The Schaffers: September 2012

At the beginning of August we went on our first family vacation with the boys. We took them to the beach for the first time. We went to Panama City Beach in Florida and had an absolutely wonderful time. Our friends Zak and Kendra met us there and stayed with us one night with their children. We had not seen them in over a year and it was so wonderful to spend some time with them. Aunt Tia, Uncle Wes, Micah and Sloane were also there at the beach while we were there so we got to spend some time with them as well. We stayed at a beautiful condo called Aqua. We had two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a full kitchen, living room, dining room, and an absolutely wonderful balcony. We left Knoxville on a Friday afternoon and drove part of the way, stopped in Columbus, GA and spent the night. Then Saturday morning we drove the rest of the way to the beach. We had reservations to stay until Thursday. We only planned for five nights because I wasn't sure how well the boys would do. Of course they were perfect little angels and by the time Thursday rolled around we were wishing we had planned a little more time. We had several rainy days so that also made us want more time. Thursday night we went to Wes and Tia's condo and stayed with them one more night. It was absolutely wonderful. It was just nice to get to spend the evening with them. Even though it rained it was just so nice to just be at the beach. I spent a lot of time out on the balcony just watching it rain and listening to the ocean. It was just absolutely perfect.

I did have a bit of a scary moment one day. I was laying on the bed with the boys while Justin was gone to the store. Our room had floor to ceiling glass doors so I could see out over the ocean. I got up to go to the kitchen at one point and looked out over the balcony and there was a "tornado" out over the water. I freaked out just a bit. I grabbed pillows and threw them in the bathtub and put the boys in there on them. Then I went and videoed. :) LOL I guess it was what you would actually call a waterspout and never made it to land. I just kind of panicked at first. We were perfectly fine but saw several of those that day.

The boys got to feel sand, ocean water and the pool all for the first time. They did so good. They are always such angels. We bought a little tent for them to lay in to keep out of the sun and they would lay there and just nap during the day. We were able to just rest and relax.

One night Aunt Tia kept the boys and let Justin and I go out on a date. It was the first time we had been out since the boys were born. We went to Captain Anderson's which is my absolute favorite restaurant there in Panama City. I had She Crab Pie...it is a puff pastry filled with a piece of fish and cream cheese and topped with she crab soup....OH MY HEAVENS!!!!! So good!!!!!! We had a wonderful evening but missed our boys.

It was such a wonderful first of many family vacations. Justin and I really enjoy our cruises but I think trips to just the beach like this one will be something we do a lot as a family.