Blue Angels

Wednesday morning, the kids woke up bright and early with the sun, like they always do (except on school days) without realizing that mom and dad had only just gone to bed several hours ago. It was OK though because we had a big day planned starting first with a trip to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, home of the Blue Angels. They were practicing that morning and we needed to be there by 8 am. Our campground was only about 15 minutes away so it worked out great.

After the Blue Angels performance all the little kids get to go out to the flight line with American Flag to wave in the pilots. Very Cool! (Emily didn't want to do it.)
We watched the Blue Angels perform, too bad my camera battery died about halfway through the show, but I did get some pictures on the iPhone too.

The pilots signed autographs after the show, if we had been a little more prepared we would have gotten something special like a hat or t-shirt or cool poster for them to sign. As it was we just got a brochure about the Blue Angels.

After the show we toured the Naval Aviation Museum, and had lunch. The kids had a great time seeing the planes, checking out the cockpits and riding in the simulator.

Then we made our mandatory Walmart stop for a new tire, and a few other miscellaneous needs.

The kids had been dying to go to the beach since we left home, so we decided to check out the beach near our campsite. I also wanted to collect shells there, since there are no shells on the Destin beaches. We went to the Perdido Key State Park beach. It was gorgeous, with white sand, lots of shells, even big ones, and warm blue water.

We went back to Big Lagoon and packed up to head to Destin which was about 1 hour and 30 minutes away.

Danielle at the playground in the Big Lagoon campground.

We made it through the rain and traffic to the beautiful Henderson State Beach Park. The park is pristine; freshly groomed sites, with no trash, bottle caps, or butts. The bathrooms are so clean, and adorned with flowers. It is awesome!

We decided on eating at Fudpuckers, mostly because it was across the street. The food was OK, but kids had a great time. They bring dinosaurs on their plates, a balloon guy made them a hat and a flower, and the atmosphere was fun.