Circle Of Life

As I mentioned in the previous post, the owners of our condo let us extend our vacation two extra nights at no charge. Our last day at the beach was a bit cool in the morning, but perfect once the sun came up. Elle got to play with her friend Bailey from "Tucky" again today. They will soon be pen pals when we get home.

The Circle of Life. No, not a Lion King reference. Unfortunately, we witnessed a lady drown at the beach today. She was scuba diving with a group that she regularly went diving with. Apparently they did not use the buddy system or use diver down floats. The worst part of it all, my mom thought she heard the lady yell for help. Mom went to the lifeguard to tell him and he said that she is part of a dive group, "she is fine." Everyone kept an eye on her and at times it seemed like she was swimming around. At least 10 minutes went by and finally a few of the divers came running down the beach and pulled her out of the water. There happened to be an EMT on the beach. After working on her for what seemed like an eternity, they airlifted her off the beach. Everyone has taken it hard. We are all second guessing what could have been done. I had actually left the beach around the time mom spotted her in the water. Laura called me on my cell while I was up in the room to let me know what was going on. Call it hokey as I know not everyone believes in premonitions, but I twice told Laura earlier in the week that I was going to save someones' life on the beach. I wasn't even there.

So we leave vacation having witnessed a death, but arrive home to the birth of Riley Megan. She is the granddaughter of Laura's friend and our neighbor, Roxanne.

Beach Update

On Facebook last night, I mentioned that Laura and I overheard a group of three teenage boys looking for "prospects." We both howled, but then I got a little sick to my stomach thinking about my own daughter in, say, 10 years. This afternoon two of the three boys scored some prospects. As they walked by with two girls, I heard the blond-haired kid say "See we both have jobs and buy our own stuff." I am sure that won them over. Dickheads.

Back on the beach today, I am very thankful that the owners of the condo allowed us to extend our stay until Monday. I think Laura and the owner have a thing for each other...maybe that is why we got the free extension!!! Weather has been great all week, but the surf has been rough. Today, it wasn't as hot (low 80's) and the water was clear and calm. For the first time all week Elle got a chance to play in the ocean.

Oh and this is a picture of a killer whale or maybe just a dolphin...

Elle The Little Fashionista Gets Inked and Painted

This weekend the Navarre Beach Arts Festival is taking place. We went to something similar here in the spring. I think we got Elle a tie-dyed shirt with crabs on it then. Laura went early to check things out while we were at the beach (see previous post). Laura came back with a butterfly tattoo on her toe, not real, but Elle thought so. It was buy one get one free so it was Elle's turn next. She chose a hibiscus.

Next up, was face painting. (Editors note - I bailed after waiting 30 mins) An hour later, I introduce to you Madame Butterfly...

God, I have my hands full!

Baptism At Sea....Introduce A Little Anarchy

Laura, Elle and I are at Navarre Beach for a little beach getaway. My folks met us down here for the week. It was nearly 6 years ago we were married here. This weekend the weather has been nice. Overcast at times and windy (sorry Dan) and highs in the low to mid 80's. We headed down to the beach this morning and as we were setting up our beach chairs and umbrellas, we saw a commotion up the beach. Dad, Elle and I decided to see what was going on.

Who would have known? First Baptist Church of Navarre was holding baptisms at sea.

We did not partake, but it was interesting nonetheless. Speaking of interesting. Is Heath Ledger/Joker the new Tupac Shakur? I haven't see the newest Batman movie. Heath seems bigger in afterlife. As I walked back from the baptisms, I saw this on the pier.

"Introduce A Little Anarchy" with a photo of Heath as Joker. Note Dad and Elle in the background. What a weird few minutes.

Undefeated, Untied, Unbelievable!

I love that headline from the AJC describing the 1980 UGA National Championship season. It also describes Elle's first soccer season. I can't believe the season is over! 7-0 and an aggregate score of 60-15. There were only a few close calls. Mason and Daylon scored 75% of the goals with Preston and Jonathan scoring the remaining few. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I coached, I couldn't get my girls (Elle, Sophie, and Isabella) a goal. Grayson, the other coaches' son, only made it to a few games this year and wasn't able to tally a goal either. Elle played really well considering that most kids were a year or so older and most teams had a hotshot boy who dribbled circles around everyone. Until next year! Daddy is very proud of you!!!