On the Road Again

Does it feel like we've been traveling a lot lately? It does to me. And I've enjoyed it all VERY much.

Like I said last week . . . I feel like I have been house bound for a while now. The past three summers have been filled with baby, moving, more baby. This summer, we are taking full advantage of not being pregnant (and when I say WE, I mean ME) . . . we've been hopping all over the place already, and it's barely June.

Last week's destination of choice: Destin, Florida. Beautiful, beachy, sunny, sandy Destin. Home to Jim's great college friend, where he and his family live just ONE BLOCK from the beach. They've been inviting us to visit for -- oh, just about forever -- and we've not been able to go. But this summer -- Summer 2009, now known as the Summer of No Baby -- we were sure to take them up on the offer to come stay for a while.

We arrived Thursday, and the trip was a hit from the very beginning. Our host family has 2 daughters -- ages 5 and 4 -- so Meg was totally ready to party with her girlfriends from the moment we got out of the car. She handed them treats we'd brought, checked out the play room, then promptly put on her suit and jumped right in to their swimming pool. The first evening was fantastic . . . the girls played, the parents caught up, and we all talked a little about what we were going to do with our time together.

The rest of the trip just fell into place. Friday morning: beach bound, of course. Four adults, four girls, and a whole LOT of beach gear headed out to the Emerald Coast . . . I had forgotten how beautiful the beaches in that area are! WOW! It was a cloudy-but-PERFECT morning, followed by some pool action in the afternoon. Dinner was at Camille's -- a local's favorite -- and the girls were in bed by 9pm.

Saturday we decided to hit the Gulfarium (and I did not object b/c I'd gotten a bit too much sun on Friday). We visited with our host family's family, who Jim knew from his college days of having Thanksgiving with them. We even managed to find two perfect Adirondack chairs for our yard . . . something we'd been searching for and found happily in beachy Florida.

On Sunday, we didn't want to leave. We went back to the beach, back to the pool, then finally . . . and sadly . . . packed up and came home. Back to the land-locked city of Marietta.

What a great trip it was . . . long enough to leave us wanting MORE. Maybe we will have to find a way to get back to those beautiful beaches again. The girls had a BLAST -- Meg and her buddies did not stop playing together except for bed times and meal times. Those three little girls got along sooo well . . . it was truly a vacation for me to have Meg entertained like that for so long! Kate was happy to follow along when she could . . . and the rest of the time she was showered with affection by any adult that came her way.

Jim and I thoroughly enjoyed our time in Florida. We left saying what a great trip it was, how great it will be for our two families to grow up together like this, and trying to think of a time we can go back later this year.

Now that we are home, I think that is it for our traveling for a while. Jim has a BIG 'go-live' on a project in a month or so . . . and we have Birthday Palooza coming to town in just over a week . . . so we'll keep busy here in Northampton for a while. Ahhh, our neighborhood, Northampton. Maybe I can pretend we are in the 'hamptons while we are out at our pool this week.

(Okay, so it's nothing like the beach . . . but I can dream, can't I?)

Destin 2009