All posts by Amanda

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A fun evening in Pensacola. We usually eat out once on our vacation and in Florida, the kids beg for Flounder’s. They have a playground on the beach with a mister, a volleyball court, a live band that plays fun music, and the popcorn shrimp is awesome. We also made a quick stop in Ron Jon’s because when in Florida, it’s a state law that you must visit Ron Jon’s when you find one! Noah asked a sales guy if “they have a surf board about 1/4 the size of the full size $600 one.” I told him, why don’t you just ask him if they have one your size and what you can afford, which is more like 10% of the $600 one?!? #masteredtheskimboard #movingontosurfboard #imnotpackingasurfboardhome #cantsurfindallas #raisingasurfbum

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A fun evening in Pensacola. We usually eat out once on our vacation and in Florida, the kids beg for Flounder’s. They have a playground on the beach with a mister, a volleyball court, a live band that plays fun music, and the popcorn shrimp is awesome. We also made a quick stop in Ron Jon’s because when in Florida, it’s a state law that you must visit Ron Jon’s when you find one! Noah asked a sales guy if “they have a surf board about 1/4 the size of the full size $600 one.” I told him, why don’t you just ask him if they have one your size and what you can afford, which is more like 10% of the $600 one?!?

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Day 1 is in the books. Red flag meant rough waves but it also gave us some great sand and skimboard time. Noah found a skimboard this spring at Dirt Cheap for $12 and begged to get it for this trip. Let me warn you, it’s not as easy as it looks. The guys you see doing at the beach are professionals and make it look way easier than it actually is. I tried it first because, well, I’m the Mama and if anyone is going to make a fool of themselves first, it should always be the Mama! I threw that skinny board out on the water with confidence and jumped on the board thinking “I’ve got this!!!” The board stood still and my body launched my face right into the sand! I couldn’t stop laughing!!! Noah is starting to get the hang of it-I’ll be anxious to see how he does by the end of the week. I’ll probably stick to taking videos and pictures!

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Day 1 is in the books. Red flag meant rough waves but it also gave us some great sand and skimboard time. Noah found a skimboard this spring at Dirt Cheap for $12 and begged to get it for this trip. Let me warn you, it’s not as easy as it looks. The guys you see doing at the beach are professionals and make it look way easier than it actually is. I tried it first because, well, I’m the Mama and if anyone is going to make a fool of themselves first, it should always be the Mama! I threw that skinny board out on the water with confidence and jumped on the board thinking “I’ve got this!!!” The board stood still and my body launched my face right into the sand! I couldn’t stop laughing!!! Noah is starting to get the hang of it-I’ll be anxious to see how he does by the end of the week. I’ll probably stick to taking videos and pictures!

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Joe Patti’s is always our first stop in Florida. They have the best fresh seafood and the best prices. Hannah’s still not a fan of the smell of fresh seafood, but it’s a small price to pay for amazing seafood. This was the first time that THE Joe Patti has helped us though. We’ve always seen him behind the counter calling out numbers over the speaker, but we were so excited to get to talk with the famous Joe! He was really really nice and gave us probably an extra pound of swordfish for free! If you’re ever in Pensacola, be sure and make a stop to visit our BFF, Joe!

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Joe Patti’s is always our first stop in Florida. They have the best fresh seafood and the best prices. Hannah’s still not a fan of the smell of fresh seafood, but it’s a small price to pay for amazing seafood. This was the first time that THE Joe Patti has helped us though. We’ve always seen him behind the counter calling out numbers over the speaker, but we were so excited to get to talk with the famous Joe! He was really really nice and gave us probably an extra pound of swordfish for free! If you’re ever in Pensacola, be sure and make a stop to visit our BFF, Joe!

