Pensacola 2012 ~ Naval Air Station

Eli, Brynne and I got up bright and early this morning and went onto the Naval Air Station for a day of fun!

We started our morning by watching the Blue Angels practice. We were bummed to find out that their real practice schedule starts next week, and they won't start signing autographs until then. Darn.

Oh well. We sat and watched them do several passes, then went inside the National Naval Aviation Museum that is on the base. If you EVER have the opportunity to vacation in the gulf shores area, you HAVE to go to this museum! It is FREE, and full of planes, simulators, and aircraft carrier models. There are many cockpits for the kids to climb into. We even did the Fly with the Blue Angels simulator. The kids LOVED it! We also made personalized dog tags this year. After a pricey trip to the gift shop (oops!), we moved onto our next destination.

Our intention after going to the museum was for Eli and Brynne to change into white and khaki clothes and take some photos at the Pensacola Lighthouse beach. We took a couple of pictures on the path before the dunes, and then the wind hit us! We had the hardest time getting any decent shots. But, we did get a couple.

Before we left I asked the kids if they wanted to put their feet in the water before we left. They waded in, ankle deep. Then the waves started coming in hard and before we knew it they had wet pants. And then all of a sudden, they were soaked! I told them to just go for it! So for the next 15 minutes or so, they jumped and splashed in the waves fully dressed! Eli would fall down and Brynne would just laugh and laugh. It was such a joyful moment! I laughed and smiled and took over 100 photos. I couldn't get enough of their happiness, giggles, and smiles!

We were supposed to stop off at Fort Barrancas on our way off the base, but we were too soaked and full of sand! So we went back to my mom and dad's, took baths, and changed clothes. We convinced Grandma to go with us and we headed back to the base to go to the Fort.

It was very interesting and HUGE! It's amazing that it has been standing for about 250 years.

To say we were exhausted after this day would be an understatement! We came back home, made some homemade pizzas, and called it an early night. The rain comes in tonight, so our outside time might be over. I am hoping it will clear up by at least Friday afternoon so we can hit one of the nearby beaches one last time.