This year our family’s over thirty years of vacationing at the grandparents’ condo in Miramar Beach comes to an end.

When I got engaged to my husband Alan in 2002, I took my very first trip to Miramar Beach. Alan’s mom, who we call Nonna now, took me to her parents’ condo. We walked on the beach, ate out, went shopping, and had a great time.

Nonna’s dad was a contractor. He built these condos in the 1970s. How cool is that? He built them, and he bought one for himself. It seems like he rarely visited the beachside getaway himself. Instead, Grandaddy and Grandma Cunningham kept this condo up so all of their children could enjoy the beach with their families.

They made summer vacation an affordable pursuit for all of us. Without this condo in Miramar Beach, I doubt many of us would have seen so many beach days.

Since the condo was built in the 1970s, Alan and his family and cousins and aunts and uncles have summered in Miramar for as long as Alan can remember.

When I discovered this place, it was pure magic.

I have always loved the beach! This place was perfect. It is across the street from the beach. In the earlier days, there were two pools. Now it’s one larger pool, very small child friendly.

There used to be a playground too, and for a while, a giant sandbox surrounded the playground. John David buried two of his Batman toys in that sandbox one year. He buried them so well nobody was ever able to find them again. JD’s sand obsession was kind of a problem for a few years there.

Joshua went down the slide on that playground a million times the year he was a toddler with no younger brother. He had our full attention for about twenty months. After that, things got crazier and crazier.

There were so many wonderful years. Let’s go through all of them and start at the beginning. Don’t you love it when stories are told in order?

Let’s start with Alan’s early years of going to Miramar Beach. Throwing it back to the 1980s/early 1990s.

Alan’s mom and her sister, Janet, used to take their kids to the beach together every year. Doesn’t that sound fun? Cousins really are your original built in friends.

And then in 2002, Alan and I got married and we established our own family beach traditions.

But my first trip to the family condo was actually with Alan’s mom. I think Alan was away on an Army assignment. I remember well how amazing I thought the condo was that very first visit. I mean, wow! Imagine having a beach house you can go stay at every year for free.

To quote an adorable preschool boy I overheard at the condo pool a few years ago, “Is this life?”

My heart melted when I heard him ask his mom that, as they sat on the side of the pool, literally enjoying life. I feel that too when I am relaxing by the pool or the beach.

2002

My second condo trip was far less relaxing, but quite exciting. Alan and I were married by then. Alan was stationed in Oklahoma for five months for training. Meanwhile, I was finishing up my degree at the University of Alabama.

One weekend, Alan was the best man in his college roommate Tom’s wedding. Alan flew into Destin for the wedding. Alan’s sister and I drove down from Birmingham to join him and attend the wedding. We all three stayed at the condo together.

I think Amy and I drove into Destin especially late at night that weekend. Then the wedding was the next night. All I know for sure is somehow we were both extremely sleep deprived. I don’t know why exactly we were so tired.

On our drive back from Destin to Birmingham, we could not drive safely or think straight because we were so sleepy. We pulled off whatever highway we were driving on, found a small church parking lot, and conked out. I don’t know how long we slept, probably twenty minutes. It was long enough to survive driving the rest of the way home.

2003

In 2003, Alan flew off to Iraq. He didn’t get to lounge by the beach that year. For Mother’s Day weekend, Nonna and Amy invited my mom and me to join them for some Destin shopping and Mother’s Day photos. Pretty cool, huh?

2004

When Alan came home from Iraq, and got all of his required return-home-sanity classes done, we headed to Destin. Alan and I basically set up housekeeping for ten days at the condo. We entertained family and friends there and enjoyed all that Miramar Beach has to offer without a care in the world. This is how we did the beach back when we had no children. I cannot even remember what that was like.

My mom, Aunt Ann, and Melony even came by and visited. They got in some pool time. Then Ann regretted sitting quite so close to the water.

I love Ann so much. Finding these pictures was such a blessing. Ann passed away in the fall of 2023, and this was such a humongous loss to our family. I haven’t been able to bring myself to blog about Ann yet, but someday soon I will. It’s just hard.

I stayed at the condo when I went to Jennings’ beach wedding. I think that was 2004.

2006

In 2006, Joshua was still in his first year of life, and the photos are a preciousness overload. I love these so much.

2007

We had to go to the beach early that year. I knew once we had a newborn it would be too challenging. We went in March, and I was six months pregnant with Caleb.

The condo was booked, as the “snowbirds” were staying there. We are creatures of habit though, so we booked ourselves another condo at the same place, right across the pool from Alan’s grandparents’ condo. It was a smaller one, with only one bedroom, on the bottom floor only. The small condo was perfect for us in those days though. Joshua slept in a pack and play in the living room, and all was well.

This next photo is hilarious to me. It was back when the vendor in front of the condos rented bicycles, not just motor vehicles. We rented ourselves a tandem bike with a bike trailer. Poor Joshua might not have enjoyed his bike ride as much as we did.

2008

Somewhere down there, we found a Gulfarium. We got to see parrots and dolphin shows, and it was a great place. I don’t know if it is even still there.

I remember Alan and I managed to squeeze in one last beach trip that year before he was off to Iraq again.

