Missing Poppy Today but October is still SPECIAL

 Today would've marked his 95th birthday and I know exactly what he would've wished for....what he had wished for every year for the last few.  Life was painful, both physically and emotionally.  When Memaw passed, a big piece of his heart also hurt which made life extra hard each year.  We're thankful they moved to Bowling Green to be closer to us and will cherish the times we got to spend with him those last few years.

It's the time of year when the weather is gorgeous outside but I stay inside because my allergies are raging.  You wake up freezing and are never sure how to dress because there is a good chance it will be 30 degrees in the morning and 80 degrees in the afternoon.  Transition times are not too fun.  However, this is the last year that we will "fall backward" on our clocks.  I love the daylight savings is going away.  Something about that one hour change makes everyone (including myself) seem a little "off" for a period of time.  

Matt has a fantasy football team, and it's the most fun he's had watching games since we've met.  He gathers all the TV's in the house and has different games and highlights going on each of them.  He and the boys get in the zone.  Speaking of football (or not), Louisville's Family Day was a few weekends back.  We didn't go last year because we were at the beach and Karson had come with us for a couple days, and it seemed silly to go home early to drive to Louisville to see her when we'd been with her.  However, it didn't fall during our break this time but Karson didn't really want to go to the football game because it was scheduled for noon and tailgating would be early.  We were sort of on the fence as to whether or not we wanted to go but decided at the last minute to make the trip.  It was nice getting to spend time with her.  We hung out at her apartment, took her to lunch, did some grocery shopping before picking up Adam and taking them over to dinner with his family.  They were also going to Downs After Dark to hang out with friends.  It was a special Saturday.

Miles wrapped up golf season.  Region didn't go the way he'd hoped but he powered through, did his best and has MUCH to be proud of this season. There is a lot of pressure one you when you fill the #1 spot on the team, and he puts a lot of pressure on himself.  He maintained and average of 79 the whole season which is a wonderful improvement for him.  New clubs, new body type and simply adjusting takes some time.  I wish he could've finished strong and know he felt that way as well, but this is golf.  He's got a lot of game ahead of him and lots of practice time to continue to improve.

Miles's nana - his #1 fan!!!

We migrated South like the rest of Bowling Green for fall break this year.  Normally we go to the Crystal Beach area of Destin but decided to try something different this year and vacationed at 30-A in Santa Rosa.  I'm not sure that I prefer one to the other, but I will tell you the beach was absolutely GORGEOUS this year, and the weather was perfect every single day.  I think I liked the peacefulness of Santa Rosa.  A lot of families stay in that area, but it didn't feel crowded.  All of our units got complimentary beach service and got a $200 credit for the rental of gear (which we all choose bikes since there are lots of paths in that area).  Our condo was called Beachcrest.  Would I recommend it?  Yes.  Would I recommend our particular unit - 206 - NO!  Because we had six other families with us, we had access to all their rooms.  Our room was TOTALLY outdated which isn't the worst but the furniture was old and stained and not comfortable.  The mattresses were like sleeping on cardboard.  Both bathrooms needed major facelifts.  The boys bathroom towel bar was torn off and not functional and super tiny.  The blinds on the patio doors were those long blinds that rotate, many of them on the floor or torn which made them extra hard to use.  All the other units had nice big TV's mounted in their living areas, not ours.  There was a tiny TV in a cabinet in the living area.  The boys didn't even have one in their room which was odd. We had a nice one in our bedroom thankfully.  There weren't many dishes and Matt nearly cut his lip on a chipped glass which I later filleted my hand on cleaning it (which bled most of the week and required continual waterproof band-aiding).  It wasn't ideal and did put a slight damper on our experience.  However, it did not ruin it nor would we let it. 

It's always laugh trying to take pictures with friends.  In this picture, we were all trying to pull each others neck fat back like in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.

 

Loving our three special SENIORS!

Isaac and Evan enjoying some guitar playing and entertaining the moms.

 

John and Laura were vacationing right up the road in Panama City.  They came and spent some time with us one day which was a treat.

Some days you just need a break from the beach and for us that mean, MINI GOLF.  We found a place in Panama City called Goofy Golf which was goofy and fun and a nice change of pace for the day.

There was a really cool pier across the street from mini golf that we took a stroll on afterwards.  You could see lots of colorful sea life which mainly consisted of jellyfish.

L's up for our sweet Karson who couldn't join us this week.  We missed her!

Thinking about putting this on TikTok because the video version has them crashing - the Gilligan's Island theme song would be appropriate.

Matt's parents brought all of our golf clubs to the beach along with a nice kayak which got used a ton.  our group mainly stayed put for the most part.  Isaac visited his friends who were staying up the road a few times, and they rode bikes to Seaside some.  We ate at some fabulous restaurants - AJ's, Cafe Thirty-A, ate some big as your face pizzas from Angelina's, and got some Po Boys from The Big Chill's Duo's.  My friends provided me personally with Caramel Apple Sangrias daily which added to MUCH happiness to my life.  White wine of choice, apple cider, caramel vodka and chopped apples (a splash of Sprite or Ginger Ale is nice as well) is the BEST fall drink ever.

Getting back to normal life isn't much fun.  As soon as we crossed that Kentucky border, my allergies and runny nose immediately returned.  However, there's lot to celebrate which includes Miles turning 16 and Karson turning 20.  October and November are big birthday months for our family!

Karson has been trying out some of the local haunted houses in Louisville including Devil's Attic.

When she's not busy spooking herself out, she's working, doing PT/rehab and excelling in school.  She recently got her letter of acceptance into UL's nursing program.  We are super proud of her.