The Caslers: Florida

In case we weren't already overwhelmed by their daily manifestations of love and care for our family, Jesse's parents invited us to join them in Florida for the week between Christmas and New Year's. Out of the goodness of our hearts, we agreed. I mean, you can't say no to a gift, plus it was the gracious thing to show Hélène a different part of the county, right? Martyrs, I know. :)

We were right on the water in Panama City Beach — crashing waves, sugar white sand, perfection! Well...almost perfection. We forgot to put in an order with Mother Nature regarding the weather, and it was rainy / foggy / stormy almost the entire week. The picture above was taken a few hours after we arrived, and that was the only time we saw the sun all week. Ah well.

In spite of the weather, we did find a few brief windows to get outside. One morning we enjoyed a walk at a nature conservancy just a few minutes from our timeshare, dodging raindrops for some of it but interspersed with bright moments too. We walked all through the woods and on pathways built over the swamps. It was beautiful and so different from home, and the place was basically deserted.

A football was thrown for the duration of the walk (to motivate two small somebodies).

I like this picture with William in the air and Jim's great expression!

Hey look! It's almost hinting at "sunny" for a second!

Here's a shot from the balcony of our unit, looking out at the ocean. The roar of the waves was relentless and so, so peaceful.

When it was too poor to be out, we watched a lot of movies, read books, ate fro-yo, found indoor activities, visited the indoor pool...and stuffed our shirts with towels and laundry. We Caslers know how to have a good time, that's for sure!

Mid-week Jesse, the boys, and I visited St. Andrew's State Park (Jim, Tillie, and Hélène went to the movies). We took advantage of a few clear-ish hours, and I especially loved it because I got to join in after finally—that morning—submitting the last of my grades for the fall semester. I'd lugged a pile of papers and spent the better part of several days of the holiday working on them (boo).