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We celebrating Eli turning 7 today! It was not at all how I expected the party to go, but I’ve learned things seldom go as expected in our family. We showed up at our local fire station at 9:50, for our party at 10. We got there and the station was vacant- all the firemen were gone! We hung out in the dark foyer for about 35 minutes, while frantically calling every possible number, before finally deciding to call is quits and headed to Fuzzy’s to do an impromptu Fireman/TexMex birthday party! Hey, you work with what ya’ got! . As we were driving 1.9 miles away to Fuzzy’s, everyone in our caravan noticed that we passed a local ambulance….could that be our friendly missing firemen?!??? A sweet friend hopped back in her car, drove back to fire station and learned that it was. So, after quickly eating 5 plates of nachos and 5 baskets of sopapillas, everyone loaded back up in the cars and drove to the fire station! We unloaded everything and the firemen started to give us a tour of the station. We made it in the kitchen, the first room on the tour, before we learned how firemen get called out and how they have to leave quickly! (We surprised the captain as he came out of his room still buttoning and tucking in his shirt!). The assured us they would be back soon and promised to give us a great tour when they returned. 20 minutes later, they returned and the captain came in and apologized for coming out half-dressed! he asked if we were ready do the tour now and he had not even finished his sentence when we heard the all too familiar sound-we saw everyone run for the fire truck, yet again! While we never did get that tour, we learned several things today. We learned we have several understanding, gracious, amazing, and flexible friends that put up with all our craziness. It was so sweet- when I was struggling with the idea of asking everyone to load up their cars yet again a friend looked at me and asked, ”Well, what does Eli want to do? This is his special day”. We couldn’t ask for better friends and family.We also learned that firemen work really hard and that they can run really fast, even half-dressed!!! Happy birthday, Eli!!!!! #bdayforthebooks

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We celebrating Eli turning 7 today! It was not at all how I expected the party to go, but I’ve learned things seldom go as expected in our family. We showed up at our local fire station at 9:50, for our party at 10. We got there and the station was vacant- all the firemen were gone! We hung out in the dark foyer for about 35 minutes, while frantically calling every possible number, before finally deciding to call is quits and headed to Fuzzy’s to do an impromptu Fireman/TexMex birthday party! Hey, you work with what ya’ got! . As we were driving 1.9 miles away to Fuzzy’s, everyone in our caravan noticed that we passed a local ambulance....could that be our friendly missing firemen?!??? A sweet friend hopped back in her car, drove back to fire station and learned that it was. So, after quickly eating 5 plates of nachos and 5 baskets of sopapillas, everyone loaded back up in the cars and drove to the fire station! We unloaded everything and the firemen started to give us a tour of the station. We made it in the kitchen, the first room on the tour, before we learned how firemen get called out and how they have to leave quickly! (We surprised the captain as he came out of his room still buttoning and tucking in his shirt!). The assured us they would be back soon and promised to give us a great tour when they returned. 20 minutes later, they returned and the captain came in and apologized for coming out half-dressed! he asked if we were ready do the tour now and he had not even finished his sentence when we heard the all too familiar sound-we saw everyone run for the fire truck, yet again! While we never did get that tour, we learned several things today. We learned we have several understanding, gracious, amazing, and flexible friends that put up with all our craziness. It was so sweet- when I was struggling with the idea of asking everyone to load up their cars yet again a friend looked at me and asked, ”Well, what does Eli want to do? This is his special day”. We couldn’t ask for better friends and family.We also learned that firemen work really hard and that they can run really fast, even half-dressed!!! Happy birthday, Eli!!!!!

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We are so incredibly proud of Noah. He auditioned for a big speaking part in Kids Choir earlier this spring and he got it. He was really nervous when he learned he got the part, but after working on his lines for the past 6 weeks, he had them down. He was so calm-(this Mama was a nervous wreck) , looked like a natural and he had a blast- he’s now counting down the days until he can audition for a part in Choir Camp this summer! #lightscameraaction #hewasmostexcitedaboutwearingamic #genethegardener #fruitifthespirit

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We are so incredibly proud of Noah. He auditioned for a big speaking part in Kids Choir earlier this spring and he got it. He was really nervous when he learned he got the part, but after working on his lines for the past 6 weeks, he had them down. He was so calm-(this Mama was a nervous wreck) , looked like a natural and he had a blast- he’s now counting down the days until he can audition for a part in Choir Camp this summer!