the beach! a ridiculous commentary on all that I'm liking!

Well, I just discovered that I have no cord to transfer my pics.  I've dug through every computer bag and camera bag - we have like 10 cords at home!  :(  Oh well.  I'll post pics later (or maybe we can pick up a cord in Destin next time we go in to town).  For now let me just say that this place is WONDERFUL!!  We went to Destin about 3 or 4 years ago and stayed in a small condo complex that was nice and right on the beach.  I can't remember, but I think we probably paid the same or more as we're paying for this place and that other place was like a dump compared to this!!  This complex is huge, with two pools (one right on the beach and the other one HUGE), and right on the beach.  Our condo is not actually facing the beach, but it takes one minute to walk over.  Our beach is about 30 minutes from Destin and because we're here in off-season it feels like there is almost no one here.  A couple of nights ago, we had the beach to ourselves.  All 8 of us.  :)  So here is what I'm loving.  The condo itself is really nice inside - I love my home in Como and I wouldn't trade it for the world (really).  However!  Sometimes it's nice to have some of the little things that spoil us for just a short time!  For instance!  Randy and I have our OWN bathroom.  I think perhaps this is one of my top two things that I miss about my old house in Fort Worth (the other is a fireplace).  And in our OWN bathroom (which is huge), there is a HUGE shower with two shower heads and a garden tub with jets.  The appliances in the kitchen are new and updated and they all work.  :)  There is also a laundry room - okay, I often wish for a real laundry room where I can shut the door and not SEE all the dirty clothes.  Funny how this nice place has NOT taken up my laundry and done it for me.  Funny how the laundry just won't go away, esp when we go through multiple outfits, swimsuits a day!  :)  But that's okay - I get to do all this laundry in a laundry room.  We also have a 4th floor balcony with a little table and two reclining chairs that overlooks that beautiful big pool with a fountain in the middle.  ALL of this to say that I'm thankful for the little things that are making me feel pampered.  And talk about being pampered - the beauty of the ocean is always overwhelming, esp. here in the white sand beaches!  When we went out this a.m., the water was very still and perfectly blue.  You can stand for probably over 100 yards out and watch the tiny fish feed around your feet.  Sea gulls and other little interesting birds fly overhead often and this a.m. we looked and saw dolphins breaking the surface of the water only about 150 yards away from shore!  My children are happy as clams playing in the water and sand for long periods of time and there are just so few "rules" for them to worry about.  Malachi is intimidated enough that he won't just run into the water without assistance.  He just sits and digs and watches everything with delight.  Isaac and Moriah have life jackets and so we don't have to worry about them at all.  Sweet Isaac stays in the water most of the time trying to catch fish and find crabs.  Luke can throw himself in the water or in the sand and no one reprimands him for being a little too "enthusiastic"!  :)  Josiah is always building or digging something.  And McKenna and I are enjoying sitting there watching everyone else, reading, and taking an occasional dip when we get too hot or sandy.  Randy plays with everyone pretty much the whole time or tries to catch creatures.  There is no pressure to DO anything.  Our only agenda for the rest of the week is to go somewhere where we can catch hermit crabs and to eat out one night in Destin (we've been cooking here).  The last time I put on makeup was Sunday morning before church (so you won't be seeing a lot of pics of me!).  Oh yeah, let me just pause here to give tribute to my father-in-law, Grandpa Brown.  Dale, you have successfully passed down your family tradition to always go to church no matter where you are or what you're doing on Sunday a.m.!  :)  LOL!  I used to get really irritated, but I found myself quite content this week to let my sweet hubby take us on the adventure of finding another part of the body of Christ to go worship with on Sunday a.m.  My kids were not quite as amused as I was!  HA!  We went to this small community church that met in an old fancy bank building and was mostly composed of upper class older people.  We were 20 minutes late and made lots of people smile as we had to parade in front of them all as we entered the building!  Here's the AMAZING part - all six of my children sat for one hour without a peep and fooled everyone into thinking that we are always so reticent and well-behaved!!!  LOL!  McKenna saved the day because she had a stash of collected peppermints from various restaurants in her purse which Malachi and Isaac happily ate the entire time!  I love that my kids will never forget how their daddy always took our whole family to unfamiliar churches so that we could experience more than what we are comfortable with - actually, now that I think about it, that's what he does with us all the time!!  Praise God for this man that doesn't like to "play it safe!"  I guess that's MORE than enough for now - wish I could post my pictures.  We'll just have to find a way to make that work before the end of the week!