Florida - Days 5 & 6

Another exciting day.  We surprised Reese by telling her that one of her early birthday gifts would be to get her ears pierced that morning.  So off we went to Destin to add some bling to her ears.

The idiot woman who pierced them missed the mark on her left ear.  She had to take it out and we had to come back that afternoon to have it redone.  Therefore, Reese had to go through all of the anxiety twice and had to walk around with one ear pierced all day.  Needless to say we were not happy.  Reese, however, took it like a champ.

From there we met our families at Baytowne Wharf for an afternoon of fun.  Our little daredevil daughter had her heart set on ziplining having seen it the night before.  Because we were celebrating her impending birthday and because she had such a great attitude about the ear piercing snafu, her wish was our command.

She loved it.  The kids spotted yet another bounce contraption and we were off to check that out next. 

This time just bouncing wasn't thrilling enough for little Miss Reese.  She had to throw a few back flips into the mix. 

She's not the only daredevil in the family.  After we insisted, put money in the machine, and shoved him in against his will Granddad took on the hurricane simulator.  Fortunately he survived the 75 mile per hour winds.  His hair, however, took a beating. 

The obstacle course proved to be a bit much for Reese but not to worry, Uncle Steve came to her rescue. 

We all worked up a pretty big appetite (spectating is hard work y'all!) so our next stop was Acme Oyster House for po-boys, gumbo, and more of the food I love most. 

Another full day of fun.  The next morning was Reese's 8th birthday.  I say this every year but it really is hard to believe that eight whole years have gone by since the day she was born.  I remember every detail of her first day alive so vividly.  I'm so proud of the young lady she has grown into.  Gosh I love that kid. 

After a quick breakfast we were back in the car and headed to Panama City Beach.  Our intention was to spend another day by the pool, soaking up the sun, but the weather turned on us.  We made the best of it which wasn't hard because we were in good company.  Reese's request was a cookie dough cheesecake so that's what I made for her.  It was so delicious! 

The most special part of the day for me was being in the company of this amazing woman, my Gram. 

So cool that we were all together for her birthday two weeks before and here we were again, celebrating another life together.  She was with us on Reese's 1st birthday and we've been able to wish her a happy birthday in person for the past 3 years now.  So special.  

After cake we all made our way back to Destin (are you dizzy yet from all of the back and forth?  We were!) to end the night with some bowling.  I wish I had pictures from that part of our day but I was too busy throwing gutter balls....again.  

That night we got home very late, got very little sleep, and got up very early the next morning for a very, very, very long drive back to Illinois.  We rolled up into the driveway at midnight and spent all day Sunday trying to recover.  You really do need a vacation after vacation sometimes.