This story, y’all!

The photo above with baby Caleb and Joshua in the little pool is a key moment. that was right after, or right before, Caleb picked up a whole, live, beta fish, and put it in his mouth!!

You see Alan out there, bent over in the ocean? He had a bucket, with which he scooped up a beta fish. Then he put it in the baby pool, and the baby went right to work with his chubby little hands. He was determined to catch that fish, and he did! Then he tried to eat the fish!!! We laughed so hard that day. I mean there was a moment of panic, but we got the fish out, and then we laughed.

When I saw this photo, and as I pass the outlet malls down there, I feel a twinge of sadness. I forgot about how I used to get to go shopping on vacation. Can we bring that back? I have not done that in ten years, at least.

2009

In 2009, Alan was in Iraq. Dad and Mom and my brother came down and visited us for the day while we were staying at the condo. Back then, my dad had a bay boat he used to love to take out fishing in Florida.

That was an incredible day. Number one, I love boating. For another thing, my parents were a consistent part of our parenting team during the second Iraq deployment. It was wonderful to get to share this with them and take the boys out on their first boat ride.

Caleb had a little trouble with seasickness, and then he fell asleep. Joshua, on the other hand, was old enough to thoroughly enjoy to the boat ride, playing water guns, and stopping on an island and looking around for seashells.

2012

Summer 2012 was an extra exciting beach year. Alan returned home from Afghanistan in April of 2012. We did several fun family things that year, to include this beach trip.

I worked so hard that summer to get back in shape. I remember walking on the beach each morning, feeling ecstatic that my size 12 Bermuda shorts were falling down loose on me.

I spent the winter of 2011-12 living with my parents until Alan got back from Afghanistan, and I had consumed an ungodly amount of chocolate chip cookies. Dad and I had ourselves a ball buying the dough at Sam’s and making cookies. Poor Mom had to go to work everyday, and we were at home baking and playing with babies. That was before gluten turned against me.

2015

For 2015, we made time for the condo again. Even though we lived in California, the beach there was not the same. You cannot beat the Emerald Coast with its white sand, warm weather, and aquamarine water.

I swear we were more fun and adventurous when we were younger. Nowadays, we go to the pool, the ocean, and a restaurant or two. Back then we’d go to malls, movies, and we even checked out the Harbor Walk Village.

2016

In 2016, we moved back to the South, and we went to Disney World. I have no idea how we found time to go to the condo too, but I found this photo from 2016:

I don’t know what year they reconstructed the pool, but it was definitely done by 2016. JD destroyed that poor Woody doll between all the sand, the pool, and the markers. But if Woody’s goal was to be played with, he was the happiest toy ever.

2017

I remember taking so many boys to the beach and the pool used to be so much work. It was draining and hard, but I always knew it was important and it was worth it. The photos and the memories are glorious preciousness and I love it so much. Now when we go it’s so much easier. No one even runs away when I whip out the sunscreen. It’s too easy.

2018

I know Alyson’s kids used to enjoy that float too. We all shared it for years. That storage closet of floats and buckets was so awesome. After a few years, the favorite float died, and we were all sad to see it go. There is an awesome new one down there though that is basically a boat!

In 2018, we were moving again, so the fact we even made it to the beach was a miracle.

2019

I remember this trip well because it was a moving year and the summer of my 20th high school reunion. Before the reunion, we went to the beach. We were kind of between houses. I think we’d moved our stuff but had not really unpacked it all yet.

In earlier years, we used to always go to Destin Commons at some point for either a movie, a Bass Pro Shop visit, or Barnes & Noble. Look at how nicely they all used to read. We aren’t as good about that as we used to be.

2020

In 2020, we didn’t make it to the beach until August. We all remember what a disaster that year was.

2021

After a year of solid quarantine in Maryland, it was extra special to go down to Florida and get to live life free and mask-less. The strict, drawn out lockdown policies in Maryland were a real downer.

2022

In 2022, we were again in the middle of a move. I didn’t take as many pictures that year.

I always make everyone take at least one evening walk on the shore. JD and Joshua usually throw the football the whole time as they are walking. It sounds impossible, but they make it work. In fact, I’ve been dragging everyone out on these evening beach walks for so long, I think they are starting to like it.

My mom laughed and laughed in 2022, when I told the boys, “Okay, everybody let’s go to the beach!”

And they said, “Nooooo!!!”

Sometimes, I think maybe their life may have been a little too exciting because they seem to crave low-key, couch time.

Alan isn’t much better about it than the kids. He was excited about chillin’ in the condo too. We were out walking on the beach that night, and Alan turned to me and said, “Is this what you wanted?
What do you do with a bunch of homebodies on vacation? It’s hilarious. I laughed and laughed. We now say that all the time whenever we go anywhere at all. “Is this what you wanted??”

2024

Many years we manage to get Nana to come down for a day or a night. We always enjoy that, and I think it’s good for Nana too. Wouldn’t it be great if we could just go to the beach all the time??

I’m proud to report that everyone went to the beach without complaining in 2024. They were all good, energetic sports this year.

