When I was thinking about what day to share for my monthly Day in the Life post, I figured I would snap a few photos one of the days we were in Pensacola and it would do double duty — day in the life and vacation recap. Since we had already been to the beach once this summer and I had taken a multitude of photos, I planned to rest and read a lot, leaving my camera alone for most of our trip. On Friday, I took zero photos, but I more than made up for it on Saturday and Sunday (accidentally). When I edited these earlier in the week there were 77?! I got it down to 45 before uploading them to WordPress, but I have no idea how many will wind up staying in the post, all said and done. Instead of getting a Daily Dime this month, you are getting a Daily Dose of Insanity. Forgive the oversharing, but we had a fantastic weekend getaway with friends and family.
In case you aren’t familiar with the Pensacola area or the annual air show, each summer in July, the Navy Blue Angels fly on the public beach and there are several other planes and helicopters that join in the fun. We’ve been six or seven times since we got married and the girls both love it so much. I didn’t get to join them last year (we had just brought home Scoop the week before), so I was thrilled to make it work this year. We left on Thursday afternoon and returned Sunday after dinner.
One of the best parts of this trip is how well my inlaws take care of us. We stayed in the extra bedroom of their condo, Nana bought groceries and cooked most of our meals, and Grandpa Cookie took us all out to dinner. I realize that this Dr. Pepper might not look glamorous, but the cheese biscuit and crispy bacon was exactly what this pregnant lady needed.
If you’ve never been to the show, it’s hard to properly convey just how many people are on the island over the course of three days. The bay and ocean fill up with boats and there are tents in the sand, as far as the eye can see. People start setting up their home base by 5 o’clock on Friday morning and you just leave it out there and hope for the best until Sunday. The photo below is first thing Saturday morning, before we headed out for the day. I’ll share what it looked like moments before the Angels flew, a little later in the post!
The water in Pensacola is so clear and there was a sandbar pretty close to shore (see those people in the back of the photo, near the paddle board?). The only downside is that all of the boat traffic seems to send seaweed onto shore in the afternoons, but if you can swim past it, you’ll find so many beautiful shells. The kids spent most of the morning in the water and we ran up to grab a quick lunch during the break just before the Blue Angels flew.
The photos below are what the bay looked like about 15 minutes before the Blue Angels?! It was so thick with boats that you could barely see the water.
Last summer is the first show that Sophie can remember and she didn’t love the loud plane sounds. Her daddy armed her with headphones this year and she happily watched from beneath our tent. Honestly, she didn’t pay that much attention, but will still tell you that the show was amazing.
We stayed on the beach so long that afternoon, but Cookie promised us a good dinner, so we took a quick shower and walked down to the girls’ favorite restaurant. We had a long wait, but they played yard games and I sat with my feet up in an Adirondack chair, so I had no complaints!
Josh’s parents were staying for another week, but his brother’s family had to get back home early on Sunday. We packed all of our bags and were out on the beach by 10 o’clock, for a few more hours of fun before heading back home. Sophie played in the sand or diving for shells for the majority of the day, Josh & Ella played in the water, and I sat under the tent with Nana. I managed to read an entire book — cover to cover — in three hours and we logged plenty of conversation while people watching.
Josh always let’s the girls bury him in the sand on the last day and Ella thought it was hilarious to give him boobs (with nipples?!), since his hands were tied. Later on, she attempted to give Sophie some not so adorable body parts, but he drew the line there. Ha!
I shared this photo on Instagram, but it’s probably my favorite from the entire summer. They were posing for a photo — staying as far away from him as possible — but he pulled them in for a hug at the last minute. Their faces are hilarious!
It was such a fantastic summer and we are so sad to bid it farewell!
