Just a Couple of Pickles: Cross' Vacay in Panama City Beach!!

On a Thursday night, Andrew and I began packing before heading to Gulf Shores after my last day of work on Friday. Last minute, I know. But, if you were there…it was quite an event…digging into boxes to get our necessary vacation clothes – undies, swimsuits, shorts, t-shirts, and whatever else we could easily get to in our packed boxes for the St. Louis move. NOTE: we had to have the apartment packed before we left for vacation because it was only going to get more hectic once we returned. Meanwhile, Andrew stops packing because his hysterical laughter was uncontrollable! I’m a bit confused (and it was a scary laughter), but realized he is laughing out of frustration…he can’t walk 2 feet without moving boxes and find his t-shirts!! So yeah, it was eventful and that was just the beginning!

Friday, we headed down to Gulf Shores to stay overnight with his parents. My younger sibs drove to Panama City Beach (PCB) overnight. My parents stayed a few more days with my grandparents to make sure their pacemakers are treating them well :-) On our way down, I finally release my stress and have a breakdown all while driving. Just a mixture of emotions, stress, and feeling overwhelmed. We planned on this vacation to be stress free and to NOT think about moving nor talk about anything other than the family vacation. That became very hard throughout the week. We were on adrenaline high and having more people on a trip…makes it harder to make decisions, to be spontaneous, and at times please one another. As the week progressed, it became a bit easier to loosen up.

This was Andrew and Ashley’s 1^st vacation with the Cross’! Us Cross kids warned them that there is LOTS of beach time – like 10a-5p. There were lots of other 1^sts for some of us: Andrew and I’s 1^st FULL week vacation together (and boy was that a TEST!), Clayton and Tilden’s 1^st time parasailing, Andrew’s 1^st time driving a Go Cart (seriously and he’s 30!). Although it was a bit hectic and there were some hair-pulling time, the vacation ended with a BLAST! Our last night, we stayed out late putting and Go Carting! In addition, some of us had some moments that were unforgettable! And there are some highlights that will be memorable…

Mallory’s moments:

- Mom, Mal , and I are relaxing on rafts in the sea, talking, catching up and all of a sudden Mallory screams with a horrified look on her face. Of course it’s contagious and caused mom to scream and nearly fall of her raft! I’m laughing uncontrollably only because I knew there were green algae floating around and saw it swift between her fingers!! Just had to be there!!

- I saw a sign, “$5 for the Sky-flyer”!! Hey, that’s a GREAT deal!! Andrew says that before insurance, and Mal responds, “that’s for not being strapped in.”

- As I sit on the edge of the pool, Mal has her hat and sunglasses on and gets in like she’s going to touch the bottom…when it’s 6ft deep! Yup, she goes under…hat and all!

- Andrew makes a comment about a green bump on the last hole of the putt-putt course that looks like butt cheeks (seriously). Well, he putts and the ball gets stuck what looks like between the butt cheeks. Mal yells out, “Oh you got a Dingleberry.” Ashley couldn’t even putt after that and I’m confused. Of course, I had to ask them to explain what that meant.

Tiffy’s moments:

- I go for a walk with mom and Mal, meanwhile a HUGE bumble bee is trying to cling on my shoulder like a little puppy trails your feet. Needless to say, beach spectators were entertained while I tried to scat it away, twirl around, run, and it still remains right on my back!!

- I’m notorious for not pronouncing things correctly, such as: “The Karshanagans”, “Pom-paynos”, and, “Keltics”. Meant to be, “The Kardashians”, “Pompanos”, and “Celtics”.

- Decided to make yummy mimosas as a morning treat for everyone. Began to unscrew the twist on the champagne bottle until the cork POPPED before I got it fully untwisted! Scared all of us, but it scared the daylights out of me! Andrew asked if I needed a pacemaker. Said we should get a group discount!

-The last day, we decided to play it all out in the ocean (despite the gunk of green algae or what looked like slime). We went inside for lunch and I went to the restroom and found I had a Shrek booty!! I was covered in green algae – YUCK!!

Dill’s moments:

- Andrew spots a jelly-fish while we were floating. I quickly swim towards shore, meanwhile, we’re all watching a guy go towards it and picks up…a jug!! Oh, we are such wimpies!!

Clayton’s moments:

- Cleans off the putt course before he putts and Mal sarcastically yells out, “I hope you make a hole-n-one for clearing your path!” What do you know…he putts a hole-n-one!!! But he and I tied as the winners :-)

Tilden’s moments:

- The living room has wall mirrors, and as he was talking he’d pause and slowly bring his arm to a 45 degree angle and return to his conversation.

Highlights:

- 1^st night (Sat. night) shopping at Wal-Mart – a BIG no, no!! Andrew and Tilden stay at home while we think our grocery shopping trip is going to take an hour. Even though it was only 2 miles down the road it took 3 hours!! 45 min of it just waiting in line – then I forget the Taco Seasoning right as they ring up our items, and ran an obstacle course to the seasoning like I was on Amazing Race! Needless to say, I barely made it!

- Shopping at Pier Park

- Imagine 8 people trying to decide where to eat!

- Margaritaville…2.5 hour wait! Then taking 2 hours to figure out where to eat next or what to do! End up at Olive Garden and had a great time :-) Plus, it was a more pleasant environment.

- The level 5 “white water rafting” on the Banana Boat out to the parasail boat (in fact, I was so sore for a few days, I couldn’t even finish my week’s workout!).

- Parasailing with my little brothers

- The restaurants: Pompano’s (probably all our favorites), Schooners (touristy and loud), and Olive Garden

- The Red Box movies: Legion (AWESOME and kind of scary), Shutter Island (way better than I had expected and NOT scary like I thought), ToothFairy (cute and great family movie), and Alice and Wonderland (Johnny Depp doesn’t make a bad movie!).

- Go Carts and Putt-Putt (and boy were we competitive!!).

- Trying to get 8 people to take family photos and make it look good in mom’s eyes! If you can just imagine.

Andrew ended up having a great time overall even though he thought the beaches are over-rated (i.e. the long restaurant waits, all the peeps, and whatever else he can’t handle ;-) As we headed home, I began to think about the loaded apartment, getting the Uhaul, my parents and Tilden sleeping on whatever space we can create, Andrew’s graduation dinner, Sunday night’s event, and moving to St. Louis Monday!! Oh, the reality of life and stress has returned! And, I’m wondering if we’re really going to relax on our LA and Tahiti “late” honeymoon?! Maybe, since we’ll already be moved and set up :-)