I think 2024 was the year everyone in the family was most excited to go. Everyone expressed their regrets that this was our last time at the condo.

When Grandaddy passed away, we knew no one else would be able to afford to keep it up for everyone. The condo has to be sold at the end of this summer. It will always hold a special place in our hearts and memories. I have no idea what we will do for summer vacations from now on! I guess we will all have to try some new things. That’s fine too.

But for now, it’s an end of an era, and we are all so grateful for the time we shared at Seacove Condominiums in Miramar Beach.

I hope everyone in the family (and it’s quite a large family) gets to enjoy the condo one last time this year!

The post Over 35 Years of Miramar Beach appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

This retreat was 100% necessary.

It is hard for me to even sit here and describe how desperate I was to get away two weeks ago because I returned fully restored, better than before. I am on the other side of that mental wall of misery now. Life is good and happy again, and I fully mean that.

When I packed my bags and left Alan with the boys, I did not even fully grasp why I need this so badly. I just knew that Alan works at home now, so he could handle the boys for the weekend just fine.

I did not realize how bad off my mental/emotional state truly was until I sat down on the airplane, buckled my seatbelt, was looking out the window, and heard a child cry. This was probably a preschool aged child. How many times have I flown with a child and had to quiet down a baby or a toddler on an airplane?

When I hear that sound, my heart always goes out to the parents. I have been that parent so many times. This time though the sound of the crying hit something deeper in my brain, down in my spirit, something I have pushed to the corners that comes overflowing out when I least expect it.

Tears.

No! No! I am not going to sit here and silently cry on this airplane. It is hard to explain why tears were so close to the surface, but I am going to try to explain myself anyway. All those memories of handling babies and toddlers on airplanes, they are all tied up in difficult memories I have of the hard work that I put in through all these years of being an Army wife.

I hear that crying, and instantly I am twenty-five years old, flying alone with my six-month-old to begin a new life in Texas. Alan will follow me in two weeks, but for now it is just me and the baby.

At the same time, I am twenty-eight years old, flying with a toddler and four-year-old alone because I wanted to visit Alabama longer than Alan had off from work. That day the flight was delayed two hours, and after hours of keeping the boys entertained in the airport, I was already on edge when I got on the airplane where I had to make sure Joshua did not come in contact with any peanuts, which seemed to be everywhere in those days.

The sound of the crying starts, and suddenly I was thirty-two, flying home with one-year-old John David to visit my parents who I do not get to see very often because we have lived in the D.C. area for five years. I remember that day there was a super kind lady on the plane who walked down the aisle and gave me a new and different toy for J.D. to play with so he would stop crying.

I am thirty-three years old, flying with all four of our boys to California. Mom flew with me because Alan is already in school.

There were so many moves, and there were so many airplane rides with small children and me. Somehow Alan usually was not there, and I cannot even remember all of them or why I took all of them. I just remember standing in the aisle, softly singing to my baby so he would not cry on the airplane.

I remember landing at BWI airport, with a baby, I don’t even remember which one, in tow, and completely unable to find my car in the parking garage at eleven p.m.

So all of this starts to flash through my head, and water is beginning to leak out of my eyes, while my nose fills up with the overflow of salty tears. I stiffen myself. NO! This is not the place. Every flight attendant on this airplane knows who I am because I am flying with Jennings. (I was alone in a three-person seat though, thanks to the rona.)

Instead, I focused my brain as hard as I could on praying that child to stop crying. He or she was asleep in like one minute. Thank you, Jesus!

Thankfully, I recovered, and Jennings soon joined me to talk all the way to Atlanta.

I had NO idea my brain was going to go in that direction from a simple airplane ride.

But the thing was that my head was already in that fragile place, from all the recent weeks of feeling trapped and homesick, so the airplane ride just kind of nudged me closer to the edge.

The first time this ever happened was the day I listened to a speech about the Combat Reboot program at my church. It just sort of lanced an emotional boil that had been festering for a while. Ew. Gross imagery. Sorry, guys.

Let me explain about that. Our church here in Maryland, back in the days when we all got to go to normal church, has a Combat Recovery program. One day the organizer for the Combat Recovery program spoke at a church business meeting. She was promoting the program and looking for new people to join and/or lead it. Alan has even been asked to lead the group, as it has to be lead by a combat veteran, but this is not Alan’s calling. I totally get that, as I feel that way about many things. Being a combat veteran does not automatically make you a good leader for veterans with PTSD.

I, of course, am not at all a combat veteran. Nor do I have combat PTSD. I have never seen war, lived with the daily threat of enemy fire, or had to watch friends die or be mutilated. Those are certainly not my issues.

However, as she stood up there talking about military veterans and their spouses and the challenges that they face and how this group can help them, I became a complete and total WRECK. I sat there and silently bawled my eyes out for what felt like twenty minutes. It was so humiliating and unexpected.

“Why??” I kept wondering. Why am I crying so much, and why can’t I stop??? And I could. not. stop. crying. It was terrible.

It was like every time she said the word “military” my heart just poured out more grief. This is so hard to explain, but again, I will try. I literally was left wondering if military wife PTSD could possibly be a thing. Maybe this is because this could be our last duty station? Or because we are nearing our twenty year mark? I don’t know, but suddenly, here it is.

