Panama City Beach, Florida July 2009

Forty years ago my parents went to Panama City Beach, Florida for their honeymoon. They fell in love with the white sand and clear water. They have been returning regularly ever since. Even as a girl, we would load up the station wagon and make the DRIVE from southern Iowa to PCB almost every summer. Now, my parents have brought their children, children's spouses and grandchildren back to Panama City Beach. We had a wonderful vacation to Panama City Beach, Florida. It was very relaxing. No schedules, no pressure. Our biggest decision of the day was "Do you want to go to the beach or pool first?" We love the Gulf of Mexico. We stayed in a resort right on the beach. The sand was white and soft. The ocean was very clear, warm and calm for the first few days we were there. What made it extra special is just being together. My parents, Doug and Debbi, their twins Ben and Joe were all with us for the week. We LOVED being with those precious babies so much. In fact, Grant loved being with his cousins so much he cried the night before we left because he was going to miss Ben and Joe!

Here are Doug and Debbi. Debbi is holding Benjamin and Doug is holding Joseph. They were a little overwhelmed by the ocean. But the last day (of course) they started to warm up to it and loved crawling around the sand and into the waves.

One evening we all went to Pier Park. It is a very nice shopping boardwalk right near the ocean. We sampled fudge and bought gourmet popcorn. The kids all wore their Florida airbrushed t-shirts.

This is one of my favorite pictures ever. It just embodies summer, youth, love, joy, and energy. Brooke is definately "Daddy's Girl".

I hope someday my children look back on these trips to the ocean with fond memories.

Blue Snowcone. Enough said.

Grant could boogie board for hours. He slept well at night needless to say. Too much fun!

Panama City Beach will always have a special place in our hearts.