ELIJAH'S 10TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

Grandson Elijah turned 10 years old on August 17, 2016. He celebrated turning the BIG ONE O with a party at his house today with friends and family. His cake was decorated with a hunting theme. He and the other kids enjoyed the giant water slide, which has become a fun tradition for his summer birthday. The best part of all, of course, was opening his presents--cash and video games and T shirts to name a few. Wow. A whole decade old! Happy Birthday, 'Lijah-Man!! We love you very much!!

AT THE BEACH ~ LAST DAY ~ SUNDAY, AUGUST 14, 2016 ~ DESTIN, FLORIDA

God blessed us with another sunny day at the beach ~ even more beautiful than yesterday and totally storm/rain/black cloud free

Knox, Kerry, and Kelly enjoyed some pool time first ~ Kerry launches Knox into the water ~ this kid has become a water baby this summer ~ thanks for the picture, Kelly!

Knox and Grandpa started another project ~ the original idea was to build Noah's ark 

Beach clouds are the best

Kelly and Kerry nested in their circle of shade ~ today was hot and sunny and very windy ~ red flags were flying again

Collecting water for the project

He made several trips ~ serious business

Noah's ark or Noah's submarine/castle/thing?

Super vivid effect ~ sky reflecting in the waves

Supervising the project

Kelly using that life vest to lift Knox over the rough waves ~ Knox had a great time in the ocean 

The completed project ~ hard to categorize this ~ so you be the judge ~ the Titanic maybe?

Our beach chair neighbor became agitated with the gulls trying to steal her food ~ she ran back and forth, shooing them away, while I took pictures [I thought great! Maybe I can get some shots of gulls in flight]

This was the only decent shot I managed to snap ~ but the beach chair neighbor lady was pretty entertaining 

One last dip in the sea ~ thanks, Kelly, for the picture

Parting shot ~ Always hate to say goodbye to the beach ~ Hope to return again someday

Mellow Mushroom for our last supper ~ that's my Kozmic Karma ~ Delish! ~ Our server was a sweet and gracious young woman from Italy who spoke English beautifully in her Italian accent ~ here in America to earn some money ~ she's been here since May and is more than ready to go back home in two weeks ~ apparently Italians come here to study engineering or dentistry ~ she was into dentistry ~ also apparently American coffee is the pits ~ she was looking forward to Italian coffee ~ I enjoyed hearing her speak 

Destin Commons ~ Bass Pro shark ~ thanks for the selfie, Kelly!

Family Kimbrough and Jaws

Kelly and Knox racing around at the go-cart place across the street from Gulfgate ~ thanks for the picture, Kerry!

Here we are already at the end of our vacation ~ always flashes by, doesn't it? ~ Nothing left to do but pack it all up again and head north to Tennessee in the morning

Ciao, Destin!

AT THE BEACH ~ A SUNNY DAY! ~SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2016 ~ DESTIN, FLORIDA

Woke up to sunshine and blue sky today ~ Woo Hoo!

Kelly soaking up some UV

Knox wanted to be buried in the sand first thing

Half Knox ~ he doesn't stay covered for long

Lots of sunshine but choppy sea ~ red flag has been flying pretty much all week 

Family Kimbrough takes on the waves

Knox's life vest comes in handy for lifting him above the surf

Daddy comes in handy, too

And so it begins ~ sand castle in the making

Rainbow around the sun (not a lens flare) ~ pretty cool although picture does not do it justice

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day

Ever expanding ~ the sand castle grows

Jonathan Livingston

Kelly's new BFF ~ she shared her PBJ with Walter Pigeon

The gulls were jealous 'cause she shooed them away ~ turned their backs on her ~ that'll show her

Greetings from Destin ~ thanks for sharing the selfie, Neil

Urban  Beach sprawl ~ I'll bet the property taxes are astronomical

My little Canon PowerShot has various special effects and filters to play with ~ I think this was poster effect ~ Neil was the sole engineer/builder on this project although Knox did help at the first

Knox and Gull contemplating life in poster effect

Super vivid effect makes the sky and sea colors pop

Used toy camera effect here ....

.... gives it kind of a vintage feel or vignette ~ Neil still expanding his castle

Knox is racing with his shadow

Beach clouds

Miniature effect (really don't remember now but it sure was fun playing with these effects)

Fish eye ~ seems appropriate

Kerry and Knox in the waves ~ the water felt really good today ~ no seaweed (and no mangled jelly fish)

“To build refuges of my own making is to construct fortresses of sand at ocean’s edge, where the relentless tides of time will leave my most magnificently constructed walls as perfectly flat sand. And now that I am subject to the very tides that destroyed these walls of mine, I am left with the reality that my single and sole refuge can only be the God who created both tides and sand.” 

― Craig D. Lounsbrough, Flecks of Gold on a Path of Stone: Simple Truths for Profound Living

God blessed us with an amazing day of welcome sunshine in the sunshine state, but more storm/rain clouds loomed on the horizon

You know it's coming ~ you can see it building in the distance

Then the clouds turn black

Knox let the waves wash him ashore

Weather in Florida turns on a dime

The wind blew in (uprooting beach umbrellas and carrying them through the air faster than the beach setup guy could close them) and the rains came down

This was a couple of hours later after we had some supper ~ looked like a promising sunset, something we really haven't seen since we've been here this past week

The pink was eventually devoured by the gray as another storm rolled in

Here we go again ~ at 8:30-ish right now, there's a spectacular rain storm raging out there ~ lightning, thunder, the whole kaboom sheebang ~ 

Just another day in paradise ~ waiting to see what happens next