Pensacola: Sunburns and Crab Hunts

Oh my word. We got FRIED yesterday. We're talking red and prickly...sensitive and afraid to go outside. So we're finding "alternate activities" today...at least while the sun is in the sky. 

Shell Swap!

Shaving mutton chops just for fun...

We masked up and ventured out to find some souvenirs for the kids. We finally found some Trump merch we would be willing to support.

The kids had fun shopping. Ethan found a great beach bum hat, Laney a pretty shell windchime, Anna chose a cute beachy backpack, Everly fell in love with a stuffed unicorn with a candy jar belly. Mathew couldn't settle on anything, but we won't give up. We've got two more days to purchase a memory for him...I got a cute teal bracelet and a sunshine keychain...don't laugh..I see my keys everyday and when I do, I get to relive the memories we are making as I spend hour upon hour upon hour in my car. Mark bought flippers and a snorkel. He wanted to go out with Todd to see the fish at the reef.

We hit up Whataburger for lunch and then hung out at the Flynns condo and watched movies. I took a nap...the kind where you hope you don't snort or drool into their couch pillow, but you just can't resist. We hadn't brought our swimming suits because we couldn't imagine wanting to go back to the beach...but then...we did want to go back. I volunteered to drive back to our place to retrieve them all. I was happy to do it. I have missed my singing-out-loud time in the car. I needed to have a minute...maybe 48 minutes...to myself.  I fit in a couple dozen songs and managed to snag a picture of the iconic Pensacola Beach water tower.

We headed down just after the sun set. It felt perfect...warm and breezy.

Mathew was the most sunburned of us all. He didn't put on any sunscreen yesterday. And he paid all night for it. Poor kid didn't even sleep till 3 am when he woke me up to put lidocaine gel on and I gave him some ibuprofen. That didn't stop him from getting in tonight to do some snorkeling and letting the temporary relief of the water wash over his back. ugh...I wish I had thought to stop him and insist on sunscreen yesterday!

He was rewarded with this cool crab shell! Definitely a keeper!

Laney went out with the boogie board.

The moon rose fat and red. Pictures never ever show how amazing the sun and moon can be. I mean...this moon was HUGE. Look at that tiny little dot...ridiculous!

Courtney taught us how to find crabs in the sand with our flash lights. It was so fun!

I am telling you, these things are SO CREEPY. They are just as scary as spiders in every possible way, but the girls were chasing them down and picking them up with their hands....it was a thing to behold.

My favorite was the big ones. Everyone would circle around it and try to get it to stop scurrying, but if it got too close, screams and squeals would precede full body shivers and cowardly retreat. Mark or Todd or Anna would grab at them and try to fling them in the bucket along with a large handful of sand so as not to have to feel it's legs to much.

Bleh.

Bleh bleh....

We did eventually let them free....some of them by hand (good gravy!) and a few lept out of Anna's hands and skittered all over her legs....(no. no. no.)

The moon just got prettier and prettier.

We headed back to the condo and let the girls swim in the pool (how in the world do they still want to swim???). Courtney took a call from the our stake presidency and received a call to be a seminary teacher...she was dumbfounded and feeling inadequate.  I think that's par for the course with that calling. She'll be amazing.

 Mark made a batch of cookies and Mathew started really feeling the consequences of the additional salt water on his skin...he was torn between freezing in his shorts and needing a cool breeze on his back.  He chose to freeze it out and ease the pain.

Kylie and Muttonchop Eef...sharing some tunes.

Ice cream and video games until we could barely see straight.

What shall we do tomorrow? Well...maybe we should, um, go to the beach and hang out with the Flynns?

Good plan.

Pensacola: Testimonies and Beach Bums

We slept in until 8 am (that's pretty late for us)....we needed it. We wanted to get breakfast and have our sacrament meeting before heading back out to the water. I'll admit. I wasn't feeling so into trying to hold church...but Mark led out and called everyone to gather around. It's the 2nd of August, so that means it's supposed to be testimony meeting. We sang songs we all know and Mark blessed the bread and water. Then he shared his testimony of the Book of Mormon and his faith in the atonement. The Spirit came into the room. I felt it and so did the kids.

