We leave for home tomorrow morning, so I'm a little melancholy this afternoon. As always, our week in Santa Rosa Beach went by far too quickly. I was thinking yesterday, it's so rare that Jude and I get a full week with the boys all to ourselves. No school, no work, no sports and no real distractions. That's part of what makes our annual vacation here so special, I think. It occurs to me we'll get, if we're lucky, 18 weeks like this with our boys. Actually, less than that, because soon enough J.P. will want to bring a friend or he and Joe will want to do their own thing while we're on vacation. It boils down to one week year with my boys, while they're still relatively young, then they're off to college and it's over. Damn, now I'm really feeling melancholy.
It's great, as J.P. and Joe are getting old enough to play together and enjoy each other's company. It's really cool to watch them fooling around, making each other laugh, as only brothers can do. We're blessed to have the boys we have, no doubt about it.
As always, memories from the week, in no particular order -
- By far, our best long car trip with the boys on the ride down (let's hope our luck holds on the way home tomorrow). 2 stops, only for restroom breaks (no McDonald's play areas!) and we made it in about 8 hours, with some traffic. J.P. didn't get sick until we were about 2 miles from the beach house. We were THIS close to a vomit-free trip.
- Joe loved the beach, which was a big, big change from years past. He loved everything about it the sand, the waves and the ocean. J.P., too, was all about the waves and the ocean. It was great to watch J.P. swim nearby, but not to have to be with him every minute. He's getting more and more independent.
- Playing football with J.P. in the ocean, especially when we took turns pretending to be Blaine Bishop (former Titans' star) on a safety blitz or Javon Kearse sacking the quarterback off the edge. When I tackled J.P. in the surf and stripped the football, he laughed and laughed. It was a beautiful thing.
- Joe, baseball crazy as ever, playing a form of "beach baseball" with Jude for hours every day. He would "hit" the ball with a modified, toy lacrosse stick, then "run" the bases on the beach while Jude chased him. Then, Joe would "pitch" and Jude would hit. Over and over again, with Joe squealing and laughing the entire time.
- Lots of fun in the mornings in the pool with J.P. and Joe. Again, Joe played a form of "pool baseball" with Jude while J.P. and I roughhoused with each other.
- An aborted dinner at the abominable Goatfeathers restaurant, which led to a top 10 all-time family meal at La Playa. J.P. tried (and liked) the fish dish off the children's menu, which was huge for him! He also tried (and liked) the grouper I was eating. A couple of nights later, when we decided to get takeout from Local Catch, he requested a fish dish. Amazing.
- Lots and lots of game playing. Sorry, Battleship (I'm still the champion - the "admiral"), Guess Who (I defeated J.P. 8 games to 7 and he was pissed), UNO and Boggle. When J.P. won a game - any game - he got Jude's cell phone and pretended to call the newspaper to announce his victory. Monkey see, monkey do, as Joe started doing the same thing even though he wasn't exactly winning any games.
- I finished a truly amazing book - Long Man - by Amy Greene. Phenomenal, probably the best novel I'll read in 2015.
- 21 + total miles of morning runs on the Longleaf Pine Trail near our beach house in Old Florida Village. I remember when I could (and did) do 20 mile weeks in my sleep. Now, it's an accomplishment to be celebrated. Strangely, I didn't run any of my other routes, sticking to the trail I discovered a couple of years ago.
- A cameo appearance by Carl P. Spining, one of my oldest friends and a law school classmate, and an afternoon of beer drinking with him at the Great Southern Cafe in Seaside, FL, while Joe napped beside me. An unexpected treat, for sure.
- Ama Vida Coffee. Sadly, Grayt Coffee House is no more, I discovered, but Ama Vida filled in nicely.
- Watching "Deadliest Catch" with J.P. Need I say more?
- Learning about the death of my friend, Joanna Stanfield. My former paralegal, Suzanne, texted me Wednesday morning and my heart sank as I read the text. The best paralegal I have ever known, Joanna found her voice after she was diagnosed with cancer 5 days after the birth of her daughter, Maggie, almost 4 years ago. She touched and inspired so many with her blog, "It's Cancer, Baby," and the courageous way she fought for every day she could spend with Maggie. The world is a lesser place without her.
- Joe's earsplitting scream, whenever he was unhappy with something J.P. and I were doing.
- Jed. Seeing our longtime friend, Jed, whose family owns Blue Mountain Beach Creamery, our favorite ice cream store in the world. We've known Jed for 5 + years, since he opened the store. Every year when we come down, the business has grown and grown. This year, after dinner, we stopped by one night and the line stretched around the building and down the street toward Blue Mountain Beach. We knocked on the window and asked for Jed. When he saw us, he smiled widely and treated us like VIP's by getting our ice cream and refusing to allow us to pay for it. Fortunately, we got to spend some quiet time with him yesterday afternoon, when it wasn't too busy. J.P. adores Jed, so getting the one-on-one time with him was special for J.P.
- And, right now, in what is maybe the highlight of my week, Joe is waking up in the City Elite stroller, right next to me. We've shared so many afternoons with him in that stroller and before him, I shared them with J.P. Joe is looking up at me and smiling, innocently, as he tucks his knees up to stay warm. God, those eyes and that smile. My heart is full and I don't want this moment to end. Ever.
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