Vacation Day #7 (227/365)

TIME: 6:15 am
PLACE: Across from the condo
SUBJECT: Beach & Gulf

So today was our final day of vacation.
I woke up early to say goodbye to the beach.
I was very sad to leave.
And it was a long ride back home.

Vacation Day #6 (226/365)

TIME: 9:11 AM
PLACE: Miramar Beach, FL
SUBJECT: Bas Ass Coffee Co.

We started our last full day in Destin at the Bad Ass Coffee Co. getting our java on.
Then it was off to the beach.


Stella and James found a crab.


They went jellyfishing – we kept him just long enough for me to take a photo, then back in the Gulf he went.


Stella flew a kite…


Commanded her minions…


And built a sand-tiki head.


We went out to eat at the “Surf Hut” for our final evening meal.
Nice view, eh?

Vacation Day #3 (223/365)

TIME: 10:19 AM

We were back on the beach today.


James did his best “Muscle Beach Party” pose

There were lots of  seagull and human footprints on the sand.

We made a simple supper at the condo…spaghetti with plain sauce, salad and garlic bread.

TIME: 7:28 PM

We went back to the beach to walk it off.


Grandpa, Claudia and James.


There was a sea turtle nest…

…and a beautiful sunset.

Vacation-Day 3 (217/365)

TIME:  11:43 AM
PLACE:  Miramar Beach, FL

Back to the beach…this time up the road from the condo.  As you can see the humans were in the ocean and the birds were on the beach.


TIME:  12:31 PM

I hope those aren’t sharks.



Nope…a pod of dolphins swimming by.

I have no idea what kind of crustacean this guy is…but he is very interesting looking.

TIME:  9:34 PM
PLACE:  Dewey Destin’s Harborside Restaurant
SUBJECT:  David and StellaDella

After a hard day full of sun and sand, we went to a late supper.  These two crashed at the table soon after eating.

Vacation-Day 2 (216/365)

TIME:  7:10 AM
PLACE:  Miramar Beach, FL
SUBJECT:  Shayne and StellaDella

We were up early and walked to the beach to check it out in the daylight. 

TIME:  12:35 PM
PLACE:  Grayton Beach, FL
SUBJECT:  Charter catch

We drove east to Grayton Beach to meet up with my brother-in-law’s uncle and his family for a picnic.  This charter pulled up behind our shelter with it’s catch.



We buried DramaQueen in sand and made her into a mermaid. 

The kids had fun, swimming and collecting sea treasures.

It was a wonderful day.

Not On The School Supply List (226/366)

“You cannot teach a crab to walk straight.”

Aristophanes (The greatest representative of ancient Greek comedy, 450-385 BC)

TIME:  2:58 PM
PLACE:  The mall
SUBJECT:  Hermit crab

It was StellaDella’s turn to go shopping for back-to-school clothes today.  After eating lunch at St. Louis Bread Co. (Panera Bread to the rest of the country), we braved the crowds at the mall.  She insisted on stopping at this store so she could check out the hermit crabs.  We did not purchase any – I told her they were not on the list.

Gingersand (324/365)

“Xander: Wait. Hansel and Gretel? Bread crumbs, ovens, gingerbread house?
Giles: Of course. It makes sense now.
Buffy: Yeah, it's all falling into place. Of course that place is nowhere near this place.”

"Gingerbread." *Buffy the Vampire Slayer.* Perf. Nicholas Brendon, Anthony Head, and Sarah Michelle Gellar. 12 Jan. 1999. Television.

TIME:  3:49 PM
PLACE:  Downtown
SUBJECT:  Sand Gingerbread House

As part of our city’s annual gingerbread Christmas festivities, several local businesses and our Main Street group sponsored the sculpting of this sand gingerbread house on our public square for the Christmas season.  The sand sculptor started on Wednesday morning and was finished by this afternoon.  During the month of December, our city also has an annual gingerbread house building contest (one of these years I’d like to enter), a 5K run and a downtown gingerbread cookie walk.  Santa arrives next week Friday in the annual Santa Claus parade.  Kids will be able to visit him in his cottage right next to the ginger-sand house.

Sands Of Time (105/365)

 
“The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.”

 Niccolo Machiavelli (Italian writer and statesman, Florentine patriot, author of 'The Prince', 1469-1527)

TIME:  6:47 PM
PLACE:  Back yard
SUBJECT:  Sand toy

StellaDella loves to play in our sandbox.  What I can’t figure out is how the sand seems to evaporate from it like water over time.  We had to purchase 8 bags of sand to refill it this spring.  I also had to throw away many sand toys that had become brittle and broken due to exposure to the elements.  Of course, they needed to be replaced.  What’s a sandbox without shovels, pails, trucks, sand molds, sifters, plastic animals, a watering can and a funnel/wheel combo?  Not as fun I say.  Gotta love that we can purchase all those things inexpensively from the dollar store!

Dragon Boat Races (157/365)

 
From yonder o'er
The high seas, fast encroaching:
Here Come The Dragons.

Jess C. Scott, Viking Longship, Dragonsinn, 12 Dec 2007/6 Jun. 2009, <http://www.dragonsinn.net/Poetry/haiku.htm>

TIME:  10:09 AM
PLACE:  Creve Coeur Lake, St. Louis MO
SUBJECT:  Racing Dragon Boats and StellaDella

Well, I survived the races today!  We were losers...4th place in the second to last consolation division to be exact!  But it was a good time, the weather was beautiful, the kids behaved and I'm not too sore.  I've posted more pictures at my other blog if you have a hankering to see more from the day.  Now it's late and I'm off to bed!