Other family members were in Destin for the week so Karlee and I had company on the drive down to the beach. Jamie and Lila joined us and I dropped them off in Destin. We spent the day playing with everyone before heading over to Panama City. My parents even drove over for the day to see everyone too. These two precious girls could not have been better on the ride down. They kept each other entertained by feeding each other, talking, and holding hands.
My water lover took off as soon as her feet hit the sand. Jackson taught Karlee how to boogie board and at least she has the arm look down!
Karlee napped on the drive to Panama City and we headed out for dinner. The sunset over the bay was breathtaking.
Friday was a full day on the beach. We could not have asked for a prettier day and the water was crystal clear.
We headed to my parents favorite hang out, Schooners, for dinner and Karlee ended up on the stage dancing. She's definitely not shy like her mommy!
My dad went fishing with a friend that was down there Saturday morning. My mom and I decided we weren't going to sit around and wait so we called and booked a dolphin excursion. It was the greatest idea ever! Karlee loved it. She would have been just as excited to ride on the boat for a few hours but seeing the dolphins was pretty amazing. Captain Russell stopped the boat and said "who wants to swim with them?" My child said, "I do!" before anyone else. She couldn't get in the water fast enough. I stayed on the boat for a little while to capture pictures at each stop before jumping in. I just had to capture this amazing sight. Dolphins kept swimming up to the boat out of nowhere out in the ocean. I was just amazed at how they were swimming right up to people. Karlee got to touch them and practically road on their backs. A fishing boat was feeding them illegally so the captain said take advantage of it and swim up to them while they were begging for food. At each stop we made, Karlee was the first person in the water. She was scared of nothing. I was on the look out for other marine life swimming around in the ocean!
Baby Madelyn is probably wondering what in the world her mommy is doing. No one can say I haven't been active during this pregnancy!
Saturday night we headed to Pineapple Willy's for a photo op on the dock. We have a family picture of me and Adam as kids on this dock so we wanted one with Karlee.
After dinner, we headed to St. Andrews State Park to see the jetties and see if anyone was catching fish. Karlee liked climbing on the rocks. She even took Granpa over to show him where we saw the first dolphin. They both called the dolphins but none came swimming up! We took advantage of the beautiful scenery and had some pictures taken.
Since my dad doesn't have hair, Karlee has always held his ears!
We headed back to the camper and Karlee wanted to go swimming again. I didn't mind her staying up late on the last night so that she would sleep most of the way home Sunday since I had her in the car by myself. All of a sudden, Karlee said, "I go under." And, sure enough, she stuck her whole head under water and started swimming. My dad took her puddle jumper off and she swam back and forth with her head under water for a pretty long distance. My mom ran to get the camera so we could show daddy when we got home. How in the world does she already know how to hold her breath for that long? Swimming lessons don't start around here until age 3 so I may be looking at private lessons shortly.
In the back of my mind during the entire trip, I kept thinking about the beaches and people already affected by the oil. The people of Panama City Beach kept saying it's not if the oil is coming, it's when. It just brings tears to my eyes to think about the marine life and the birds. Swimming with dolphins out in the wild was the neatest thing ever for Karlee. I'm so glad she got to experience it because who knows what the future holds for our beaches. I continue to pray for the people affected and hope they can return to normal lives soon. We sure enjoyed our trip and hope many more are to come.
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