Ethan shared his testimony of what it would be like to live in peace and righteousness like the people in Fourth Nephi. How he felt like we would experience that when Christ comes again.

Mathew talked about looking out on the moonlit ocean last night and feeling the joy of the world and knowing that God created us to be happy and make happy memories with our families. 

Anna talked about learning what prayer can do for her. She feels Heavenly Father helping her when she remembers to pray and notices the difference when she doesn't. 

Laney was also thinking about how beautiful the world is and grateful that we get to take a trip with our family and spend this time together. 

Everly was snuggled up next to me and I could see she was feeling safe and happy. She shared how much she loves us all and that she knows Heavenly Father loves us. 

I was looking at each of my kids and thinking of all the hard things we have gone through and the fun times we've had together. I've been spending so much time writing about these past years as I catch up the blog and it has given me a sweeping perspective on our lives. It might sound strange, but I almost felt like I was standing back and looking at us with the understanding and love that God has for us. I can see that my kids are learning and growing. They are thinking about their own lives and their place and purpose in His plan. I needed to feel that and I needed to put it into words for them. 

Megan said she didn't have anything to share, but I will say that I know this girls heart and I see her everyday struggling with herself and disciplining her thoughts and actions to be better and do better. I am so grateful for Mark and his determination to do right and teach the kids to do right. It was an unexpected morning and true gift.   

Now on to the day! The ocean calls!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

We alerted the Flynns that they better get up out of bed because we are coming to park at their condo and take advantage of their beach access.

We will always and forever be obsessed with finding shells.

My only request for the day was that everyone wait for just a second before bounding into the water and come be in a family photo. I guess you could say it wasn't so much a request as it was a mandate. We are becoming quite familiar with mandates in this Covid-19 world.

Consider this a Mama Mandate. That has a nice ring to it.

Our photographer....Laynie Peterson...capturing a pre-shoot selfie. I need to remember to do this the next time someone asks me to take a picture for them.

And then we had a day at the beach! Talking and relaxing, hopping over the waves and finding all of the shells.

The Space X astronauts landed off Pensacola shore about 2 pm.  We were all watching to catch a glimpse, but we didn't see anything. That would have been super cool!

And when we were properly dehydrated and completely fried, we packed up and headed back to the house. Showers and normal clothes, then naps and Jurassic Park.

I ran to the store for emergency sunburn gel. We all got a lesson in proper sunscreen application. We made spaghetti for dinner and headed over to the Flynns to hang out and let the teenagers hang out at the beach. The little girls took a dip in their pool, Courtney and I chatted as we watched them and Mark and Todd watched a basketball documentary. We all ended back inside when the mosquitoes started to get hungry.

The big kids all started dragging in and they had been attacked by the little boogers. Poor Emma had more than 30 bites. Ethan came in second place. Ouch!

We were all exhausted and ready to go, but Anna and Courtney were battling it out with a game of Exploding Kittens.

When we got back to our place, not teeth were brushed, no faces were washed...the house was silent within 5 minutes.

Pensacola: Travel and the Moonlit Beach

We left at 2 am....TWO. AY.  EM.

Mark took the first shift of driving and everyone else slept...I mostly slept, just with that strange sensation of hurtling at top speeds through backroads and wondering if an airbag deployment will break my legs. 

Mark opted for the route that largely stayed off the freeways. It was a more direct route, but it meandered through state routes and small towns. He chose well! We saw so much beautiful country.

Gorgeous sunrise in Arkansas

The stunning bridge over the Mississippi River

Tree lined routes in Yazoo County, Mississippi.

Open air sky scrapers in Mobile, Alabama

Driving under the water in George Wallace Tunnel in Mobile. The kids were totally freaked out...mission accomplished!

And finally....Pensacola! We checked into our Airbnb, let the kids relax while we ran for groceries, had cereal for dinner and went to find the Flynns and soak in the beach. The moon was so bright!

We spotted two mermaids!

The water was perfect.