Monkey Ball, Motorized Water Sports, Mmmm, Mmm Ice Cream and Moonlight Walks

Today was a great day.  It didn’t start out so good with earth crashing thunder and lighting at 6:00 am until nearly 12:30.

Greg was the early bird again this morning.  He sat on the balcony and read his Kindle while it poured cats and dogs around 6:30am.  He had the pleasure of witnessing the trash collectors pick up our dumpster and shake it violently over and over again making so much noise I am sure it woke the entire complex.  The rest of us tried to sleep in-between cracks of thunder.  I hoped I would sleep through the rain and when I got out of bed the sun would be shining.

Greg rallied the boy troops and they agreed to play some beach Monkey Ball in the rain.  The lightening had stopped so it was clear to head to the beach even if it was raining.  We would have gotten wet in the ocean anyway so why not get wet with a little rain?  I agreed to be the photographer.

Monkey Ball is a game Greg made up years ago with the kids.  It is usually played with a tiny, tiny wooden bat, but we had a beach bat and ball to play with this time.  They marked out the field, if the ball doesn’t make it to the pitcher it is a strike.  If it doesn’t make it to the first line beyond the pitcher OR it hits the pitcher it is an automatic out.  If it makes it to the first line you have one man on base…. Second line it is a home run… out of bounds is an out.  If someone catches it it’s an out.  If you hit the ball and it doesn’t go to the first line and you manage to hit it again before it hits the ground it is a home run.  Rules have been known to change and added with each game.  They had a great time playing.. Nick schooled everyone and the rain had stopped.

 

 

 

I watched the Monkey Ball game for a while then I went for a walk along the beach for a bit.  The storms had washed in a bunch of little pink jelly fish.

 

We saw the clouds parting and decided to attempt to Jet Ski.  We piled in the van again and headed towards Boogies.  Greg swears it was 16 left hand turns to get there.  We parked the van, walked over to the window and asked if we could rent 3 Jet Skis for an  hour.  The girl said they were cancelling all Jet Ski rentals for the rest of the day due to the weather.  She showed us the radar on her IPhone and said the owner felt the storm may swing back through and he couldn’t risk having anyone on the water.  She said there were other rentals along the Marina who might be renting and for us to maybe try them.

We walked through the marina to see if we could talk to someone else and get a second opinion on the weather.  The sun was peaking through the clouds and there was no sign of rain.  We really wanted to Jet Ski so it was worth the time to look around. 

We located a gentleman near AJ’s restaurant that was just opening up and guaranteed us a good time on the Jet Ski’s.  He said if while we are on the water we feel a storm is moving in we can head back and they would give us a rain check for another day.  It seemed like a win, win because we didn’t see any rain in sight.

We saw some cool stuff along the way...

 We signed the appropriate papers and suited up in our life preservers while he prepared our Jet Ski’s.

As we were standing there waiting a sea gull decided to fly over and poop on Leslie… she was NOT happy.  I got a picture of it, but she forbids me to use it in my blog.  As I was helping her wipe the poop off her face and life preserver the gentleman renting us the Jet Ski’s took liberty in “assigning” me a specific "special" Jet Ski and I was not aware of this.

 

He called us all over to the Jet Ski’s and I was the last one to join the group so I stood over on one of the red Jet Ski’s so I could hear what he was saying.  He explained all the rules and how to maneuver the Jet Ski.  When he was finished we started to all get on a Jet Ski.  I was physically standing on one of the red ones so I started to board it.  He calls out and says “Maam, this one over here is yours”.  I said “Oh, I didn’t realize we were assigned certain ones, what is the difference?”  He then proceeded to say something about the blue one was governed and the two red ones were brand new and they were not governed yet.  He was going to put the two guys on the new ones.  Well, I didn’t want a Jet Ski that couldn’t go as fast as the other two and I was rather offended he would place me (the woman) on the slower Jet Ski.  Now Greg says he was not suggesting anything by placing me on the other Jet Ski and it was just poor communication.  I disagree.

I was upset over the whole deal and was saying so to Greg while I got on the blue Jet Ski.  The gentleman said he could put me on a red one… its fine (with a tone).  I said “No, I am fine, (I didn’t want to cause a scene, but later my kids told me it was already too late) Nick may want to switch out and ride with someone else however if this is a slower Jet Ski.  Maybe Leslie should ride with me since women should have the slower ride.”  Yes, there was a little sarcasm in my tone. 

