Our Beautiful Boys!
Papa & Q building sandcastles.
Putting the Little Plastic Shovel to Test!
Jeff & Jayden Striking a Pose!
Papa & Jayden at 1,000 ft.
One of their 2 dips into the ocean!
Q (before the wave knocked him down) & Jayden.
An evening playing in the sand.
Us!
Two Very Brave Treasure Hunter's!
Black Beard's Treasure!
Our Family...Summer 2009!
Saturday, August 1st, we headed to Panama City Beach, FL for a summer vacation. We flew out of XNA and arrived at noon. We had 8 full days vacation! A vacation that was much needed for the Chadd family. We seem to find ourselves coming and going on most days, so to get away and have "no" responsibilities so to speak was wonderful. My parents traveled down to stay with us the first 4 nights. The boys were super excited that Papa & Grandma were going to the beach with us.
Our condo was very nice and right on the beach. We were on the 6th floor so the view was beautiful! Our daily routine went like this... Get up, eat breakfast, go down to the beach, go to the pool, come up for late lunch, take a nap, and then either dinner in or dinner out.
Panama City Beach has a mall called Pier Park. It was an outdoor mall, with 2 sections. The 1st section being unique shops that we don't have here. The other section has your typical chain stores. We spent a couple of evenings there shopping & of course eating.
On Tuesday, we went parasailing. Papa & Jayden went together and soared 1,000 feet into the air with 2 dips down into the water. Jeff & I went 800 feet and 1 dip into the water. 800 feet was plenty high enough for me. I have decided that as I have gotten older, I am not as brave as I used to be.
Quinton loved the ocean on the 1st day. The 2nd day we went out, he was knocked down by a wave and that was the end of it for him. He wanted nothing else to do with the ocean unless someone was holding him, and that took a little coaxing. Each day he would wake up and ask to go to the pool. He would say "Not the big" (meaning the ocean.)
Jayden managed to capture 2 fish, 2 crabs, and a nice man gave him a ghost grab. The ghost crab he named Eugene and he spent 1 night in the condo with us. Of course Jayden wanted to bring him home, so we had to explain salt water versus fresh water. And Jayden also managed to find "Black Beard's Pirate Treasure." He had searched the first 4 days for pirate's treasure. So my parents purchased a shell covered chest, filled it with "gold" and pirate goodies and made a map. My Dad had gone down to the beach early on Wednesday and burried the treasure. As we went out to the beach that morning, Jayden "mysteriously" walked upon a map of Black Beard's treasure! It was so fun to watch him in all his excitement. And once he found the treasure, he truly believed that he had hit it big. His exact words to Jeff were, "Dad, we are so dirty rich!" Too cute and so fun.
We had such a wonderful time. We simply delighted in just sitting around and watching the boys play. It was a treat to have my parents there for a while. There's just something about having Papa & Grandma around. The boys were especially spoiled those days as you can imagine. It was great and we hope to go again soon! Enjoy the pictures & videos.
Papa & Jayden's Big Adventure!
Jeff & I at 800 ft.
Finding Black Beard's Treasure...