When I was at this meeting, we had only moved in three or four months past. I was fresh off two years of moving in a row, five moves in four years, and eleven moves in eighteen years. Then there were those year long, fifteen-month, and six-month long deployments where I juggled the kids.

So many nights of being new in town, and it is like all the emotions of all those hard things that we dealt with in the midst of all these years as a military family just piled on top of each other in a very untidy fashion. You know how you stack things that are not equal sizes, and if you stack big things on top of little things and crooked on top of straight, and after a while it all just starts to slide?

Well, that day we had a full on avalanche of pent up feelings. When you are tense and fighting through a move or a family separation or a war deployment or being new year after year after year after year, it catches up with you.

This had never happened to me before, crying over I was not even sure what! I think it is the eighteen years of it just catching up with me. We could retire in two years, and I am so extremely ready to do just that. Retire and buy a house in Alabama, land of my forefathers. Maybe the Army thing possibly being almost over is a whole other part of it. I don’t know.

All the feelings started to come out my eyes and my nose:

-hurt -disappointment -uncertainty -inadequacy -failure

-abandoned– So many times I felt abandoned to deal with raising the boys alone. It was not Alan’s fault. He was doing his job, and that meant he had to go overseas sometimes. I knew that with my head, but sometimes it felt an awful lot like plain old alone. Maybe it was wrong, but it was a feeling I had to deal with.

-exhaustion -confusion -worry -frustration -anger

Well, obviously, I could go on and on. That was when I realized that no, Alan was right, combat recovery was not a good program for us. He did not feel like he needed it, and I needed recovery too much to go. That would have been a whole lot more of facing all those emotions that busted out all suddenly on me, and I could not handle it. I really couldn’t.

That incident was late last fall, and I had not had another moment of raw emotion like that one at the church business meeting until this flight to Florida.

But I am happy to tell you that I held it together for another twenty-four hours.

Then I spilled it all out onto Jennings, and somehow I feel like I ACTUALLY worked through it, to the point that I am not even the same and I am able to sit here and type about it without coming apart at the seams. I cried it all out in Florida. Poor Jennings! She got an earful!

Do you know why it helped?

Maybe crying it out, facing your problems, and talking about it always helps. I am not sure, but there was an extra layer present at Jennings’ beach bungalow. That added factor was the way that she pointed me back to what matters, to Jesus. She kept pulling up her Church at the Highlands telecasts and Christian music playlists, and it was exactly what I needed.

With God on your side, you are not relying on your own inner strength alone to get you through hard things. With God there is a bigger comforter and help that goes further than you could get on your own.

Jennings and I talked about our current problems, and we laughingly discussed and debated our old foes too. Together, we even combed Facebook and successfully found one of our friends from college days who we thought we would never be able to find. It was so good just to see her smiling face, looking exactly the same.

Every morning we ate our eggs and walked on the beach. Ugh, I would rather have cereal or a pop tart like in my younger days. Why won’t my pant size cooperate with that??

Then every evening we would take one or two walks. Two different nights we went out around midnight to search the beach for sea turtles laying eggs in the dark. There were none to be found though.

We got sun burned, ate lunch on the beach under our umbrella, and even went souvenir shopping. You might be happy to know that even down in Florida, they took our temperatures at the store, and everyone was required to wear a mask.

I got the cutest souvenirs ever, and I bought every single one of my boys (even Alan) a new Melbourne Beach t-shirt.

With every ounce of seriousness inside of me, I am telling you that this trip was a gift from God. He knew I needed it, and I am so thankful I got to go. The Lord saw my exasperation with lockdown isolation and homesickness, and he blessed me with a ticket to get me through until we visit our family in August.

If you are feeling miserable, pray!! Pray for help. You never know what that help may look like or what form it may come in, but don’t turn it down when it arrives!! You never know what God may have in store for you.

Seize the day! And pray!

We cannot wait to see all of our dear family in August! You will be getting the most desperate-for-people and visiting version of us ever. Ha! I hope you are ready!

The post Weekend Retreat: Dealing with Military Wife PTSD. Is that a thing? appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

The beach is my favorite place to go in the summer, but it can be expensive and dangerous for a family full of pale skinned people. This year we actually managed to take a thrifty trip to Miramar Beach without getting sun-burned!

Alan and I are always dreaming up fun things to do together as a family, and our efforts are often met with …….resistence.

One of our fellas actually lamented, “I don’t want to go to the beach. I just want to stay home and hang out at the house.”

Sigh. Well, perhaps we were hasty in taking a beach trip the very second that school let out, but that’s life. Children are still at the mercy of the parents’ summer schedules. We are at the mercy of their’s the rest of the year.

When I was a child, I would have never said, “I don’t want to go to the beach!” I don’t think I ever did go to the beach until I was around 13 years old, and it was something I was exceedingly grateful for.

That just goes to show that the more accustomed to wonderful things that a person is, the less we appreciate those wonderful things.

John David was not the beach-resistor. He couldn’t wait to go, but once he got there he was soon disenchanted and ready to head to the pool.

