning we packed up while Skip took care of an auto issue (we had an untimely error message that had displayed the night before). The observation deck had been closed the entire weekend, but I talked the family into trying it one last time before we left. At last it was open.  

All things considered, we had a great time, and the trio enjoyed their first hurricane party.