He then proceeded to open my compartment on the Jet Ski and start to remove my personal items and said “Come on… I am placing you on another Jet Ski.”  I slammed the compartment shut and said “No, I am fine.”  He tried again and I push it shut.. (Greg told me he felt the guy and I had a slap fight) He then pulled the safety cord off the Jet Ski and said “Well, I am not allowing you out on this one so you are going to have to move”.  I gritted my teeth and moved to the other Jet Ski.  As he was putting the safety cord on the new, red Jet Ski he continued to say “I have to deal with my girl friend mouthing off all the time and HE (meaning Greg) is on vacation so he doesn’t deserve to have to deal with this… everyone can now be happy”.  He almost lost a couple teeth during this little exchange.  Greg and Jonah had already pulled out so Greg didn’t get to hear his little snide comments.  Oh I was mad…. BUT….. I got a brand new, red, non-governed Jet Ski just like everyone else.  I threw a little fit and got my way…. I was happy.

 I typically let things slide and I am usually the last person to ever say anything, but I felt I should have the same experience as the other guys.  Just because I am a woman doesn’t mean I don’t want to blast around just as fast on my Jet Ski.. .and I did too… we maxed those puppies out and had an absolute BLAST!

 

Once we were out on the water we switched places and allowed Leslie, Jonah and Nick to drive around a while too.  We had so much fun.

After Jet Ski we were hungry for some ice cream.  Greg said he hoped Cold Stone didn't give me a blue bowl instead of a red one like everyone else.  Ha ha ha... very funny.  This continued throughout the rest of vacation.... careful.. make sure mom gets the red cup.

We went back to the mall area where we were yesterday (which involved yet another difficult, left hand turn).  We ate Cold Stone and it was yummy!

We turned left again and headed back to the condo.  Each time we drove to and from the condo we drove on Holiday Road.  EACH and EVERY time we turned onto this street I had to sing the song Holiday Road from National Lampoon’s Vacation…. It just felt appropriate.

Once back at the condo we grabbed flash lights and went to the beach for “crab night”.  Crab Night has been a tradition for years with the kids.  Flash back to THIS post if you haven’t read it for a more descriptive version of crab night. 

Crab Night was a success.  We saw all sizes of crabs and turned it into a game of who could find the most crabs.  We enjoyed teasing Jonah and making him feel as if crabs were chasing him by chasing him with the light of the flash light.  It took us back to the days of when we did it with our kids for the firs time.  Jonah was a good sport and we had a lot of fun with him.

 

We walked along, enjoyed the salty breeze, the beautiful stars and the crashing of the waves…. again in awe of the majestic beauty of the sea.  Somehow I got behind the group a little bit when I stopped to look at the stars and breathe to take in the salty air.  When I started walking again I followed the group ahead of me with flashlights.  We passed our condo entrance but I just thought we were continuing our walk in the other direction.  After a while I caught up to them a little bit and realized they were not my group at all.  Greg and the kids had already headed back to the condo.  The kids arrived at the condo first and they thought I was with Greg.  After Greg arrived back at the condo he asked “Where is your mother?”  They said “We thought she was with you.”  Greg headed back out to try to find me but I had already figured out what had happened and met up with him on my way back…. It was pretty funny and again they all had fun teasing me.

It was a fantastic day, although I had to get a little feisty during our Jet Ski experience it was well worth it in the end. 

Destin Day 3 ..Flocks, Fudpuckers and Floods

Today I was the first one to hit the beach and take pictures...

 

 

 

We saw clouds in the distance so we didn’t set up the cabana for a beach day. 

I decided to walk the beach and spend some time with the sea gulls.  I took WAY too many pictures of sea gulls, but I enjoyed spending time with them and watching them interact as a flock.  I felt people nearby thought I was a little nuts, it’s not like I would be seeing them again after this week so what do I care? :)

This little guy really thought he was a sea gull... and they all treated him like he was part of the flock.

I came home just in time to say goodbye to the guys as they headed out the door to go up to the boardwalk to take some pictures.  They were out the door maybe 10 minutes and the heavens opened up and it poured.  They all three (Greg, Anthony and Jonah) came home soaked with cameras tucked under hats. 

We then had to become creative as to what to do for the day since the beach was out of the picture.  It started to clear up so we thought maybe we could squeak out an hour in-between rain showers and go Jet Skiing.  Each time we mentioned Jet Skiing the heavens would open up again and start to pour.  It became clear to us today would NOT be the day to Jet Ski.

We went to Fudpucker’s instead for lunch.  

This restaurant apparently has world famous T-shirts and Greg’s dad has asked if we could pick him up one.  He used to have one years ago and it became too old to wear.  We figured since we were stopping in to purchase a T-shirt we should have lunch too.  We also purchased a tree frog to sit on our TV stand at home.  We always purchase a little something from each vacation to sit around the house to remember our trip.  Tree frog from Fudpucker's was it this year.