Have no fear. The moment the reluctant boy sat foot on the beach, he never complained again. In fact, Alan took all the other boys to the pool after an hour, while I stayed at the beach with Joshua until I began to worry about our sun protection.

Look closely to see a small boy in a yellow shirt, stealing a float from an older brother. He made the snatch, and he fled the scene. Joshua and I sat and laughed.

To be fair, it wasn’t stealing exactly. We share the floats. He decided it was his turn. Caleb, who was using it as a basketball net, but was pausing to fetch his ball, didn’t notice until JD was safely on the opposite side of the pool.

I was extra careful about sunscreen this year, and it paid off. I brought 0 sun-burned people home from the beach. Hallelujah! 5/6 of us are as fair as fair can be. This was an accomplishment.

My sunscreen strategy was simple.

1. Try to keep everyone indoors between 11am and 4pm.
2. Re-apply every 1.5 hours.
3. Wear a cover-up as much as possible.
4. I wore a seriously ugly hat, and so did Alan.
5. Put swim shirts on the kids.

Egypt wasn’t built in a day, so we settled for the Sphinx and a pyramid.

WWII airplanes flew over in honor of Memorial Day.

Thrifty, thrifty, thrifty

Our other big objective this year was to spend as little money as possible on the vacation. I think that’s always been a goal for Alan, but in the past I secretly didn’t care. This year I cared just as much as Alan.

Our thrifty strategy was also simple.

1. Our condo was free. Alan’s grandparents let us stay at their place, and that’s why our family has gotten to go to the beach so frequently over the years. (Gigantic thank you to Alan’s grands!!!)
2. Only eat out once/day, and that will be a lunch.
3. Buy enough groceries to have plenty of snacks and easy to assemble meals so that no one will even ask to eat out. Success!
4. The condo has a pool. The beach is right across the street, so there is no need to pay for any other activities.
5. Rent a Redbox movie instead of going to the theatre. (Remember, we have to hide from the sun for several hours/day.)

Joshua and Daniel were all about the net fishing. They caught quite a few tiny fish and crabs.

Would you like our meal ideas that made this possible? It was so simple it’s almost embarrassing to list them.

Breakfast

cereal, eggs, and Pop-tarts

Since they are normally not allowed Pop-tarts, this is a humongous treat. I was curious if pop-tarts were any better than donuts, so I looked it up……They aren’t better, just different.

By the way: 1 Krispy Kreme glazed donut = 22g carbohydrates and 11g fat

1 Blueberry Pop Tart = 38 g carbohydrates and 5g fat

Cocoa Pebbles cereal =  25g carbohydrates and 1g fat

Eggs                    = 0.6 g carbs and 5 g fat

……Sooooo that’s why we don’t normally do pop-tarts. One of my boys gets crazy hyper from all that sugar. At least with the cereal, they get the protein from the milk to help my conscience. There’s no way I’m COOKING 3 times/day. Breakfast has to be easy.

Eggs are the clear winner, but not all of us can eat the eggs. I have a son with an egg allergy. Sad, right?

This one is allergic to nothing, and he likes his eggs dyed green and served with sausage.

Lunches and Dinners

Micro-wavable hamburgers. We are sort of fanatical about these because they are delicious, they are real, and they are brain dead easy to make quickly.

We also served egg sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, yogurt, and hot dogs while we there. It was only a 3 night vacation.

Next year maybe we’ll do a no-eating out at all policy because that would have saved us another $90, believe it or not. $90 was how much we spent on the groceries for the whole weekend, and yet that’s what it costs to take our family to a restaurant, other than fast food.

And by the way, it was a free of incident beach year too! There were no ER visit, no jelly fish stings, no rain days, and no sunburn. Ah, yeah. We fall more in love with Destin every year.

I’m 1/2 daredevil like Caleb.

I used to swim to the sand bar, and I CANNOT go to the beach without getting drenched from head to toe. It’s not possible. I don’t know how you do it. Moana was right. It DOES call you.

…..but I’m now 1/2 skiddish. I’ve been stung by jellyfish a few times, and y’all, that HURTS. Plus, I see fish and shadows, and I start to panic. Ah, if only I could have stayed young and dumb.

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[k]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

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The post The Thrifty and Sunburn Free Trip to Miramar Beach appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

This was at that big Epcot ball that is the symbol of the resort. It’s a ride that takes you through the ages of technology.

JD was a little disappointed when he met Bay Max. He had it in his head that he was going to get to “put Baymax’s stuff on him.” Translation: JD wanted to dress Bay Max in his red armor, but they told him to please not touch anything. Ha!

For most people, Epcot is all about touring the different countries, but for us it was all about 2 things. #1. Hanging out with our friends and #2. Disney characters!!!!

The best way to meet Disney characters is to schedule a meal with them.

You can splurge while you’re there, or you can buy a meal plan in advance, and then it feels like these expensive meals are free because you’ve already paid for them. (It’s called the Disney Dining plan, and I am all about it.)

In case you’ve never been to Disney World, let me caution you here that if you want to do a “character meal” at one of the restaurants that have characters walking from table to table, you should make reservations. This is very easy to do. Simply download the *My Disney Experience* app. You can make reservations about 6 months prior all the way up until the day before. I made ours 1 or 2 weeks out, and many time slots were already booked up.

