Destin, Florida

I have about 75 mins one way of commute. It makes for a long day. But sunsets like this make it bearable. As well as bridges over the water.

We wanted to discover the panhandle more. We hadn’t really enjoyed what Destin had to offer. So we stopped at many of the places that caught my eye during my commute in the morning. Henderson beach…. The wind had stopped blowing. The sun was shining. And it had been a good 4 months since we enjoyed swimming in the ocean. We couldn’t resist and jumped in, sweats and all! 

I don’t know what it is about the beach, the salty brine smell, the birds….. somehow my soul feels happy here and Joe even says that my countenance changes when I’m at the ocean. It’s true. I feel my heart is happy and almost bursting. Even Addie on the drive home says the ocean is her home, where she belongs. I love these ocean days!

Joe raced the kids and I’m not entirely sure who the winner was.

Before we got soaked and wet, we walked around the harbor walkway where these cute little shops were. It was fun to just window shop.

 

This lighthouse is what drew my attention to this walkway while commuting. It looked so cute. 

Pensacola, Florida

Joe’s coworker recommended going to walk around the downtown of OWA in Foley, Alabama. 

So having everyone have Martin Luther King day off we decided to venture. Unfortunately not very many shops were open. But that’s ok, we still got out and explored.

We took another weekend and went to Pensacola, Florida and enjoyed the downtown farmers market. Also you’ll find pelican statues that are painted with various themes. This is the Army pelican. 

We took Gary to the pier at Panama City Beach. While we were walking it, this grumpy old pelican was strutting his stuff. Pelicans are one of Joe’s  favorite.

A church in Pensacola that I thought was pretty.

Walking Sweet Pea at a dog friendly beach at Panama City Beach.

Interesting art display at the farmers market in Pensacola.

While working full time scanning I would come home with migraines and headaches. I decided to get my eyes rechecked and got prescription transition lens glasses. It’s a milestone fore me getting older…

 

 

Atlanta city

Sunday morning we attempted to go to church. However it was stake conference so we couldn’t wait for it to start. Then we tried to walk around the temple but it was gated and locked up. So at least we tried…

We went to the Archibald plantation and just walked around the grounds.

The spring house where they kept their food cool. It was put together by the dry method. Which means no mortar was used between the rocks.

With this history lesson is the sad reality of slavery. We try to teach our children the whole history of America, the good and the bad. Hoping to instill a desire in our children to never let anything like this happen again.

The Atlanta temple which is our temple while we live in Crestview, Florida.

While we stayed at a hotel downtown Atlanta, we were surprised to see A Book of Mormon in our room!!

 

Atlanta Aquarium

This aquarium was beyond what I expected. It’s was very pricey but also very fun. 

There’s this rope bridge we all walked across that was fun.

There was a crawl tunnel we could go on to see the penguins ups close.

We’ve never seen a whale shark like this. Very neat to watch it swim around and it was huge compared to the other sharks and fish.

Addie and I crawled in together to get another look at the penguins.

I beyond love turtles, they are so much fun.

Addie and Joseph in the tunnel to see the penguins.

Some of the walkways to expire the fish.

Nemo, Martin and Dory.

I thought this spider crab and sea cucumbers were super cool. 

Joseph loves sharks of all kinds.

This area taught about islands development.

The entrance to the aquarium.

This grouper fish was huge!

Lion fish