vacation!

I am soooooo excited I just booked our family vacation for this summer! we are going to a barrier island off Alabama's guld coast. Just for a week but with the 2 days travel each way it will be a really nice time to spend with just my family! The first time my daughter will see the ocean, she is so excited! NOW I have some definite motivation to get this body into good enough shape to spend days playing in the water and in the sand!!! Tlak about motivation I stuck a photo of the house on the fridge and the pantry door! JUST to remid myself that I CONTROL MYSELF, FOOD DOESN"T CONTROL ME! Happy Thursday to you all! we are still working tonight, family night and I am supposed to be writing lesson plans for next week but this is WAY more fun! hugs! nic

Nic, You'll have a great time! My grandmother lives in Mobile and I spent many summers on Alabama beaches, especially Dauphin Island. A couple of years ago, the whole family gathered in Gulf Shores and we had a terrific time. OK, of course I have an Alabama fat story... I come from a long line of fishing folks and often we would go out during shrimp season and cast nets. Nothing like fresh shrimp right out of the Gulf. So my cousin Mitchell, his wife Linda, my very skinny sister Cindy and I decide to go shrimping. 2 problems: 1) The shrimp boat was in dry dock and only the bass boat was available. 2) Mitchell, Linda and I all weighed in the neighborhood of 300 pounds. My sister Cindy weighed about 100 pounds. Bass boats are very shallow and not all that big, but here we go. The gulf is choppy and we have a tough time getting that damned little boat out far enough to cast the nets. Figure the poor motor had to haul almost 1000 pounds of human flesh across the choppy waves. So picture this... small shallow boat, three huge people and one tiny twerp. Linda, Mitchell and I had to stand on different sides of the boat to keep from capsizing and Cindy would run from side to side as we started to lean one way or another. One time, we hauled in a net full of shrimp and with it came an aggresive blue crab. A blue crab will break a toe with those pinchers so the three fat kids ran around the boat trying to keep our bare toes away from the crab on the bottom of the boat while the skinny kid did everything she could to keep us from all ending up in the water. Luckily we were almost to shore when we finally capsized, luckily we saved the shrimp and luckily fat floats. Hugs, Connie

CONNIE! LOL!!!! We are going to Dauphin Island!! I am in love with it (at least fro the internet and the photos a friend has shown me!) Enough to do to keep my kids happy with the estuarium, Birding, the forts and the beach, close enough to Mobile or New Orleans if the weather is really crappy for a day trip! I AM SO THRILLED!!!!!!! I have convinced my husband that WE DESERVE a family vacation every year. It doesn't have to be expensive but it HAS to happen. vacation rental...$1000 gas money @@ $1000 sunscreen... $50 beach toys $50 vacation memories to last a lifetime.... PRICELESS!! I am ready to go now...ROAD TRIP ANYONE??? nic

Nic, Definately take a day to explore Mobile and if you haven't been, go explore the French Quarter and garden District of New Orleans. Bellingrath Gardens near Mobile is gorgeous. http://www.bellingrath.org/about-us.html I'm excited for you. C.

Nic, your vacation sounds great! Having just returned from Jamaica, I have to say that first of all, it was so incredibly relaxing to just get away from the every-day-grind; secondly, Jim and I both realized how deeply we regret not taking those family vacations over these past many years. We had horses and just couldn't get away. In retrospect, we should have just hired someone to live at our place and take care of the beasts. I am especially sad that Devin--our 13 year old boy--has never had a vacation - and he always hated the horses. So, to make a long story short, we had such a great time in Jamaica that we are now planning a family vacation, just the 4 of us, to get away together to one of the islands over Christmas break. It's long overdue and Devin and Jillian are very excited. You do this, girlfriend! You deserve this and you will be giving your kids a great gift - family memories that they will cherish forever. Love, M.