From the Beach to the Sled Hill

 We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida this year.  Well, it was wonderful or miserable, depending on who you ask.  Most of us loved it.  The weather was slightly chillier than we would have liked, but my eskimo kids didn't mind too much.  It was our first time in Florida and I was amazed by the perfect white sand beaches.  You spend enough time around lakes in Michigan and you forget what a real beach can look like. The people were also super friendly, the houses were so interesting (so many pastel colors and up on stilts), and the condo we rented was just perfect for our needs, complete with tennis court, hot tub, and pool.  Although the pool was even colder than the ocean, so we didn't use it much.

We mostly dug in the sand and played in the water, but one day we rented a paddle board and had a lot of fun falling off it. :)  Paddle board in the ocean is a very different experience from paddle board on a lake.

Even Kelly gave the board a try. He did his fair share of falling in too.

Notice someone missing in all these pictures?  This is what Benjamin did the entire time we were in Florida:

This is why if you ask him how Florida was, he'll say awful.  In all fairness, Bella spent nearly all her time doing the same.

Even Kelly was no exception.

Most of the vacation was me, Christian, and Peter playing.  So we're the ones who loved Florida the most.  Bella says it was fine.  In order to get people off their devices, Kelly and I forced everyone to come to Camp Helen State Park near Laguna Beach Friday afternoon.  Due to the late season, it wasn't everything the websites claim it to be, but it was a really nice thing to be together for the one and only time all vacation.  I really think Benjamin had fun too.

Long jump contest.  Benjamin won, obviously.

Give Bella your camera and you get tons of fun selfies and trick photography.

The hot tub bubbles at the condo were so much like soap that Christian and Peter loved to play with it.

Our Thanksgiving dinner was super simple and just right for me.  So much better than cooking all day long for a 20 minute dinner.  We had actually made plans with another family from Michigan who also vacations in Florida every Thanksgiving, however, they contracted covid just days before our trip and so our dinner was cancelled.  That was really disappointing but maybe we'll do it another year.

We also spent an afternoon at the boardwalk at Destin, Florida.  They had a giant chair that every person who passed took a picture in.  When in Rome... as they say.

And we found yet another giant chair.

We attempted to ride go-carts because Benjamin said on day one that he'd like to do that, but when we got there, he refused to get out of the car.  So, no go carts.  Maybe next time.  I'm really not a beach person, per se. I'd much rather be in the forests or mountains, but Florida beaches are pretty amazing and I loved the time we spent there.  Playing on the beach at sunset and watching the waves crash in is really wonderful.  Reminded me of Mexico and how amazing that trip had been.  I'm so glad we decided to go.

Then we came home to snow.  That was a shock.  We tried to make the best of it.  Peter got right into the spirit of it and grabbed Bella's headband.

It was also the first advent, so we had our traditional advent wreath lighting along with cookies and hot chocolate.  It turned into a marshmallow sniper shot contest.  That's really only one marshmallow Christian threw, but it looks like a ton in the picture.  Siblings can be a lot of fun when they don't drive you crazy.