Food was good and the atmosphere was fun. 

 

People had signed their names on every inch of this restaurant, including the leaves on the plants outside.  They had random stuff stapled to the ceiling and old MTV videos playing on the flat screen TV’s.

 

After we ate our food we went outside to see the live alligators.  

 

 

 

There was a little boy around the age of 6 who really enjoyed sharing with us all he had seen while watching the alligators.  Apparently there was an alligator attack between 2 alligators and he was pretty pumped up about it.  He told me about it, then he told Greg....

 

 

and then he told Nick and Jonah. .....

He was pretty cute.  I think his mom thought I was a stalker because I was taking pictures of them.

Les and Anthony were sad to leave Fudpucker's.... 

 

Leslie especially enjoyed the name of the restaurant.  She said it made her feel uncomfortable and she would like for us to call it something else because she felt eventually someone would slip up and flip the letters.  We called it Grandpa's place the rest of the time since we went there to buy him a T-shirt.

After lunch we needed to find some wifi because our condo owner apparently lives under a rock and does not have any kind of internet access in the condo.  This was one very important thing I forgot to ask about while making our reservation.  We stopped off at a Panera and everyone caught up on their Facebook, checked email, and Leslie downloaded a virtual fan.  She couldn’t sleep in the morning after the rest of us got up because she said it was too noisy.  We suggested she get up with us but that didn’t go over too well.

Nick and Jonah shopped around in some of the stores in the area.  It was a lot like the Greene.  They came back with gummy lifesavers and sour watermelons.

We again had to make a left hand turn out of the mall area to head back to the condo.  Greg said he was going to remove the bulbs from the right hand turn signals because we obviously do not need them on this trip.  At one point in time we were turning left and across the way 4 cars where in the middle of the intersection trying to turn left as well… it was crazy town.  If I lived in Destin I would never drive anywhere.

Back at the condo Nick and Jonah went for a walk on the beach.  Les and Anthony watched TV, Greg read his Kindle and I blogged about today.  Although we didn’t have our beach day, we still had a great time.  We have never seen it rain so much and for such a long time in Florida.  Water was standing in the streets and in the grass.

We ate frozen pizzas for dinner since we ate out for lunch.  Anthony and Nick argued over which pizza cutter was better, plastic or metal, then realized both were metal.   I ate like a child and had pizza sauce all down my chin, neck and onto my shirt.  Everyone had a good laugh at my expense which is usually the case.  I also was trying to tell everyone we had more cereal in the cupboard than we do milk in the frig but it came out as “we have way a lot of cereal and not a lot of milk”….laughter again from everyone in my direction.  This in turn brought up alllllll the other times I have said things incorrectly.  I told the kids a while ago our bowling ball in the back yard needed to go to the pound.  Not sure why I said pound.. guess I was thinking about how much it weighed?  I meant to say it needed to go to the trash. 

Jonah for some reason was in the closet in the bedroom… we didn’t ask.  Anthony asked if the glass of tea he was holding was his, Greg said to make sure because he didn’t want to get Syphilis.  Nick and Jonah popped tops off of water bottles in all directions.  We discussed how old we all will be on Monday and Nick said he thought I was 30.  I was flattered but then Les said “Nick, she would have had to have had me when she was 11.”  He said “Oh yeah.”  Funny kid.

Greg went upstairs to read more of his Kindle and both Jonah and Nick wanted to climb the outside balcony up to the balcony of our bedroom.  I said absolutely NOT, they both continued to try to convince me it could be done easily by standing on the grill and then climbing up and the promised they wouldn’t get hurt.  I told them if they climbed the balcony Nick would not be allowed to drive until he graduated from college.  He looked at me all serious and said “Why do you hate me so much?”  At what age do they realize their actions have consequences????

I said I felt like I was living in a frat house and decided it was time for bed.  I joined Greg in our upstairs suite to read my Kindle, (not before I went into our bathroom and stomped around a bunch because it was right over Nick and Jonah’s bedroom)   Greg said I was rotten, but I felt justified in doing so.  Nick came upstairs to say good night and to say he loved us.  I thought it was really sweet until I realized he only did it so he could stomp  loudly back down the stairs to get even.  He will get his tomorrow.

The condo is now quiet, the only noise I can hear is the clicking of the keys on my keyboard, the hum of the air conditioning and Leslie’s virtual fan…. Ha ha… just kidding, I can’t hear her fan, she is 2 floors down.

Tomorrow we hope to Jet Ski and if it rains we found a theater and show times for two movies we want to see.  Weather won’t ruin our fun!