Spring Break, Part I

Since Erin and I got married in 2004, we have never taken a trip anywhere with the entire family. So last week we packed up the car, threw everyone inside and drove 22 hours to Fort Walton Beach, Fla. It was worth it! Here are some of us on the beach the very first day. White powdery sand, and water that was cool but not too cold.


We stayed at a condominium development called The Breakers that Rich found online. Here is the view from our balcony at Room W509. That's the Fort Walton Beach Pier about a mile down the beach to the east. Costs $2.00 to walk out on it, and some of us did so on Rich's birthday.


Here's the beach directly in front of our building. We spent most of our time swimming, sunbathing and flying kites on this patch of beach.


Here's the beach looking west from our building.








Sarah models her new sunglasses she got for this trip.

Spring Break, Part II

Even before the kids got in the water on the first day, Noah ended up buried in the sand, courtesy of Sarah and Caleb.








Caleb and Noah, all set to get wet.












After a couple of years of wishing aloud, Sarah finally got the chance to visit a real beach, with real sand and real ocean waves. We kept her fair skin slathered in lots of sunscreen, and even bought her a beach hat after her part got a little bit red.


Sarah and her daddy.










Sarah sprints into the surf. Behind her is our condominium building, The Breakers. We were on the fifth floor.

Spring Break, Part III

We had a few days that started out cloudy, and one day with a couple hours of sprinkles, but no days that were complete washouts. We just put on sweaters and went out to fly kites!








Sarah is a true multi-tasker. Here she is flying her kite WHILE building a sand castle!












Busy girl hard at work.










Sarah's kite cuts a colorful path through the sky.








Sarah and mommy enjoy some relaxation time inside our condo.

Spring Break, Part IV

Lucas and Sarah get in some freshwater swimming at one of the condo's two swimming pools. It was right beneath our balcony, so we could keep an eye on them.








Sarah took this picture of her daddy holding a starfish. No, we didn't catch it in the ocean ... It was a buck-fifty at our local beach tourist trap store.








Rich took a couple of hours one day to drive a few miles up to Eglin Air Force Base to check out the U.S. Air Force Armament Museum. They even had an SR-71 parked outside, and here it is. This one last flew in 1976 and had a one-of-a-kind electronics package installed in a special elongated tail pod.


There was also a B-52, or BUFF!








And a replica of a MOAB (Mother of All Bombs). If it had been a real GBU-43/B, there would have been 18,700 pounds of H6 explosive on board. According to Wikipedia, the bomb has been tested twice but never used in combat.

Spring Break, Part V

Sarah and daddy visit the Fort Walton Beach Pier. It was a sunny day, and Sarah couldn't keep her eyes open very well for this one. We even saw a couple of wild dolphins from the pier!


For Rich's 45th birthday celebration, Erin, Caleb and Sarah took him for supper at a place right on the beach called the Crab Trap. Here's Sarah and her old daddy.


Caleb and Erin can't wait for the food to come! Caleb ate a massive hamburger at this place.




We waited a long time for our food, so we took a lot of pictures to kill the time!






Back in the water again! We washed a lot of swimsuits and towels at the condo during our stay.

Spring Break, Part VI

One evening we drove six miles east and drove over the bridge into Destin, Fla., to take a two-hour dolphin cruise on a boat called the Southern Star. Here we are waiting to board the boat.






Erin and Rich.












On our way out the channel into the Gulf of Mexico, our captain stopped near a fishing boat that was coming in. The guy on the fishing boat held up this monster fish, but I don't remember what kind it was.


All of the kids on the boat had the chance to drive the boat, and Sarah got to take her turn, too. Way to go, Captain Sarah!




Caleb and Noah spent most of their time on the bow of the boat. At one point, dolphins came up and rode the bow wave of the boat, right beneath the boys.

Spring Break, Part VII

Sarah and mommy are on the stern of the boat here as it makes a turn to port. Lucas is back there, also, laying down on the bench. He doesn't do too well on boats, despite the dramamine we gave him.








Sarah and a sunset.










We saw quite a few pods of dolphins, but failed to get any decent pictures of them in the wild. Here's the best we could do.






Here's a nice sunset photo.














The captain gave us a few extra minutes in the channel to get some wonderful sunset shots.

Spring Break, Part VIII

Rich was going to take Noah over to Pensacola one morning, but the 6:30 a.m. wakeup time didn't agree with Noah and he stayed behind. So Rich got to spend three hours alone at the National Naval Aviation Museum.


The museum was awesome, starting out with many detailed models of the various aircraft carriers that have served our country through the decades. This one is the USS Ronald Reagan.


Here are some of the various patches worn by U.S. Navy fighter squadrons.








This is the most historic aircraft Rich came across at the museum. It is an SBD Dauntless dive bomber that is the only known survivor of the Battle of Midway. It dropped a bomb on the Japanese carrier Hiryu, then was chased for miles by enemy Zeroes. It received 219 bullet holes, lost its hydraulic system and the machine gunner was wounded before the pilot made a one-wheel landing back on Midway. This aircraft was also parked on Ford Island on Dec. 7, 1941, and survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was ditched in Lake Michigan during training exercises in 1943 and was recovered in 1994 before being restored and put on display in 2001. Cool!


The museum even had an example of a German Messerschmitt 262, the world's first jet figher.

Spring Break, Part IX

These A-4 Skyhawks are painted in the colors of the Blue Angels. They have been hanging here in the museum since 1990.




This airplane is a N2S-3, a version of the venerable Stearman biplane. This particular aircraft was flown two times in January 1943 by former President George H.W. Bush during his flight training at Naval Air Station Minneapolis.


This Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the last one flown in combat (over Afghanistan in 2006) before the model was retired for good after serving the Navy for 34 years.


Here's the front entrance at Brentwood Elementary, where Rich attended third grade, in Pensacola.




This is our old house, where Roger, Gloria, Rich and Ellaina lived from the early 1970s until 1975.