At Epcot, we met Pluto, Mickey Mouse, and Chip and Dale at the Garden Grill. This was the most fun!! Each of these four classic characters were talented entertainers, and they posed with us, played with us, and cracked us up. Characters are not always this awesome.

He gave me a kiss on the head. I felt special.

JD wasn’t so sure about Pluto, so he settled for a high-five.

I can’t remember if this was Chip or Dale. They were both a hoot. Daniel must’ve really thought this place was magic. They danced with him and goofed around. Dan just laughed and laughed. We all did.

Now you know we love us some shenanigans!

Pluto, getting a sip of Caleb’s drink. (Don’t worry. Not really.)

Daniel hammed it up.

Mickey!

These next pictures tell a heart-warming story.

See, JD was a touch scared of the characters. But when he saw Mickey Mouse, and this seemed to be the REAL Mickey, he started to feel brave. JD said, “I want to see him!!”

So Mickey gestured to JD for a hug.

And JD happily accepted.

So Mickey suggested that I take a photo of him with JD.

And so we did.

It rained everyday, but that was a BLESSING. This kept the temperatures down to a manageable level.

2 tough dudes, ready to get wet

I think I’d like to be Daniel. What a fun life he has.

JD’s favorite exhibit

Our other favorite thing about Epcot was all the Nemo stuff. Or at least, it was certainly JD’s favorite. While we were waiting our turn for “Turtle Talk with Crush,” he wanted his picture made in this shark mouth so badly that we waited in a slow line behind it, and then we had to drag him out of the thing after the photo was made.

After all the shows, Lightning McQueen, character meetings, swimming, and all that were finished, and we were driving back home, I asked JD, “JD, what was your favorite thing we did at Disney World?”

“Fish. Seeing fish tanks.”

Ha! Well, we could’ve done that at Pet Smart!

Amy said that I should get that poor boy a fish tank.

We hate to give up good fun to go back to the room for naps, so we just let JD take all of his naps in the stroller. Selfish? Maybe, but he seemed perfectly happy.

I wanted to meet Joy and Sadness from Inside Out. I thoroughly enjoyed that movie, but their line was always 40 minutes long, and very few things in life are worth that. This was as close as I got.

We loved it when our bus rides back to our room were practically empty.

And that’s all, folks! After Epcot, we had dinner with our friends at the Grand Floridian, which was beautiful. The boys LOVED the water slide at their pool, but my camera was dead, so I have no photos of that evening. It sure was fun, though.

What are you all doing for fun this summer? How much longer before your kiddos go back? We are only a week out now. I can’t believe it!

Like reading about Disney World? Read more here:

Disney Day 1: Deep Thoughts from the Magic Kingdom 2016

Animal Kingdom with Toddlers

Disney World 2009 with 2 Toddlers

The post Day 2: Partying with Mickey Mouse and Pals at Epcot appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Animal Kingdom was the most important park of all to Joshua, who was still in his obsessed-with-animals phase.

We loved the Disney parades.

Total bliss for Joshua!

sharing his popcorn with the ducks: No, I do not know if it’s safe for ducks.

Our trip was a lot about the ducks and the water. You just can’t pick your kids’ interests. Some boys are fascinated with trains or tractors. Joshua LOVES animals and the water. We think he may be a Navy captain one day.

sweetly sharing popcorn bros

Day 2: The Animal Kingdom

The Animal kingdom was obviously highly anticipated by Joshua. This boy was so excited he RAN from the bus to the park entrance, and all day he said, “I want to see animals. Where’s the elephants? How about some lions?” He was so HAPPY. (and so COLD. This was the coldest day. We started out a little later to miss the 20 degree weather, but it was still literally freezing.)

Alan and 1-year-old Caleb

The first thing we did was stroll through some trails so Joshua could check out all the water and the birds. This was his first time to see flamingos. Then we went on a safari ride. It actually wasn’t quite as good as the one we went on with Nonna at Pine Mountain. But we still enjoyed it. Caleb was so cold he wasn’t even moving that day. ( I know. So sad!) He fell asleep on the safari. I think it was Joshua’s favorite thing of the day.

We had lunch at Tusker House, which has a very African flair. Then (on my insistence b/c I was tired of being cold and worried about Caleb!) we went to see the Lion King show. It was great, and the boys loved it! Joshua’s been making wart-hog noises ever since, and that’s a pretty annoying sound.

The Lion King show was a life-saver: entertaining and indoors!!

Then we took a zoo-like walk where the tigers and birds are. We tried to take in an outdoor bird show, but Caleb was having none of that. And I don’t blame him. Too cold. In the afternoon we got the boys popcorn and watched the parade. Then we went to the room for a few moments of rest and headed back to The Magic Kingdom for supper with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet.

That was our only restaurant experience that ended with me heading out early while Alan picked up the tab b/c the boys were just too exhausted. But we did leave at exactly the right time to sit in the warmth of the bus to watch the fireworks! The boys loved that. Oh! And did I mention Joshua made it through all 5 days without using his pull-up once!!! So proud!! Of course there was a bush watering incident, but that’ll make a funny story one day!

