With some time between the summer and fall semesters, Jason and I decided we’d take a much needed trip to visit friends and family. Our first stop was Midland, Georgia to visit Hope’s God mother, Shanna. Luckily the Army moved Shanna and her family, Jeff and Tayler, a bit closer to us. Hope enjoyed swimming in their pool. Our last day there they had a pool party for Tayler and her friends where the kids swam, jumped on the trampoline and played games. Bella enjoyed the time outdoors in the country along with her two new companions, Sadie and Casey.
The last half of our trip we travelled to visit my family in Panama City. While we were there we got to take a couple trips to the beach where Hope had so much fun finding sea shells. It was like a treasure hunt for her as she’d exclaim “I found another one!” Most kids don’t care too much for sea weed. Not too say Hope liked sea weed, but I loved her take on sea weed when she told us “Sea weed is like green beans for fishies”. Hope loves green beans so it was cute to hear her say that.
We also took a trip on a boat to Shell Island, which is a part of the St. Andrews state park near Panama City Beach. In Florida the whether is pretty unpredictable so reserving a spot hours before the trip left no guarantee that there wouldn’t be a thunderstorm. Just as we started boarding the boat it began to pour and just minutes out into the gulf it seemed as if it was monsooning with thunder and lightning. Apparently this is something the crew of the boat was use to because they reassured everyone on board that it was safe, though to us it sure as heck seemed like a scene from the movie, “The Perfect Storm”. All we could do was laugh and hope that it would pass by the time we arrived at Shell Island. Luckily it did. Although I lived in Panama City most of my teenage years, this was my first trip to Shell Island. It’s a very secluded part of the beach that you take a couple minute walk on a boardwalk path to the shoreline. On your way to the beach you sea all the signs of beach life you rarely get to see at public beaches, from the sea grass to pelicans, and crabs. I’d definitely recommend it if you ever take a trip to Panama City. On the boat ride back we were able to see dolphins swimming in the gulf. Although we get to visit Sea World often, it’s always more interesting seeing animals in their natural habitat.
While we were in Panama City we got to visit my family. Hope enjoyed her time with her Grandma and Papa along with their maltese dogs. She especially loved their newest puppy, Sonny. We joked with Hope asking if she was going to pack the little furball in her suitcase, and when it came time to leave she really wanted to! My Mom laughed and told us that she didn’t think that was a good idea because the poor dog wouldn’t know how to walk because Hope wanted to hold it constantly. Hope really had fun with her cousins too. Unfortunately we timed our visit during the middle of the week so the kids were in school for most of the trip. Probably one of the cutest moments was our last night there when we all went to the Japanese restaurant Mori’s. It was cute seeing the expression on the kids face as they cooked the food on the Hibachi grill.
As much as we love taking trips, it’s always welcomed to be back home. Why does the ride home always seem to take so much longer? Hope was really cute on the way home reading and spelling signs. The cutest one was when she read one of the mile markers and said, “Look it’s seventy zero miles left!”
by Amanda Kern
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