Sand and Salt Water

So there will be a few more blog entries on our vacation to Panama City Beach, but this is my big picture dump of beach pictures.  The water was beautiful and my kids are just photogenic...not that I'm biased ;)

Don't forget!  The pictures look much cooler when you click on them to enlarge them!

 David and Sherry during what is probably the only moment they sat in their tent on the beach :)

Mom, Sherry, and I

 I can't remember what issue we were having this stare-down over...it was probably...was I drinking enough and had a taken my salt and did I promise to go to the condo if I felt AT ALL funny :)

This is what Clyde looked like a good bit of the time.

This is what David looked like ALL of the time (except with his face in the water.)  I'm pretty sure he got pretty close to a sting ray once.

Sherry and Lucy looking all cute!

Papa's minute on the beach.  This was while I was in bed with my light-head, so I missed it.

You can't tell it from this post, but Lucy spent 90% of her beach time on the sand digging.  HOWEVER, on the day that I went with all the boys + Iris to watch them fish, Lucy apparently spent gobs of time in the water with Sherry and Nena .....the little shnoogerbot!  But after Clyde and I got a wee bit light-headed and went to the condo, I got to witness it from the condo window :)

 Nena and Lucy in the water!  (Nena spent most of her time in the sand too, but still a surprising amount in the water!)

 Sherry, Clyde, Lucy and myself making drippy castles.

 Lucy and Nena digging....so imagine this picture about 40 more times in the blog post....

Iris made a friend, Owen, who also hails from our great state.  They spent so much time playing together, he on her orca pretending to eat her and she on the pink float being the damsel in distress.  Eventually, our two families just kind of hung out together until they went in to eat.

My ocean anxiety was a little higher this year.  So my heroic husband, in an effort to keep me relaxed and happy, took it upon himself to stand behind all of our kids with a kick board and be their own personal lifeguard, thus sacrificing his favorite activity of snorkeling in the deep!  Gotta love him!

Iris and Clyde with their catching gear.  They're intently looking for something to catch!

Lucy and Clyde digging a ditch.  This was mostly dug by Nena and Lucy, with a little assistance from the rest of us and Owen's family.  It ended up being an impressive ditch.

 Sherry and I :)

 Clydie relaxing on the orca.  The orca was used SO much more this year, than last year when Iris bought it.

Stephen tossing the boy like he's not 70lbs.

Iris's favorite activity was riding on her sole purchase for herself, her new kickboard covered in dolphins.  She got it at a bargain, used it thoroughly and spent the rest of her money on gifts.

 Clyde happily basking in the sun and sand :)

 Clydie looking a little more intense on the orca this time...he and Iris were racing here.

 While Lucy spent 90% of her time digging, Iris spent 90% of her time in the water.  Here she is, with the lifeguard in the background ;)  She had no idea Daddy was doing this for me, and would occasionally look back and in a surprised voice yell, "Oh! There's Daddy!  Hi, Daddy!"  About 20 minutes later she would 'discover' him again.  Never got old for me, I laughed every time.

 Lucy got lightheaded and over-tired one day and had to go to sleep in the condo, when she got up Sherry and I took her down to the beach, so she wouldn't miss her last day of digging in the sand.  Here we are building a drippy castle.  Notice the kick-board Stephen plunged into the sand at her back to protect her from the sun.

 A closer view of the drippy castle.

 Sherry and Lu drinking in the ocean.

 Our feet in the surf.

 She wanted to be amidst the waves, but not get cold and not have to worry about sea-creatures.  So I carried her for a while.  She let me do this for a long time :)

 Clyde divided his sand and ocean time 50/50.  It makes since, really.  He always proud of falling halfway between Lucy's and Iris's preferences because he's the middle child.  So logical, cracks me up.  Here he is examining his finds.

 Iris in a rare moment on shore.

 Expressing delight on the pink float.

 Clyde striding out for a good snorkel.

 While Iris LOVES the ocean, she is terrified of the ocean floor.  She prefers not to walk, so she managed to get in and out of the ocean a number of ways.  Here's one:  ride Mom's foot.

 Here's another:  have Daddy pull you about on your kickboard.

 Here she is happily kicking, not having to worry about the touching the sand.

 Assisting Daddy in his great digging endeavors.

 One of her favorite things to do was tie several floats and tools together.  They all had different functions, depending on the contraption of the moment.  Possible parts were: sail, anchor, paddle, fishing spear...etc.

 Lucy pleasantly sun-bathing.  Oddly enough, she liked for Sherry to come randomly flip her over with no warning.  She actually asked for this a few times.

 This is an EXCEPTIONAL picture.  My mother is nearly SUBMERSED in the water!!!

This one also!  She's wearing a hat!!!  Cuteness!!

Thank you, Nena and Papa for a wonderful beach vacation!!!!