Days 2, 3, and 4

Why is it that time just flies by you when you are on vacation! So far, so good. Only one trip to the ER; Izzy woke this morning (well before the Urgentcare places were open) with a bad pain in her ear. All I can say is that I am so thankful we have insurance! I can't imagine what we'd have to go through should our health care become socialized :) We were out of there in about 30 min from start to finish. But she is doing better and is cleared for swimming.

We didn't go swimming today -- I was a bit crispy. Yes, on my previous expeditions to the white sandy beaches I wore a big hat, shades, sat under an umbrella when possible, wore SPF 70, and still got burnt! I am not made for the sun, that's for sho'!

Dancing in the surf! I was amazed how clear the water was -- the blues and greens are not exaggerated in the photo! On Monday, I caught a fish with my bare hands (OK, it was only about 2 inches long, but still...) Tuesday, we saw a jelly fish in the water. I guess I should check to see how dangerous they are!

Below is the beach from Sandestin, looking to the East. Pretty crowded! The waves were very smooth on Monday when we went, but were a bit rough Tuesday. Izzy just loved using the boogie board and I was glad to see she was getting the hang of it! She really took to the waves :)

Izzy just loved the sand! We buried her... the tide was coming in, so we didn't get much of her covered before it washed away! I have never seen as much sand on one person as the amount that stuck to Izzy. She was still covered after we used the beach showers before the ride home. Sand sand everywhere!
Another cool thing we see almost every day -- jets flying overhead from Eglin AFB. I have absolutely no idea which kinds are flying overhead, but they are loud, fast and neat to look at.

On Wednesday we took a brief excursion to Jolee Island... not much but pines and Florida brush, but a few paths winding around. At one end, there was a pretty cool lookout over a small strip of beach looking towards the Choctawhatchee Bay. - My daughter the pirate!
This is the view of the Bay from the Pirate's roost.
Later today, we when to the Baytowne Village Wharf - some really cute speciality shops and restaurants! It wasn't too crowded during the day. As we were leaving, we wandered into a pottery place where you can paint your own pieces. I chose to do a tile with our name on it and Izzy chose a princess. Chad didn't do one of his own, but he did help Izzy. I think he was happy to be in the AC, though. (I thought Ohio could get humid at times, but it's nothing like here! Very hot and humid in the day.) After you paint your piece, they glaze and fire it overnight, so we'll see how it turnes out tomorrow! I think I found a new hobby -- the task of painting was so relaxing!

One last thing before I go for now...

There was this cool invention on the Wharf where you can shrink your kids to pocket size. Of course, we jumped on the chance to shrink Izzy! :)