Beach Day

Day 6--Panama City Beach, Florida

We had the whole day to play today.  Shanon, Heather and I got up early and went for a run.  It's been a week since I've gotten in any running and it was much needed.  However, in a zeal to go for a run on the beach we decided it would be a good idea to run barefoot on the sand for three miles.  Not the brightest idea we've ever had, seeing as none of us are barefoot runners, nor sand runners.  My toes ached afterwards and Shanon and Heather's arches were strained.  But...it was a run on the beach!

We ate breakfast, got ready for the beach and piled everyone on the golf cart to head the block down to the beach.  The neighbor next door proclaimed that we were amazing women--not only could we fit 3 adults and 8 kids in one van, but we fit all 11 of us plus 3 beach chairs and our beach bags on a golf cart.  Once at the beach, it was magical.  We just sat and watched the waves and the kids living it up in the water.  The weather was perfect.  A little cloudy so the sun wasn't beating down on us.  The wind had calmed down.  I even fell asleep for a few minutes in my chair.




Everyone was hungry so we headed back to the house for lunch.  Shanon got roped into taking all the kids around in the golf cart for two hours while Heather and I relaxed.  It had started to rain a little bit, so the girls went to a thrift shop down the road and the boys stayed back and played video games. The thrift store was a little bit of a let down, which is probably good because I have no room to put anything.  But their mission was inspiring--it's run by addicts looking to get back on their feet and return to society.  We also made a stop at Old Navy, doing what girls do best.



It was pizza again for dinner--mainly because it's easy, cheap, and the kids like it.  Then we went to the beach again.  We saw a hatching area for sea turtles (fun fact: sea turtles come back to their native beaches to lay their eggs) and the lifeguard told us that it was common time for sharks to come in ashore, chasing the fish that were coming in with the tide.  That kept the kids pretty close to us.


A storm rolled in and we packed it up and headed home to get ready to leave in the morning.  Our assessment of Panama LCity Beach is that we need to come back for a week of relaxation. Lots of repacking and cleaning and we are ready for our next stop--Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

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