Dad's 75th Birthday

Last Thursday, May 15, was my Dad's 75th birthday. The four of us drove down to Florida for the weekend to celebrate. My sister Kathy flew in for a week so Aunt Coffee got to spend some time with us and got to meet Grace for the first time! Here she is with Jason and Grace.


Here is a picture of my Dad about to blow out his candle. Flo and Jason were there to make sure he blew it out.


The name of the condo that we stayed at was the "El Matador". It is actually the last condo on Santa Rosa Boulevard in Fort Walton Beach. It borders a chunk of Eglin Air Force Base. The awesome part of this is nothing is developed on the Eglin side of the fence. This picture gives you an idea of what the entire region looked like a long, long, time ago before all the tourists discovered it.


The base will let you walk the beach on base property as long as you stay by the shoreline. During naptime on Saturday I went for run down this beach. After I got about a kilometer down the beach, there was nobody to be found. Not many folks take advantage of this which is why we will probably stay at this condo from now on.

Here is a view looking to the right of the previous shot. Behind the complex is the Santa Rosa Sound and FWB/Mary Esther.


The architects of the complex needed a lesson in human factors. The particular building we were in was facing the wrong way! Both of the above pictures were taken from our FRONT DOOR. The balcony in the back of our unit faced other buildings and a parking lot! If the designers had turned the building 180 degrees the above pictures would have been from our balcony. Oh well. A missed opportunity.

The weather was bad on Friday. It rained most of the day but we did manage to soldier down to the beach twice only to scurry back to the condo as rains rolled in. Here is Jason all ready to do some digging.


Saturday's weather was spectacular. Jason's mood was not so great. He woke up too early in the morning and was tired by the time we got down to the beach. In the end all he wanted to do was crash and sleep. We covered him to make sure he did not get a sun burn.


While Jason slept on the beach Grace and Aunt Coffee/Kathy got to know each other some.

We did not pack enough toys to keep the kids distracted during the rains, but Grace thrived on the stacking cups. She really has gotten better at this!

But the best thing was whacking the cups once they were stacked.


Once Sunday rolled around it was time to return home. The trip was too short, especially after the nice weather on Saturday made for some good times outside.