Back from Florida

We got back from our vacation on Sunday afternoon, May 7th. We drove 2 1/2 days each way, and the grandkids did amazingly well~at least when they were in our car! Ernie, Wes, Arlin, and I went in our new Rendezvous (you sure learn how to spell that when you own one!) and Wade and Jenn took their Suburban, with Jenn's sister, Janelle, along to help with the kids. She was such a blessing to have along!
The sand in Destin, FL, is white~so clean-looking! The day we arrived was very windy, and they had the two red flags flying on the beach, meaning you're NOT allowed to go in the water!! Well, the boys wanted to get into the water so badly, and we didn't understand the flag thingy anyway, so down we went to the beach! Jenn even tried to get Keagan and Kaden into the water! A beach patrol guy came along, and told them they were not allowed in the water at all! The rip tides were bad, and they could even take a car out into the ocean!! Scary stuff, so they heeded it and came back out. Now I've heard even worse horror stories about rip tides, and am SO thankful that the Lord protected us 'gringoes'!!!
The next day, though, one red flag was taken down, so it meant 'swim at your own risk'. Well they did, and sure had fun in the waves. The little guys just stayed on the sand and played and played!! We got some good sun to brown us a bit, too, plus some sunburn!!
We found beautiful shells that first day we were allowed on the beach. Ernie 'picked' alot for me, because they were imbedded in the sand-wall. That was fun, so we have some free souveniers of the beach.
We found a neat seafood buffet restaurant and ate there one night, all the mahi-mahi, grouper, red snapper, and salmon we wanted!
We had to do the timeshare spiel again~since we were just using the points we had through the Discovery option. We sat throught that (Wade had to, too) and were done quite quickly. We went out to get our freebie, and while Wade was doing that, the guy told us he had missed telling us something. So in we go, and he starts saying what good deal this would be, and the money we already had into it would be applied to this new deal. So it's sort of like we were getting the value of that initial contract again! To make a long story short, Ernie did buy into it. Now because we are owners in Fairfield Resorts, Destin, we can use the RCI timeshare places all over the world! We will actually have a title deed to property in Florida when it's all paid off, and can bank up the points so we can have enough for a bigger trip someday. We also want to let others in ministry use those points for R&R if needed. A tithe of the timeshare, if you will. =)
The last day in Destin, the guys and Jenn had booked a deep sea fishing trip. They were off at 6 a.m., and had to catch their own bait. The bait was the size of trout we keep up here, but down there it was only used to get the big fellow!! And Ernie did get a big fellow~a copper-bellied grouper! It weighed in at 60 pounds. What a blessing for him. It was the biggest grouper that fishing guide had caught in a couple years. So everyone was happy, and we have an 8x10 to prove it! The reason I can't post any picture of it on here right now, is because Arlin was playing with my digital on the way home and tried to format some pic, and lost about 70 pictures I had on that card. =( He'll never do that, again. Jenn had the movie camera on the boat when they went, and she has some good footage of it. They all caught some great fish, red snapper, groupers, and Arlin got an Amber Jack, which was the second largest fish.
We packed it all in ice (after the guide filleted it for us) and now we have about 75 pounds of fish in our freezers. It's good tasting, too.
Back to the grind, with Arlin finishing up his schoolwork. I think we'll be doing Math into the summer, and he has a research paper to do, also. Then next year, hopefully, it won't be as hectic as this year.
Ernie finally got his machine fixed, after three days of mechanics, and so they went back to work on Thurs. They won't come home this weekend, even for Mother's Day, because there's supposed to be a volleyball tournament in Grand Junction on Sunday. Arlin and I will drive there, and Ernie and Wes will come down from Granby, and we'll spend some of the afternoon with Terran and Naomi.
When we get some pictures, I'll have to learn how to scan them so we can share them with you!