I’m pretty sure that’s the only night that we stayed late enough to see fireworks. This was me in front of the lit-up castle.

The first night the boys were having a party in the room. The other nights they passed out the second their heads hit the pillow. Caleb actually slept in a playpen. We stayed at one of the value resorts, can’t remember which one, and were fully satisfied. However, the rooms are so small, we upgraded to TWO adjoining hotel rooms, and that was back when we were only a family of four. But that worked out splendidly. We even had two bathrooms that way!

The post Disney World’s Animal Kingdom with Toddlers appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

10 Reasons why I love Destin, Florida so much:

#1. There is SO MUCH to do!

Even if you just go from pool to beach, pool to beach, with outings for food, it is fun.

There are shops, water parks, golf, pools, the beach, restaurants, and so much shopping! The Harborwalk Village area is a must see!

There are also arcades, outlet shopping malls, movie theatres, a Bass Pro Shop, and mini golf places nearby, as well as a water park!

Also naps:

JD’s first year in the bottom bunk

#2. The clear, beautiful water, the warm temperatures, and the light breeze make this beach a taste of Heaven to me.

what it looks like when you don’t have your sunglasses on

See how clear this water is!!

#3. When I say Destin, I really mean the Destin area as a whole. Destin has actually become pretty crowded in recent years. It’s still worth it though.

We have a fantastic place to stay. Alan’s grandparents let us stay at their house for free.

I’m all about choosing affordable vacations.

#4. It makes my kids HAPPY. (For bucket-loads less money than Disney World)

#5. Beach activities are actually good for your health. Well, except for sunburn. See my awesome UV-protection-workout- wear- turned- swimsuit, created to cover up my sunburn so I could still have fun in the sun?

This was about not dying… 😉 (Gingers understand.)

#6. Many days, it rains and then clears up, which cools things down nicely. Florida does not have a drought like California. So you can actually play after the rain, or in the evening or early morning, with a lot less sun exposure:

Cloudy beach day = my new favorite

#7. The crystal white sand!!   Ahhhh I could run my toes through this all day, but be careful, it gets so hot that it will also burn you.

JD’s tiny foot prints

#8. Fishing Thank you to whoever left these awesome nets at the condo. Alan and the boys are still talking about it.

#9. Tradition. I love revisiting vacation spots over the years. The way we enjoy them changes, but the way the memories build and flow together make it extra special. I love seeing the boys grow in their Destin over-the-years photos.

#10. It’s family friendly. This is not Panama City Beach. I didn’t see a single car that said “Show us your boobs.” I did see plenty of young people, but not the wild MTV Spring Breaker crowd. Destin keeps it classy.

Yes, I’ve had a happy, easy summer.  We must remember to count our blessings when we’re on the mountain tops of life. Life is good, and I am soaking it in this summer. I can’t tell you how much we needed this!

“For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him.”    Psalm 103:11-13

The post 10 Reasons to Go to Destin this Summer appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

I told you that we packed up and headed South, but did I mention that Daniel is my #1 packing assistant? He is a hard worker! He’d pack one suitcase with me, and I would want to take a break, but there are no breaks with this little slave driver.

“All right. Now let’s go pack ‘yours’ suitcase!”

“Shew, Daniel, I’m tired. Let’s take a break first.”

“No, Mommy, no. Let’s go pack it now!!!”

Reminds me of someone. Nonna. I remember the time Nonna came to DC to help us unpack. Nonna arrived ready to WORK. We put the kids to bed, and Alan and I were like, “Phew. Ready for bed?”

Nope. Nonna had us all up until midnight. I still remember. We were used to unpacking by day, putting kids to bed, and then watching DVDs until we fell asleep.

Yes, it takes us a while.

Which reminds me of something else:

ACCEPTING WHO I AM, HOW I AM:

Now I do not mean accepting my sharp tongue and tendency to be insensitive. Those are sins that I should master, with God’s help. What I’m referring to is the fact that I’m not the high type A, high energy person that unpacks and decorates 2,000 square feet in a day. I don’t pop out babies and show up at church that next Sunday either. Give me about 4 weeks.

I’m slower than all that, and THAT’S OKAY. I’m a writer. If I were always running, when would I edit photos and write? When would I read? When would I look at the sky and just think? Just thinking is IMPORTANT to me, so is prayer.

God made us each different, and I love that. It makes the world more interesting.   Did I mention that when JD sleeps, he looks like an angel? He slept on Alan on the plane. We are firm believers in buying toddlers their own airplane seat, if you can afford it. We had no choice for the return flight anyway. He is officially two now!  Do you remember the post where I mentioned shopping at Cracker Barrel? Well, this is the art that we purchased, for our guest room. It was love at first sight for me and this picture.  This is Daniel, driving my dad’s scooter, just another reason my dad is so extremely popular.

Also, do you remember the story about how JD cried every night for 10 minutes when I first put him to bed, our first week in Alabama?

Good news. That’s over. He’s back to his (somewhat) laid back self. While we were still at my parents house, I decided one night, after I laid him down and covered him up, to put my hand over his heart and pray over the sweet boy. I did, and he calmed down instantly and went right to sleep. It hasn’t been a problem since.

