Destin

Thanksgiving day was spent in Dothan, Alabama with plenty of relatives around to talk to, but Friday and Saturday were spent in Florida with Lisa, Ammon's sister, and her two children. Lisa's husband is in the Air Force, and they are currently stationed near Destin, Florida.

I think I have officially decided that the beach-any beach-is my favorite place in the whole world. There's nothing like endless water and sunshine to put life in perspective.

This particular beach is just a short walk across the street from Lisa's house on base. Jealous doesn't even begin to describe my emotions.

On Saturday we drove over a huge bridge and did some shopping at a large outdoor mall, but I couldn't believe the sky as we crossed the water.

After the mall, we all went to a different beach, one a little bit more tourist infested, and with slightly better views of the water. I was excited to take my kids to the beach--my first sight of the ocean, many years ago--is something that has stuck with me. I was really looking forward to showing my kids the ocean for the first time, and their reactions didn't disappoint me. I'm only disappointed I didn't have their swimsuits with me!

It was tough to get any of the kids to hold still long enough for pictures. While I was trying to get Jeremy to hold still so I could take this picture, he thought it was neat that his feet were sinking into the sand as the water lapped over them.

Hands-down, Jeremy's favorite cousin, Josh. They are so cute together, and I don't know about Angela--but I sometimes get tired of hearing "When are we going to go visit Josh again?" Good thing they only live in Dayton!

I finally managed to get the kids together for a quick snapshot, but this moment was all I got--almost instantly, they were all off again.

These boys are Angela's two older boys, working together to get the water out of the tide pool.

The 30 or so minutes we spent on the beach this afternoon made the entire trip worth it. All the planning, all the driving, the sleepless nights--all of it. I'm so glad we went, and so glad my kids got to experience my favorite place in the whole world.