Vacation Destination

Okaloosa Island, Florida! I don't remember my exact words when I opened the door to the condo and saw all the way through to the outside, but I'm pretty sure it was something that was not quite as lady like as I would normally have it!  The kids were out of earshot... so Parent of the Year award is not in jeopardy!

One of the really great features of where we stayed was the chair and umbrella service.  Every morning these men would come by and set it all up... we didn't have to haul, or set up anything.  We would just walk down, set out our towels, and all day we were in the shade!

Then there is the sand.  It's WHITE!  Seriously!!!  We had to keep sunglasses on at all times, otherwise it was WAY TOO BRIGHT!  Daddio is convinced that the slight sunburn he had on his legs was from the reflection from the sand, not from being out!  It was intense, and nothing like anything we've ever seen before!

Well this is what you came for, right?  A picture tour of the beach!

The view from our balcony!

Also a view from our balcony looking straight down into the pool!

Our condo building.  We were in the unit in the bottom right hand corner.

The water was so amazing!

Now, the important aspect of this picture is SNOOKER!  This is the first year he was totally a daredevil in the water!

Surfing is in our near future!

Bubba practicing his Dead Man float...

It was so fun watching the boys actually SWIMMING in the water.  It was so clear, and pretty deep where we were that they really enjoyed exploring the area!

Bubba and Daddio.  Those two spent a great deal of time snorkeling!

The really cool part of this shot is not only Bubba and Daddio... but the dolphin in the background.  We had a pod that would swim by several times a day!  In this one, they are just on the other side of the sandbar... that's were Bubba and Daddio are headed!

A boy and his net!  He tried like the dickens to catch a fish... sadly crabs were all he managed!

Most mornings started out as green flag days.  The water was as calm as a swimming pool!

This is exactly how it looked... none of these shots have been adjusted one bit!

Well, I figured if I put in a few shots of Daddio, I better add one of me... otherwise he might choose one!

Vacation, leg three

Next up is Alabama. Now I felt sort of bad for Mississippi... we drove right though, not stopping even once. It was lovely from the car window!

Saturday morning we woke up, hit Cafe Du Monde, then headed out. We would be reaching our final destination today, but saw online about the USS Alabama and the SR-71 they had on static display. Naturally we had to stop!

Wow!  That thing is HUGE!  We were able to tour both the battleship, the submarine, and the static display before we were all pooped out and needed to eat lunch!  If you are driving through this area, and your kids can manage stairs (lots and lots of them), it's worth the stop!

 

Vacation, leg two

Friday morning we set out for NOLA! It was an easy drive, and we arrived just a lunch time (score!). We found a great parking spot down south of the French Quarter, on the river... and went to Landry's for lunch... Heaven, I'm in Heaven... oh how I love good seafood!  The city beckoned, and we obliged!

After a little discussion we decided that the best way to see the most we could would be to take a carriage ride!  It really was a lot of fun.  Belle, and noble... ahh, mule was a doll, and the carriage driver was funny!  We were taken through each block, with all sorts of things being pointed out to us... even Brad and Angelina's home, the home that the IRS took back from Nick Cage, and the bar that stayed open through Hurricane Katrina.

Oh, and I had no idea that there was an Ursuline Convent and school down there, but boy was that a pretty sight in the city!

After the carriage ride, we did a little more exploring on foot.  We really wanted to take a peak inside St. Louis Cathedral.  It's the oldest cathedral, and second oldest church... anyone know the oldest church????  It's in St. Augustine (we saw it on a travels to Florida a few years ago).  I'm thinking I should make us a passport of all the Catholic hotspots we've hit over the years!

Anyhooooooo, it is so beautiful on the inside, and out!  We were able to go in, spend some quiet time in prayer, and have a look around.  WOW!  Just outside of the cathedral (not shown in the picture) is a section of street that is closed off.  Now, if you've never been it is little shocking and annoying (in my opinion)... but there are fortune tellers and crap all set up right there... just outside of the doors!  YUCK!

Well, that pretty much rounded out our NOLA time... oh wait, there's one more thing you must have when you are in the French Quarter... beignets.  Now, growing up (in Louisiana), my mom would make them... but I never had the originals from Cafe Du Monde... Heaven, I'm in Heaven... Powdery Sugar Wonderfulness!

Vacation, leg one

Every January we start planning our summer vacation. It is always a bittersweet event... I mean, it is super exciting to starting making plans, but it is oh so painful to wait until May before we can get on the open road. This year we decided it was time to venture beyond our comfort zone, we saw a great deal in Florida on a condo on the beach and BAM booked it! I'll admit I was slightly skeptical on just how beautiful the beach and ocean looked. Trust me, we've seen pictures and then arrived to something lovely but not really what the pictures would lead you to believe. Well, I'll stop there because I'm not sharing that part just yet, and start the journey with you. Oh yes, it was a journey!

We decided to break up the trip a little since we would be crossing 5 states. I'm originally from Louisiana, with family still there. So on Thursday we headed out and spent the evening with my cousins.

