Family,  Florida,  Holidays,  Travel

Christmas Recap – Part 2

The day after Christmas, we headed to Pensacola to spend a week with Chris’s family. We pulled in my mother-in-law’s driveway at 7:00pm after an entire day of driving, and within 15 minutes, we were knee deep in presents again! The kids thought it was the greatest thing in the whole world – “You mean we get MORE?!?!?” After seven hours in a car, this was as good as it gets for kids… and for parents, too!

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Jackie and her partner, Charles, are such thoughtful people. They always make our time with them easy, relaxed, and comfortable. I don’t think I gave a bath to my kids or got up early with them the entire time we were there. It’s truly like a vacation when we go stay with them.

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On my Amazon Wish List this year, I put a Michael’s Kors watch. Not because I actually expected anyone to get me this outrageously expensive watch, but because I needed a new watch and I wanted to give them a picture of the style of watch I wanted. But Jackie went above and beyond as usual and I opened the actual MK watch! I almost fainted! I’ve never had a watch this nice before! I’m in love!

(Please notice Gracie hovering over me, asking over and over, “Mommy, dat my watch, too?”)

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While we were in Pensacola, we got to have Christmas with Grandma and Granddaddy Brown, too. Their house is on the water, so the kids call them, “Grandma-and-Granddaddy-Brown-on-the-ocean” all together, every single time they say it. It cracks me up.

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We spent one afternoon bowling with Chris’s dad, too. We took the kids bowling last year some time, and they have been obsessed with it ever since – even though we’ve only done it that one time! Chris’s dad, Mickey, loves to bowl, too, so he showed them how to do it right. Gracie just about beat us all! It was a really fun afternoon.

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I don’t even know what was happening in this sequence of pictures, but it seemed really intense for the kids…

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We also took a trip to the Naval Air Museum on the Navy base. If you haven’t ever been before and you happen to find yourselves in the Florida panhandle, it is well worth a trip. It’s free admission, huge, and beautiful. The kids have been a few times now, and every time we go back there is something new to see. They have planes all over, and we spend the first half of the trip looking at the ones hanging from the ceiling and the second half of the trip crawling in the ones on the ground. It really doesn’t get better for little guys… and big guys, too.

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What trip home would be complete without a visit to the beach? We had lunch at our favorite wing place on the beach, and then let the kids run off some energy. I told Bean if he could catch a seagull, we could keep it. That kept ’em busy for a while!

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After a really nice visit in Pensacola, we packed up and headed to our THIRD Christmas… Christmas with my sister and her family at my mom’s house. Another seven hour car trip and we were back in the whirlwind of wrapping paper and bows one last time. Stay tuned for Part 3 tomorrow!

(I really do mean tomorrow this time. Not, like, tomorrow a week from now like last time…)

8 Comments

  • Betty

    What great pictures! We went to that Naval Museum last year and the boys loved it. I love what you said about the seagull, I may copy you on that. In the last picture at first glance I thought G’s hairbow was a seagull!

  • Tracy B

    We vacationed in Pensacola this past summer and loved the Naval Museum! It’s a great place to take kids. I agree that it’s a must-see! While we were there I picked up a small newspaper and saw a woman’s picture and thought that she looked familiar. When I read the caption I realized that it was Chris’ Mom! Such a small world.

  • jenny-bird

    It’s crazy how much Bean and Gracie look like one another! When I was little, my family took an annual vacation to Panama City Beach, FL. My father drove all night while my sister and I slept in the back seat. It made long car trips much easier for my parents!

  • Melissa

    Love the name for the grandparents! My son(3) calls my Grandma Brown, “The Grandma That I Love,” and then to clarify, he began calling my mom (also a Grandma Brown) “The Grandma That I Don’t Love.” Everyone gets a good laugh out of it!

  • Michelle

    The “catch a seagull” thing had me cracking up at my desk! Sounds like something my father would have told me when I was little.
    Seems like you all had a wonderful (emphasis on “full”) Christmas. I can’t believe how big Bean and Gracie are- they’re not babies anymore! I loved seeing Bean open up the Ninja Turtle presents- everything old is new again, eh?

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