We pray with all the boys before bed, but since JD is so young, I am praying FOR him. I love the way it soothes him.

Prayer, y’all. Confess your sins, we’ve all got ’em, and PRAY for help. I see God answer my prayers every single day.

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”  James 5:16

Sometimes I worry that because I blog, people will think I have it all together and that I’m trying to give advice. Or you will see our fun stories and think we are always this happy.

I’m not. We’re not. I only show you what I think you want to see/hear, and what I want to show you. That’s why there are no fat pictures of me on here.

When you find out that sometimes I say bad words, lose my temper, and just act like a general pain in the rear to be around, you will be so disillusioned!

Well, go ahead and be disillusioned now. I’m a selfish Southern whiny brat with a hot temper. Then I’m calm and pleasant at other times. I don’t blog to give people advice. I don’t have much to give in that department. I blog to encourage you with our stories.

I just felt like I should confess that.

Now where was I?

Nana made it, Alan wrote on it, and someone stuck a helicopter on top of it. I carried it to the table. 🙂

Oh, yeah, JD turned two, and he wanted a Cars/ Paw Patrol birthday.  All is well, so long as you do NOT sing Happy Birthday to JD. He HATES IT. No, really. He cries, buries his head, and scowls. (Another reason we call him Joshua #2. So much alike!)

I love this photo of JD watching his brothers outside.THANK YOU, Grandaddy and Grandmother, for letting us stay at your condo!! We are so happy here. The boys fell for this gag hook, line, and sinker, but I am sad to report to you that the spring no longer works, so it didn’t get to scare anyone.

Here’s Dan all suited up, and ready for the beach, while Caleb tells me a story:
We took the boys to Golden Corral.

I don’t even want to talk about this. I’ll tell you 3 lessons:

1. It takes a long time to fix plates for 5 people.

2. No, I know, you think they are old enough to handle it on their own, but they kept following me, “Can you get this for me? I can’t work the tongs.”

“Mom, where are the…”

“Where are the???”

“I can’t find the…..”

“Where’s the shrimp? Where’s the shrimp? Where’s the shrimp? But there’s a picture of the shrimp, see?”

3. I tripped over JD, and we both ended up on the floor of the Golden Corral.

I’m not going back. I’m not.

“Hey! I remember y’all, from church!” the Kona ice girl said.

Alan is the hero of this trip. He doesn’t even really like the beach. I was talking to my mom on the phone yesterday about when we plan to leave Florida.

Alan looked at me and asked, “When are we allowed to leave???”

Haaa!

Now, don’t take that the wrong way. We have an incredible and amazing, free, place to stay. It’s not that. We love our boys. It’s not that.

It’s the sand (which I love) that bothers Alan, and the sunscreen, the salt, and just the general circus act of vacation, I think. If it’s left up to him, none of the kids will see the beach part of our beach vacation again, I’m afraid.

But you know what? He does it anyway. He spreads sunscreen. He cooks breakfast. He orders supper. He spends ridiculous amounts of money on outings, and hasn’t even complained!

Adorable JD at Harborwalk Village

And it’s supposed to be Father’s Day week. What a great sport!    Alan and I are completely burned. The kids, thankfully, are fine. Alan feels a little sick from his, we’re using tons of aloe, and oh yeah, I messed my right hip up again.

Gotta love getting older.

We’ve had to modify our beach days to correspond with when the sun is less bright. I loved this recommendation from Alan’s Aunt Karen. Her entire family of 5 is red-headed! 

“Here’s us at the beach….”Kids! It’s 10:30! Run for shelter – RUN!!!!!” Then we hover in the darkness inside (eating, watching movies, playing games, maybe shopping) till about 5:30 or 6:00, when it’s finally safe to come out and play at the beach and pool during the lovely hours of dusk to around 9:30 pm. And that’s with our 80 sunscreen.”

We’ve decided to make those rules our own.

We took the kids to see the new Disney movie, Inside Out, yesterday. I laughed. I cried. I highly recommend it. 

JD was excited about this Minions display.

shaking hands with Bob. JD loves to say “Bob”.

Oh, by the way, JD is not ready for the movies. It wasn’t a total failure, but it was harder than taking two-year-old Daniel was. The attention span just wasn’t there. This movie is definitely more of an elementary age film. The concept of feelings in your brain controlling your actions was a little much for the preschool boys.

And last but not least…….

Coachcox.com: I’m still doing the premium coaching with him. I’ve lost 2.5 inches on my waist, 2 inches on my hips, and 1 inch on each thigh. That’s mostly just from drinking my water obsessively and working out a smidgen more, believe it or not.

Make Over Your Mornings: I decided to wait until after vacation to take that on. I’ll blog through it when I’m back to regular life.

We are having a summer to remember. When I think about last summer, I just remember how miserable I was. This summer is nothing like that. Phew! It feels so good to be on the other side of that. Now I get to live one more year in California. Then Alan will graduate, and we will load up the moving truck again.

But I won’t be borrowing trouble by worrying over future problems. Our business is to just take care of today.

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