Pensacola Fall Fun!

Our time in Pensacola was such an unexpected blessing.  It came with a bumpy start but also included so much rest, recreation, relationship and just plain fun :)

I shared about our summer fun here and here and now I want to get caught up on fall!

This photo was taken on “Flight Suit Friday” after Andy and his classmates completed and passed their API training (Aviation Preflight Indoctrination) and earned the honor of wearing a Navy flight suit (aka adult “onesie”).  We celebrated at the club on base and had to take advantage of the awesome Blue Angel plane backdrop ;)

Andy with some of his classmates.

Grace’s school had a fall carnival night and Andy took the girls while I stayed home with Drew.  They had lots of fun playing game and having treats.

Slushies on the way home were a great way to end the night!

Going back through all these pictures is really highlighting how great Andy is.  The next few pics are from a “Dad and Drew” morning date while the girls were at school.  This gave me about 5 hours of alone time AT HOME.  That’s basically the magical unicorn of motherhood since we are never alone and so seldom alone at home!  He took Drew for a haircut, then out to breakfast and over to the National Aviation Museum.

My mom is really great about sending fun seasonal care packages to the kids.  They love getting mail from Grandma!

Speaking of love…Grace loves dogs more than anyone I know.  On a daily basis she bemoans my pet allergies and pines for a dog.  When I saw this “Read to Dogs” program at our local library, I immediately signed her up to participate.  This may have been the highlight of Grace’s time in Pensacola and I’m so glad we could be a part of it :)

Our little buddy Lucas has a fall birthday and his family planned a birthday celebration at a farm about an hour from where we lived.  The balmy Florida weather is so very nice, but in the fall I find myself craving cooler temps, tall boots, cozy sweaters and pumpkin everything.  It was a hot day, but we did get to scratch our fall itch with a bunch of our friends on this fun day!

 

The corn pit was a HUGE hit!

Pensacola is known for it’s many festivals and outdoor festivals just happen to be my love language LOL

But seriously, I love the food tents, art, music, and energy at local festivals so we did our best to take advantage of the festivals that came through town while we lived there.  This was the Gulf Coast Seafood Festival and it was hot and crowded but still a lot of fun :)

Even mediocre face paint makes this sweet girl happy!

Our kids really love one-on-one time with Andy and me, and they’re often asking us when their next “date” with one of us will be.  It’s easy for these outings to get lost in the shuffle of everyday life, family outings, and the occasional mom and dad date night, but we do our best to make them happen as often as we can.

Grace had been really interested in going to a nail salon for a pedicure so that’s what we did for our date.  It was SUCH a precious time together.

The way to Avery’s heart is ice cream.  That sweet girl has the biggest sweet tooth and really treasures individual attention. She’ll regularly tell us she wishes she was the first baby so she would have gotten us all to herself LOL

We put a LOT of effort into making sure she doesn’t slip through the cracks like a “typical” middle child, but try as we might, she always has more room for attention ;)

So, ice cream it was!  We talked and talked and I answered the same question (“Which princess is your favorite?”) about 25 times.  I loved it.

That’s about half the fall fun, so stay tuned for more later!