Day 5- Vacation in St. Augustine

Today was a pretty fun day, but kind of started out stressful. Greg woke me up because he thought I "should" be up.  That never makes me happy, whether it is true or not. And I was having a really cool dream that I would have liked to seen what happened next.

One of the things I really wanted to do while we were here is to go to the beach and build a sand snowman.  Today was the day.  Greg had everyone get ready to go and get in the car.  While I tried desperately to remember everything we needed.  I asked Greg for a bucket and shovels but they didn't make it to the car.  I did grab some cups, thankfully a couple of towels, and looked every where for the snowman kit.  I was a nervous wreck and I'm the one who wanted to do this.  So I got Greg to come inside and help me find the kit.  I found it, it had fallen out of my bag and was halfway under the dresser.  I really wanted to cry. My day had started and I just wasn't ready for it.

I contemplated taking a Xanax, but didn't.

I started building my snowman and was hoping for the kids help to bring me water, like they did the last time.  Blade helped me quite a bit, but the others were interested in playing in the water and he wanted to play with them.  I can't blame him.  But without the proper tools, my snowman kept falling.  Here we are, doing what I wanted to do.  Why couldn't I be happy?

Then Ashley came to me and I told her I wanted to cry.

  I think the Spirit spoke through her.  I don't really remember what she said, but it was the wisest, most comforting thing I have ever heard come out of her mouth.  From that point on I was able to enjoy our time at the beach.

My sand snowman was kind of pitiful, I couldn't get the sand to really stack.  So I settled for this:

I had Greg take some pictures, but I felt they were a bit indecent. This was one of the "better" pictures. You can probably get an idea from this picture. Or as I like to caption it: Is that a carrot or are you happy to see me? Probably won't be our Christmas card.

Anyway, I would kind of like to go again and do a better job.  Don't know if we will get the chance, but we'll see.

The ocean water was FREEZING!  I don't know how in the world the kids were able to stand it.  There were 3 young girls there playing in the water in their underwear.  They spoke another language and I wondered if they came from an area that accepted nude beaches.  It certainly didn't bother them a bit.  I'm guessing the oldest was 9 years old.  My kids were a bit shocked but soon enough they were playing and it didn't phase them.  Yes, my kids got in the water fully clothed. It wasn't until later that 2 of the boys took their shirts off.

Poor Aussie! His pants split BIG TIME!

On our way out, he wrapped up in a towel and we threw away the pants.

For a very short time the kids played in the sand.  The idea was for them to dry off a bit before leaving, but they just wanted to play in the water.  We let them go back in for 10 - 15 more minutes.

While we were there we saw about 6 dolphins. Greg saw them jump several times.  I only saw one jump once, but I didn't get a picture of it.  

The kids really had a great time!

We all came home and took showers and ate dinner.

We heard from Kevin (Greg's brother) that they would actually be back in town tonight.  This was great news because we weren't expecting to see them until Friday.  The kids were really bummed when they found out they were on vacation and would only have one day to play with them.  But it was a big surprise when they walked in the door tonight.

Shaina and Aussie

Blade, Karley and Ashley

Ashley is so excited Karley is back!

BTW this is the outfit Ashley got from Nana for Christmas that looks like something I used to wear:

After seeing Karley and Shaina for a little bit, they had to go home to see their Mom.  But they will be able to come over tomorrow and play.

Then we went to Village Inn for pie.  The waitress scared us a bit, after we waited quite awhile to be seated, she said they only had apple and cherry pie tonight.  WHAT?  We almost left, but then found out she was only referring to the FREE pie.  Apparently, there is a Wednesday night deal where you get free pie with purchase.  Anyway, we were able to get what we wanted.  They have the best french silk pie.  And since the first day we were here, when we passed the restaurant I was wondering if we would get a chance to go there.

 Ashley LOVES her cousin Kaitlin!  Kaitlin is spending the night tonight.

 The guy here is Michael, Kaitlin's boyfriend.  He really seems like a nice guy!

 Kaitlin- Aunt Chelle approves. 

All in all it was a good day.  With all the kids coming here tomorrow, I'm not sure what we all will do.  I'm assuming trampoline and zip line are in order.  I suppose it will be another day just hanging out with family.  We do have a dinner plan for tomorrow to see some of Greg's buddies from high school and their families.  That should be interesting.

Ashley has been asking her Uncle Steven to tell her embarrassing stories about her Dad.  I'm sure she will really get the chance to ask that question to his high school friends tomorrow!