Hey everyone! We just arrived. After a long day of airport traveling we finally made it to Niceville, FL! With hardly any mishaps. Though I did get concerned when my dad mistook a sidewalk for a exit in the rental car parking lot! It's about one in the morning now, and I'm settling in for a good night's rest in my cousin's living room on the tan chaise. I can't wait for morning to see the rest of the family who were already asleep when we arrived. I'm sure Jeremy (my cousin) and Jaylene (his wife) will have breakfast ready, and baby Benjamin up and ready for the day by the time I wake out of my restless slumber. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Woke up today to the sight of my new baby cousin. Four-month-old Benjamin was bright-eyed and cheery early this morning and I couldn't have been happier to be the first to hold him. After that, I went with my cousin Jeremy and the dogs Popeye and Dixie down to the bay. The mild temp. and sun made me smile at the thought of my friends back in chilly NE.
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Spent a good five to six hours at church today. Baptist church. Nothing against Baptists, but man that preacher could talk forever!!! Now, I may not be Baptist, but I know enough about generally good hearted people to know that this church was full of them. It's a church full of people who are living their faith. This church prayed and prayed and prayed and praised the Lord for the work he had done in their lives. Yes it was different, and a tad bit long for my liking, but man it was a bit refreshing. This church is alive!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sampled some of the best seafood around today. Crabcakes, shrimp, Mahi Mahi, trout, and salmon were all on the menu today. I had to go on limb to try these, but I guess you can't go wrong when the seafood's fresh. YUM YUM!!! :)
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Just back from a refreshing run on the beach, too bad Popeye didn't enjoy it as much as i did. I felt like I was dragging him along the whole way!
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Played some crazy croquet today. The course is anti-official, the yard bumpy and sloped. You hit it off the retaining wall- lose three strokes. Hit a spectator- lose five. If the dog moves your ball- well, hopefully they didn't take it too far....where it lands, there you play. The game came complete with cheating accusations and fierce competition. To say the least, I'm terrible. So, during the second game my Uncle Steve and my Dad took turns knocking my cousin off course. A good hour later I hit the ball through the last wicket my cousin still stalled by my loyal family!!
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ORGANIC,ORGANIC, ORGANIC!!!!! It's about day 4 of our trip and all my cousin's wife Jaylene cooks is organic. Artichoke hearts, mushrooms, onions, pumpkin, if it's a vegetable I've eaten it! Even the chocolate syrup is organic in this house. The dog treats-yup, they are too. She cooks buffalo instead of beef, because it's free range and wasn't fed corn that's not organic. She's a naturalist to the extreme. Good food for the most part, but man I couldn't eat like this all the time. Up and out it's time for some family Cranium and Phase 10!
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I feel good today. The kind of good one can only feel after lazily lounging on the beaches of Destin all day long, soaking up the sun. That's been the plan for this vacation. Sleep late, eat well, and catch a lot of sun. Tomorrow we'll be hitting the Black Water River with my cousin and his family. I can't wait, it'll be my first float trip via Kayak.
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I started our kayak trip heading backwards down the river. (can you see where this kayak trip is headed?) After I got turned around, we settled in for our float down the river. However, no kayak trip is complete without a mishap. Of course, with my wrecklessness and clumsiness it had to be my fault. As I floated with the current too far to the edge of the river, I began running into branches. In attempt to protect my face from the low branches, I forgot to steer my kayak and found that I was headed straight for a large tree that had fallen in the water. It appeared as though the kayak was going to drag me right into the sharp branches. I muttered a four letter word which I won't mention here. Needless to say, I got stuck. My kayak was being pulled further into the tree by the current and I couldn't get out. My cousin came over to free me and when I was almost there, my cousin told me to paddle the rest of the way out. So, I stuck my paddle and pulled the water. Still stuck in the tree, my kayak tipped towards the water and I fell out. Of course, I fell out at the only point in the river that was deeper than one or two feet. At that point in the river I couldn't touch. No life jacket and bitter cold water I was lucky I could swim!!! I made my way towards my dad's kayak and grabbed on. As we floated down the river I took a log to the stomach (ouch!) then we hit another mess of trees and whatya know my dad's kayak flipped, too. Now this was a sight. Two kayaks, two swimmers, two lost paddles. I chased after the paddles, my cousin and dad grabbed the kayaks, and we hauled it all ashore at the next sandbar. Cool and collected we headed back down the river and found the place where my mother and Jaylene were waiting for us. They weren't happy campers. Apparently it had taken them 3 1/2 hours (the same time it took us for the float trip) to find the pick-up spot. Unmarked roads and a decieving Tom-Tom had led them all over the area in search of the bridge. By the time we got back to my cousin's house we were tired and in need of a long afternoon nap--after a shower of course.
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Sitting in my hotel room now, it's hard to believe it's almost time to go home. It seems like just yesterday we were leaving dreary Omaha and landing in sunny Florida. On our way we stopped in Atlanta, and I remember as our plane headed for the runway, looking out at the night lights of the city. Apparently Dr. Helmer's World Regional Geography class is starting to eat away at my soul, because all I could of think of were the slides of population density maps he showed in class. To me the night lights of Atlanta were like a slightly more colorful version of one of Dr. Helmer's maps. Well, I best get some sleep before we wake up at 3 AM to get to the airport to catch our flight home. I'll be in NE before I can say.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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After a long day of travel and some unpacking, laundry, and last minute homework, I'm ready to relax. It's nice to be home at Concordia, but I do wish I could have brought the beach with me. I had great week spending some time with my family and I hope you enjoyed hearing a little bit about it! Hasta Luego!
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After a long day of travel and some unpacking, laundry, and last minute homework, I'm ready to relax. It's nice to be home at Concordia, but I do wish I could have brought the beach with me. I had great week spending some time with my family and I hope you enjoyed hearing a little bit about it! Hasta Luego!
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