Blondie and the Beach

Monday was a VERY busy day! We all got ready early and headed out for a day at the beach! Well, that's what we thought, anyway!

We stopped at one of the beach stores called Alvin's Island and got some beach shoes, flip flops, cute flowers for MacKenzie's hair, and a new beach hat for Momma. Then we traveled out to Ft. Pickens to see the fort and go to the beach. As we were driving out the long road in the National Park, we saw an osprey guarding its lunch-a good sized fish! I had never seen an osprey before, so that was VERY exciting to me! We stopped at the camp store and they confirmed that it was an osprey. They said that there are about 16 or so osprey nests at Ft. Pickens every nesting season. After driving out through the fort area, we headed back towards Pensacola Beach and one of the spots where you can park and walk out to the beach. In the meantime, Uncle Pat called and wanted to meet for lunch. We decided that would be lovely so we kept going right on to Pensacola Beach! We saw another osprey in a different location on the way back, sitting on a tree branch next to a nest. So exciting!

We met Uncle Pat, Matt and Matt's dad who had just driven down from Pittsburgh, PA at Flounders. Flounders is a great restaurant on the Santa Rosa Sound side of Pensacola Beach. The restaurant opens up right to the beach, where they have a little playground and a volleyball court. MacKenzie got to play a bit while we ordered and again after lunch. I had a great hamburger that was topped with shrimp, crab, fish and Swiss cheese. So good!

Then it was on to the beach! We all set out for the beach under the water tower painted to look like a beach ball. We set up our chairs, and hung out there for a while.
MacKenzie got wet in the waves...the water was cold! You should have seen her face! She built a sand castle with Daddy, looked for seashells, and played with her sand toys.


She loved having so much freedom! It must have felt like the world's biggest sandbox to her! I got to walk a little bit and look for some seashells. While I was picking up shells, a young man who was also looking for shells started a conversation with me. He was stationed at Pensacola, and was from Nebraska. He was looking for shells to send home for his mother, who loves seashells. So sweet! I found some that were perfect and unusual, so I gave them to him to send back to her.
After the beach, we were all VERY tired! We didn't do much that evening at all...we started dozing off in the den before 8pm!

Rain and the Renaissance

Saturday was extremely rainy here in Pensacola. The rain brought a bit of a cold front, so evenings are a little chilly!

Because the rain was relentless, we decided to go to the Gulf Coast Renaissance Faire on Sunday. So everyone gathered at Grandma Myra's house and we had Christmas instead!

Mom and I cooked a big spaghetti dinner for everyone on Saturday night. We had a lot of fun! Just about everyone was here...Grandma, Sommer, Kim, Pat & Matt...we had a great time all together.

Sunday was Renaissance Faire day! We all got ready to go early and drove out to the Pensacola Fairgrounds. It was very temperate at the house, but when we got there, the wind was wild! None of us were really dressed appropriately! It didn't slow us down, however.



The first stop was was an inflatable bouncy castle for MacKenzie. Poor Sommer had to crawl in the castle to get MacKenzie out! She was having so much fun that she just didn't want to leave!


Next was lunch...we filled up on corn dogs, teriyaki chicken & rice, pulled pork and other festival foods!

Then it was off to see Full Metal Jousting from the History Channel show on TV! We were soooooo close to the field...when the knights on their Percheron horses rode by, they almost touched Myra's head! It was kind of like a hockey game- I am not a big fan of violence and folks hurting each other on purpose, however, it was exciting and I was one of the first to holler when the first knight was unseated! We got to meet one of the jousters and his horse named Paladin after the show. Very cool! (Paladins were warriors of Charlemagne's court, by the way)


Then we moseyed along looking at various pseudo-renaissance goodies, until we found Arabia where my teacher from a bellydance workshop that I took a while back in Pensacola was performing with her troupe, SARAAB. I watched for a while: long enough to really start to miss dancing!
We started making our way back to the entrance, and spied an elephant ride. I am never too fond of those either...I don't often think that the animals are cared for well enough. However, I met the man who was offering the rides, and he was great! He has been working with his elephant (he actually owns Judy) and has been working with her for almost 40 years. She responded to him with just his voice. No poking and prodding was needed. You could tell that they had a relationship, and they liked each other. MacKenzie INSISTED on a ride on Judy! So I caved, paid the $10 for both Chris and her to ride, and away they went! MacKenzie is certainly going to think there is NOTHING in the world that she can't do!


