The sand squeaks

Finally! A trip to the beach with my parents (Colin calls them Grandma and Grandpa G.G.!). First, Grandma and Grandpa flew on an airplane to Atlanta Thursday night, then we rented a mini-van which made Colin very happy.

Friday morning, we all loaded into the mini-van for the trek down to the condo in Destin. When we got there, we were driving along the ocean and after about 10 minutes of driving, all of a sudden, Nathan says "GAAAA"! pointing to the water. Apparently he just noticed it and was very excited about it! Nathan also does this when he sees big trucks, diggers, and things like that. Although not as loud as when he saw the ocean for the first time.

After checking into the condo, we immediately went swimming in the ocean. Nathan just went flying into the water! I have a hard time believing this is the same kid that I took to swimming lessons and whimpered the whole time in the water. I think the difference is the feet touching the bottom thing. Swimming lessons were in a pool where I had to hold him the whole time.

Dinner that night was at Buster's where Giggles the Clown gave Colin and Nathan balloon turtle watches and Mickey Mouse ears hats.

The ocean was much clearer and prettier on Saturday where we spent all morning in the water. This trip has probably made us beach snobs because I don't think you can find any prettier beaches than Destin. The water was so clear and the sand so white and sugary ... and squeaky! It was very strange. Whenever I walked it would squeak!

Unfortunately, while we were playing in the ocean, Nathan swallowed too much water or had a little bug or something because he vomited all over me (yuck!) and took a very long nap after that.

While Nathan napped, my folks and Colin and I took a walk. Bob stayed at the condo to be with Nathan and take a nap himself. The goal for our walk was pina coladas at a Tiki Hut that we saw. But we didn't know how far down the beach it was. Turned out it was quite far, and Colin was getting really tired. Said that his leg hurt and it looked like there was a rash there. My dad got stung by a jelly fish earlier, so maybe Colin had too. So no pina coladas for us.

Saturday night dinner was delivery pizza, and the activities for the night was watching Husker football. The Huskers lost, but it was to the number one ranked team, USC -- I think. Obviously I didn't watch the game. Hard to believe that I'm from Nebraska, huh!

More fun in the sun and ocean Sunday morning. Then lunch at the Whale's Tale, a beach-side bar and grille where we watched a couple parasailing and the starlings trying to steal a bite to eat. Colin met a little 2 1/2 year old girl that he let borrow his new toy cell phone. Something Colin would never do with his little brother, of course!

I was really proud of Colin in the water. He was a little tenative at first but did really well. Even went under the water a couple of times (by accident) and didn't complain too much. Bob eventually got Colin on the boogie board too. The water was the perfect height for him, just chest level.

Of course Nathan had to do the boogie board thing after seeing Colin on it. However, instead of laying on it like Colin, Nathan would sit upright. Took a lot of effort to keep the board from dumping him. Then Nathan decided to stand up on the board! It was so funny, he looked like the littlest surfer dude! But when I tried to get Nathan to do it for Bob and my folks, he fell off. Bad mom! After that, Nathan decided it was time to play in the sand ... forget about doing the water thing!

We collected lots of shells for Colin and saw lots of critters in shells -- Hermit Crabs I believe. We left those in the ocean! I even saw a big crab, well 8-10 inches maybe, in the water! I pointed it out to my mom, so what does she do? Tries to catch it! It wasn't too happy about that, tried to pinch her. Of course, this is the woman who got bit by a bat when she tried to catch it. Had to get a bunch of shots after that incident. Fortunately, my mom didn't get hurt by the crab.

Sunday evening, we reluctantly left Destin to go back to Atlanta.