Summer Vacation - Destin, Fl June, 2022

There is a saying.... "We travel not to escape life, but so that life doesn't escape us."   Quality time with family is the very best way to travel and not let life escape us.  We all need to take time to really be present in our families lives.   The fellowship and memories that are made by spending time with each other is non replaceable.  It's truly a treasure!  I try to grab whatever time I can get with my family.  We weren't sure if we could work out any beach time together this year or not.  We had not been since 2019 thanks to the COVID travel rules, etc.  Plus everyone seems so very busy and it's hard to fit in several days where all can be present.  But we did it!  Not a full week for me, but I managed to squeeze in 4 nights and 3 days off work, to go to the beach to meet my kids and their spouses.   I took my mom with me because she also LOVEs the beach and rarely goes anywhere.  

We had a blast! The water was so clear and pretty! The beach was white as snow!  However, the heat was terrible! We've been under heat advisories for days here in the south!  I'm wore out from our trip.  They kept me up late every night on the GO...  I think Brett decided since I was only there for 4 nights, he was going to get the most out of it... 😂😃  he kept me on the go and we were busy playing games.  I wouldn't trade it for anything, but today... I really... really... really need a NAP and not work. 😁  

We stayed in a condo we had not stayed in before and it was really nice.  WE had 3 full bedrooms and 3 full baths! That was really nice with 6 of us there!  It was directly on the beach and had a nice balcony.  It was called Silver Beach Towers.  Everything is so expensive right now! Gas is $5 a gallon! Food is outrageous! I took them out to eat 2 nights while we were there and each night our bill was over $400 for 6 of us! No way I would have wanted to go out to eat all 7 nights if I had been there my normal week long trip.  

Here are a few pics from our trip.  Whitney is now 28 weeks pregnant.  Can't wait for baby girl to get here!  

If you know my mom, you know she’s competitive. When Brett was little his fav game was Lion King. Mom would practice and when Brett got to her house she would say… guess what I got to a new level today. She loves to play and win! Them two always tried to out do the other.

Normally we just play dominoes or corn hole at the beach, but this year my DIL, Whitney introduced us to phase 10 …. It got pretty serious. Brett had to put on the HAT . But that didn’t help him. Mom came back and won the game after staying on a couple of phases for awhile … never count her out!!! . I hung as long as I could till I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer and had to go to bed. This bunch wore me out. First time I didn’t really rest any at the beach. …

My fav place to vacation is the ocean. And my fav is always with family. We couldn’t resist getting a cartoon with Erin and Matt. We got one back in 2019 (our last summer family beach trip b4 Rona) of Brett and Whitney so Brett said it was time for Erin. .

Spent last day on the beach. Mom said it’s so relaxing to her. I thank God every day for her and the time I get to spend with her and the rest of my family. thankful for dad who stayed home and babysit doggies. He can’t take the heat outside, but he’ll keep all the little doggies

As for Gary, he hates the beach during the summer so he never goes on our summer trips. He was home with Troy and the bad Cat! 😂

I love these people. The beach was FUN and also tiring at the same time. They’ve kept me up late every night playing. Mom won phase 10, Matt came out on top of corn hole, dominoes (can't remember who won), football was without a score… except for Brett taking me down , Frisbee was challenging with the wind … I think overall we probably made everyone on the beach laugh .

until next year..... Happy Summer Vacation! Go enjoy your FAMILY. 😍