Destin- The PTS getaway 2010

It has become a tradition that every year after tax season that we have a little getaway. Hence, the PTS getaway (Post Tax Season). This year we went to Destin, Florida. We drove down on a Friday, spent Sat, Sun, Mon and returned on Tues night. There was rain on Friday night and Saturday afternoon, and even a tornado watch Saturday night. Saturday after errands and naps, we still went to the beach while it drizzled and the kids didn't even notice! There is no way we could stay in the condo...I bet the kids had asked a billion times, "when are we going to the beach!?" Anyway, although the wind lingered, it was sunny and warm on Sunday and Monday.
Steve and I wrote some things down on the drive back that stand out most in our minds of this fun little family trip...

Beach faves: Jenna and Zac loved the waves and because of the high winds and storms there were lots of waves on the gulf this trip. jenna and Zac were often called back closer to shore because they ventured out jumping over waves. Trevor, on the last day, decided that he wasn't leery of the water and wanted to head directly for it. No fear or no sense...maybe a little of both. They liked playing in the sand...esp Trevor. Most of the time he carried a shovel. Trevor also liked chasing the birds. Oh and the big kids think that being buried is the best thing ever. Trevor didn't like it when Jenna was buried and he would motion for her with his hand to come out. That was cute.

Beach woes: Sand rash between Zac's legs from his droopy shorts, water and sand combo. He referred to this as his "sandburn". Jenna's black suit had a liner that made a good pocket for about 2 cups of sand to nestle in nicely. It looked like she had a small potato in her swim suit bottom. The bad thing about the beach is all the sand when you get back to the condo. Thank you for the shower and tile floors.
There was a pool at the condo that was slightly cooler than the ocean water! So we spent most of the time at the beach and the kids are huge fans! Next time we decided that the pool isn't a necessity for such a short trip.

Feasting: On Saturday we went to the grocery and stocked the condo with food and stopped by a fresh seafood market for a couple of pounds of fresh caught shrimp. Steve deveined these and boiled these, and we had colossal peel and eat shrimp. Also he made some delicious ceveche with shrimp that we all devoured. We went out to dinner at Dewey Destin's that may be the best seafood ever and to the Crab Trap that was right on the beach and delicious as well. By the way, I am certain that Jenna ate more shrimp than me and was a close second to Steve. She must have eaten pounds (ceveche, peel and eat, fried, colossal and popcorn varieties... and don't forget the seafood ketchup (cocktail sauce!)

The Condo: had a great view and the balcony doors over-looked the ocean, so when they were open you could feel a nice breeze and hear the waves crashing. That was nice. The last night after the kids were down, Steve and I sat out there and wished we were drinking a coke and talked.

The Driving: 22 hours total, I think it was. Steve happily drove the entire way. It was a good trip. The kids could pass up a ticket for a snack or a chincy toy every half hour and they thought that was great. We love Red box movies and cuss any McDonald's that doesn't have a vender. Trevor was able to be satisfied with powdered donuts and throwing toys when given to him. It wasn't all fun, but overall went well and the kids were real troopers, in fact Steve insist that half the fun of a road trip to the destination is the drive. I think that kids liked it too, except Trev may have been wondering on the last leg home why the heck he was still in that seat!

Enjoy the slide show!

The "Bakeries"

Zac: "Jenna, we are both bakeries and just look at our aprils". (translation: bakers and aprons). These are the next Food Network stars.



Steve will often times pretend he is a cooking show host as he cooks. The kids think it is great. They love to watch the Food Network with Steve.

Tax Day

There was a laboring patient yesterday morning that said in dismay, "Oh, I am going to have a baby on tax day." I said to my co-worker, "At my house, we love tax day!"
Steve got home early yesterday. It was a beautiful day. He jumped on the tramp with the kids, helped clean the kitchen and our sweet babysitter agreed to watch the kids (very last minute) for 2 hours while we had our first date since Valentine's. The Olive Garden was delicious and it was so nice to just look at Steve. Congrats to us all on another tax season completed. Now we have our post tax season celebration that we are so excited about, we are headed to Destin next week for a few days.
It'll be nice to have Steve around again. Yay for tax day!

Eggstravaganza..well it was a great weekend!

We did have a fun spring break and Easter weekend with family in Indiana. These are pictures courtesy Carrie. Thanks Carrie. We did a lot of fun things over the long weekend. We had a "SCABenger" hunt (as Jackson thought it was called and was really worried about getting scrapes and scabs in the wilderness. So cute.) We played at the playground, we rode bikes, we had great food and awesome weather. We played at Buddy's house, in his fun back yard and the kids even had a horse ride with Pa...even Trev. We relaxed at Ma's house and loved her front porch; we colored Easter eggs and went to Aunt Marilyn's for her annual huge Easter egg hunt and potluck that is a mini Lorton-side family reunion. We celebrated with Carrie her baptism into the Catholic church. Also we celebrated and remembered the reason for the weekend- Easter and the Resurrection of our Savior. A huge thanks to all that love us and make these times so fun and memorable and do it with ease and a smile! Really the Easter egg hunt is amazing. I am thinking about 500+ eggs are stuffed and hidden. Thank you everyone for making it so fun for the kids...and grown ups!