We met up with some shady pirates on the way out of the gate. Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew gave MacKenzie a dragon's tear (pretty red gem!)...but she wasn't really sure she wanted to hang out with them! She didn't warm up to them until I started talking about them being hungry for "Grandma's noodle pudding". That's from a book we read over and over and over, called Grandma and the Pirates. THEN she was ok, but she stayed in Momma's arms the whole time, regardless!


We stopped for ice cream on the way back to Grandma Myra's house. Poor MacKenzie slept through the whole thing! Didn't even get a lick! Oh, well...there's always tomorrow...!

Hobby Lobby or bust!

MacKenzie fell asleep in her sleeping bag Thursday night, but was sleeping on the hardwood floor by morning. Boy, was she tired! Friday morning started out with MacKenzie swinging with Great Grandma Myra on the swing out in the garden. It looked like so much fun that I finished the rest of my book out on the swing when they came inside. Aahh...relaxation!



MacKenzie is enjoying all of the people watching her...especially cousin Sommer! I barely get to see her- except for naptime, bedtime, meals and diaper changes!

Mom and I went to Hobby Lobby today and had a little fun. We bought a few things, but we didn't do too much because we knew there would be nowhere to pack anything for the ride home!

We hung out the rest of the day with the family...so nice!

We Made It!

The first leg of our trip here to Pensacola, Florida was a wet one! It rained for the first four hours of the drive. We were blessed with a new friend's offer to borrow their clam shell luggage carrier for the top of our car. With the way it was attached, the rain wicked into the interior of the car and dripped on each one of us! It filled up the cup holder in MacKenzie's car seat and dripped on everyone's shoulder for four hours! I finally had the inspiration to attach diapers to the ceiling and tuck them in the windows to soak up the drips...we got them all hooked up, and the rain stopped! It started to rain once more close to Pensacola, and we "diapered up" again, but it was just a couple of bursts of rain. Ah...the adventures begin!



We stopped in Alabama (and a few other places...too numerous to mention) at the Welcome Center to stretch and repack a little. Much to our pleasure, it was 70 degrees and sunny there! MacKenzie played with some fuzzy little dogs named Bandit and Bella, and got to run around a bit with Daddy. We were so excited to see pansies in bloom! After that, we saw lots of redbud trees in bloom and a beautiful white-blossomed tree all along the highway.


We stopped at a pecan farm for a late lunch. Unfortunately, the trees were no longer productive enough, so it isn't a working farm anymore. However, there were lots of pecan-based foods...I had vegetable soup with pecan corn bread! Yummy! MacKenzie watched them working in the kitchen to make the pecan goodies for a little bit before we got on the road.




We looked at the beautiful azaleas blooming after we crossed into Florida. Such beautiful pinks and purples...rich and jewel-toned! Grandma Myra's azaleas are spectacular, lining the edge of her backyard. After we greeted the family, MacKenzie explored the gardens with Grammy. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more!

Grandma Myra had her famous Italian Chicken waiting for us when we got here. Yum!

MacKenzie made friends with Tinkerbell, the French Bulldog, and Amy the Pug right away. Tinkerbell isn't too thrilled to be chased by her (gently, though!), MacKenzie saying "Pinkerbell, I want you!" the whole way! Amy, however, LOVES to play with Kenzie, and it is kind of reversed. She doesn't really know what to do with a puppy that wants to play constantly! MacKenzie was asking Tinkerbell to play by bringing her dog toys to her...Tinkerbell was NOT interested. Amy chased MacKenzie down the hall because she was carrying one of the dog toys...Kenzie let out a "whoop" as she was running...it scared her! They made up quickly once MacKenzie understood what happened.