Sunday outings

{Before you start reading, I should let you know that this post is photo heavy. Lots of pictures. Just wanted to give you fair warning.}

I should come clean with you right now. Before we go any further in our “relationship” you should know that I don’t like the beach (frankly, I don’t even like Florida but that’s for another post). I know, you’re probably thinking I live in “paradise”, right? That’s what all northerners call Florida. What they don’t know is that it’s humid about 99.9% of the time. And summer lasts for about 9 1/2 months. The temps never drop at night and the humidity stays the same, too. A few years back, while getting ready for bed after 11pm, the weather man had the audacity to tell me the “feels like” temp was above 90 degrees! Are you fracking kidding me? I wanted to drive the the station and punch him in the face. And going to the beach doesn’t help. During the summer, the Gulf of Mexico stays at bath water temperature. Then try mixing humidity, high temps with rocky sand. It never comes off. I think I still have sand stuck to me from 1987!

I said all that to say this: It’s a BIG deal when the Long family goes to the beach. A big deal. And we’ve done it twice. This week. Our pastor joked that a sighting of the Longs at the beach was just as crazy as Polar bears on the Lost island.

We’ve been going on Sunday afternoon “outings” lately. I love this family time. I love that there’s no TV or video games. Love that we’re not stuck inside the house. Love that we’re together. Not sure what we’ll do when the temps rise but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Yesterday started off with a walk around Crescent Lake. It’s a nice park not too far from our house and it has a dog park, too. We usually walk around the lake and then let Rex (our black lab/shepherd mix) play with the other doggies. My dad decided to come along with us. He rode his motorcycle and we drove.

Never a shortage of bird sightings here:

The ice cream truck came by. Too bad I didn’t have any cash. I think every kid should have ice cream from the truck at least once in their lives:

Lady bugs were found (MUCH better than the worms/caterpillars that were everywhere a few weeks ago):

The cutest apartments sit across the street from the lake. Sometimes I dream of apartment living. No grass to mow. Not being the one responsible for repairs. No upkeep. How cool to would it be to drive a pink scooter & live in a complex that has an “Artist’s Garden”?? Ah, the life. Also making this one my photo of the day.

093/365:

While at the dog park, the boys made a new friend:

After hanging at the park playing with the dogs (rather, US sitting while the DOG played), my dad suggested we head to the beach to watch the sunset. So we dropped Rex off at home and headed to Pass-A-Grille Beach. It’s one of my “favorite” beaches. (I say “favorite” because, as you already know, I don’t like the beach.)

The sunset really was beautiful:

How often do you see a bagpipe player? And when you do see them, are they usually on the beach? I think not. But look what I found:

I know there’s so many things wrong with the following photo, but I decided to put it here anyway.

Now do you see why I love these Sunday outings?

Right as we were getting ready to leave, we saw a little boy trying to snorkel. It happened so fast, I almost didn’t get the picture! He was bending down, putting his head in the water but keeping his body out. And on his head, he had a giant pair of goggles. Love this:

And that’s our 2nd trip to the beach in one week. It was well worth it. Lots of photos and lots of family time. I wouldn’t trade these afternoons for anything. OK, maybe I’d give them up for a few months if I could have a new car, but it sounded sweet.