Thanks to our giddiness to get on the road, we were making good time. When we saw the sign for The Big Thicket National Park, it was a no brainer, we need to pull over and check it out. They have a lovely main office, gift shop, and movie about the park and it's origins. Naturally we wanted to see more. We spoke with a park ranger about all the different hiking trails, and found one that we thought would be a nice 2 mile hike! Wow! I highly recommend this park. Honestly I can't wait until we can get back down there again and hit other trails they have. To be able to traverse all of the different ecosystems that are found in one place is really something special. The trees were so cool, and we even found wild black berries. YES, we picked a few and the boys tried them. SO AWESOME!!!!  Then it was back in the car for the last few miles to get to our evening stop.

My cousin's place is just perfect for boys!  They have a large property with cows, chickens, a horse, and a pond... and all of our kids play so well together! The boys had a blast! I had a lot of fun too, catching up... and once again found out just how tasty I am to local mosquitoes!  In just a few minutes outside I wound up with about 30 bites on my legs (a week and a half later I still have about half of them that I'm trying NOT to scratch).  Oh well, it was worth it :-).

 

The wheels of the bus

Homeschooling has been a bit of a challenge this year.  It just seems that we've had to deal with one storm after another... be it in our household or in our extended family... nothing has gone all that smoothly.  Looking back on all the years we've been doing this, 7 if you count Bobcat's kindergarten, this has been maybe the most tumultuous.  We've probably considered and reconsidered the direction for next year more than a dozen times, and not in a playful way... in a serious "I think we've done all that we can do from here, it's time that they learn from someone else" way!

I have my list of Why We Homeschool hanging in my computer desk, and I look at it frequently.  Sometimes I see different objectives on there and think that homeschooling at the moment is actually working against those, or that my own reaction is nothing like the Holy Family (so a massive fail on that agenda).  They fact is, we've been going through growing pains I think.  As a parent trying to navigate the road of "is he ready to do this on his own," and the child so much desiring more freedom whether he is mature enough to handle it or not.  Then you add in the additional extended family drama adding stress to Daddio and me... Yep, the perfect storm.

Who knows, maybe it is summer vacation (Praise God for our beach getaways) that seems to bring everything back into perspective.  We're on the homeschooling train, and we will have ups and downs... we knew that going in, and we've relearned that every year.  The reasons we wanted to homeschool still apply, and overall are being accomplished.  The boys have made great progress this year in areas that seemed to fall behind last year.  We're all maturing in this process, just at different rates... the long view is what is needed in times of struggle!

In just a few weeks we are headed back to the beach... 8 days of sand and surf (and beer for the grown-ups).  All will be right with the world again, and we will all be ready to face the challenges of next year!

The Stations as a mother, and other Lenten thoughts...

Over at Creative Minority Report is this great post from a guest poster... and what a wonderful post it is. Her words are my thoughts, and my agony as a mother. I can remember the first time I heard a priest talk about Mary's heart pleading and the Heavenly Father answering her prayers.  Christ didn't NEED Simon, Christ didn't NEED Veronica... Mary did, we DO.

I needed to read this post this morning.  Life is tough.  Families are made up of people... sinners, some trying and some not.  Suffering is just part of it.  Are you choosing to sin?  Are the sins of others causing your suffering.  What are you doing with it?  Are you offering it up?  Are you holding on to it to let it fester and work against you?  Have you chosen to repent, or live in denial?

The truth is, you know the answer within you.  Walk the Stations if you have the least bit of doubt.

It's hard to walk the Stations, it's supposed to be hard.  It is supposed to be reflective... it's supposed to be a visual reminder of what we are uniting our sufferings too.  It's what HE came for, and we are who HE came for, and that is what HE had to do for us!  It's the heart of our faith.  He SUFFERED and DIED for us... so that we might LIVE!

That last part, might live... I didn't really get that until I was a grown up and really came to grips with the reality of sin... every sin is DEATH, a little bit of death to your soul... yes He died for us, but are we really choosing LIFE, the life He died to give us?  Or are we a slave to sin, hoping that He will look the other way at the end of days...

Being a grown up is tough, sometimes it really isn't a whole heap of FUN, and easy is rarely part of the package.  It's about the choices we make.  It can feel simple to make the immediate gratification choice, but in the long run is that really the decision that will allow your soul to be free and alive in Christ?

As people of God, we must take the long view... the big picture if you will!  Our reward is not here, and it's not now... for our treasure awaits us in heaven, and our happiness is in Christ!

 

Seriously...

I know you know the phrase, no good deed goes unpunished... boy has today felt like that. While trying to make a cheesecake, I had pressed in my graham cracker crust and was going to pick it up (the spring form pan) and move it over by the stove, when I picked it up the bottom of the pan fell out and out went the crust all over the floor... that's the kind of day it has been!

Thankfully I had enough ingredients to redo the entire crust, but by the time I cleaned it all up and set to making a new one... well tic toc goes the clock! And to show you just how befuddled I was... usually when I cook, I'm a clean as you go kind of gal, because I rather dislike all the clean up at the end...

Oh well, dinner won't have a lot of clean up so I suppose I will survive :-)...

Okay on to better things, our lovely beds are a bloomin!  Even the camillia which usually is all done by the start of March has to decided to continue blooming!  She's a beaut!

 Next up are the long beds (I only got one good shot of the very front one, maybe later I will try to grab a better one of the one closest to the house) with irises, tulips and daffodils.  The daffodils are on their way out, while the tulips and irises are just making their appearances!

Happy Spring!